Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Library Trial: Piatidnevka Digital Archive (DA-PIAT) through December 5, 2024
The UC Berkeley Library has started a trial of Piatidnevka Digital Archive. The trial will end on December 5, 2024. Please provide your feedback to your Librarian for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies at Lpendse at berkeley dot edu
The Piatidnevka Digital Archive is a valuable resource for researchers studying early Soviet history, particularly between 1929 and 1931. Published six times a month, this journal documents the Soviet Union’s brief experiment with a five-day workweek. The archive provides insight into the Soviet goal of replacing traditional societal norms with innovative approaches. It contains a wealth of visual and textual materials, including photographs, articles, editorials, and commentaries that offer firsthand perspectives on this significant period.
The trial can be accessed here.
Library Trial: Brill’s British Intelligence on Russia in Central Asia, c. 1865–1949
The UC Berkeley Library has initiated a thirty-day trial of British Intelligence on Russia in Central Asia, c. 1865–1949’s database. The trial ends on November 17, 2024
One may access the trial here: Brill’s British Intelligence on Russia in Central Asia.
Please log in using proxy or VPN if you are accessing the resource from an off-campus location.
The database contains the following primary sources according to the self-description below, ”
Michell’s Russian Abstracts
During the 1870s and 1880s, the India Office Political and Secret Department considered the Russian and Central Asian question so vital that it employed an interpreter, Robert Michell, whose task was to review and translate Russian printed reports and extracts from Russian newspapers and other publications. Newspapers and journals regularly monitored included the Moscow Gazette, Turkestan Gazette, Journal de St Petersbourg, Russian Invalid, St Petersburg Gazette, Golos, Turkestan Gazette, and Novoye Vremia.
Michell’s Russian Abstracts and Memories, 1872-1883
Year
1879
Institution
London: War Office, Intelligence Division
Political and Secret Memoranda
At about the same time, as a result of the increasing quantity of intelligence now being regularly received, the India Office Political and Secret Department began to produce printed memoranda in order to provide ministers with easily digestible précis of the information they needed to formulate policy. For officials in India and London, processing information from the frontiers and providing background papers for successive incoming governments and their ministers became an almost full-time occupation. The Memoranda was arranged and numbered by contemporary India Office officials in an alphanumeric sequence that reflected the geographical subject area. Memoranda relating to Central Asia, which included items reflecting the great political debate and guessing game over the nature of Russian intentions in the region, were usually put away in series “C”.
Political and Secret Files on Soviet Central Asia
Although Anglo-Russian rivalry officially ended with the Convention of 1907, Russian ascendancy in Central Asia continued to interest the British imperial administrations. The two powers confronted each other again after the First World War and the Russian Revolution. With the creation of Soviet Socialist Republics in the period between the two World Wars, the British rulers of India were increasingly concerned with infiltrating Indian politics of communist and nationalist agents and ideas. During this period, a new generation of British military and political intelligence officers, spies, and adventurers made courageous, sometimes unofficial, journeys into the Central Asian republics and beyond into Sinkiang. A British Indian agent was stationed at Kashgar in 1893, but 1911 the post was upgraded to Consulate-General. Kashgar became the listening post and source of regular intelligence briefings, political diaries, and trade reports.
Provenance and Archival Background
The archives of the India Office Political and Secret Department (and Military Department) form part of the Oriental and India Office Collections (OIOC) now within the Asia, Pacific, and Africa Collections at the British Library. The Political and Secret Department papers and printed material have now been catalogued under the OIOC reference L/PS. Military Department papers are located under the reference L/MIL.
Save the date: October 17, 1 p.m. PDT: Navigating Identity, Belonging, and Citizenship: A Conversation with Professor Canizales (Webinar)
Thursday
Oct. 17, 2024
1 p.m. PDT
Zoom
Navigating Identity, Belonging, and Citizenship: A Conversation with Professor Canizales
In this webinar, Stephanie L. Canizales, Ph.D., will discuss her new book, Sin Padres, Ni Papeles, which explores the complex experiences of unaccompanied young migrants from Central America and Mexico in the United States. Canizales illuminates the long history of this migration and how young migrants find meaning and demonstrate resilience in the face of significant adversity.
Free and open to the public
The event will be recorded for archival purposes.
Register at
Sponsors
Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative
Institute of Governmental Studies
Latinx Research Center
UC Berkeley Library
Professor Stephanie L. Canizales
Stephanie L. Canizales, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Sociology Department
UC Berkeley
Faculty Director
Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative
Accessibility accommodations
If you require an accommodation to fully participate in this event, please contact Liladhar Pendse at lpendse at berkeley.edu or 510-768-7610 at least 7-10 days in advance of the event. Organizer: Dr. Liladhar R. Pendse
Available in an alternate format
To request an accessible version of this document, please contact the Library Communications Office at librarycommunications@berkeley.edu.
Library Trial of Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia Digital Archive (1924-1939)
The UC Berkeley Libraries have started a trial of the East View database Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia Digital Archive (1924-1939). The trial can be accessed here.
The access is valid through October 24, 2024. If you are accessing it from an off-campus location, please use the VPN or Proxy. For more information on setting up your off-campus access, see here.
About the journal:
Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia was a literary and illustrated weekly magazine published in Paris from 1924 to 1939. The journal was aimed mainly at the growing community of Russian immigrants who had left Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. Thus, Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia offers a unique fund of linguistic and visual representations, providing an indispensable insight into Russian cultural life in exile.
The Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia Digital Archive offers this influential journal’s exhaustive and meticulously digitized collection. This archive is an indispensable research resource with 748 issues and over 21,000 pages.
Key features include:
Comprehensive page-level digitization
Faithful reproduction of original graphics
Enhanced search capabilities
Seamless cross-searching with East View’s extensive digital portfolio
Library Trial: Brill’s Cuban Culture and Cultural Relations, 1959-, Part 4: Music
The Library is currently trialing Brill’s Cuban Culture and Cultural Relations, Part IV: Music until October 14, 2024. The database can be accessed here.
This primary source collection documents the history of music in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a special focus on Revolutionary Cuba. It explores the role of music in society and covers festivals, performances, trends, and persons (musicians, composers, producers, etc.). The collection is scanned from the so-called “vertical archive” at Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba (source: Brill)
Localidad: Cuba
Resumen: Entrevista al sonero cubano. Publicada en Bohemia.
Coleccion: Colección Archivo Vertical
Please use ez proxy or VPN if you are accessing the resource from an off-campus location. Please provide your feedback to your Librarian of the Caribbean and Latin American Studies at Lpendse (at) berkeley (dot) edu
Please access the resource here.
Armenian Studies: Jennifer Manoukian’s Lecture: Forbidden Attraction: Ottoman Armenians and the Turkish Language in the Age of Nationalism
Jennifer Manoukian, UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History (Center for Armenian Studies), University of California, Irvine, will visit the Berkeley campus in September.
University of California, Irvine, History, Post-Doc
On Wednesday, September 11th, Manoukian will give her talk at the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Lecture and Discussion (254 Social Sciences Building)
Forbidden Attraction: Ottoman Armenians and the Turkish Language in the Age of Nationalism
“This presentation excavates the varied attitudes toward Turkish among Ottoman Armenians in the nineteenth century. It seeks to correct a fundamental misunderstanding about the relationship between Ottoman Armenians and the Turkish language, to reframe Ottoman Armenians as agents in their use of Turkish, and to expose Turkish as something far more than a “language of the oppressor” for many Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. The presentation begins by offering an overview of Ottoman Armenian Turcophonia. It examines three language attitudes that led bilingual Ottoman Armenian men in Istanbul to choose Turkish over Armenian in specific social contexts (source: https://events.berkeley.edu/melc/event/262339-forbidden-attraction-ottoman-armenians-and-the)
The event has been sponsored by the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, UC Berkeley, and the University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.
Local and Independent Ukrainian Newspapers on Global Press Archive Electronically Available
The 1990s and early 2000s marked a turbulent period in Ukraine’s history due to the fall of the Soviet Union and the emergence of an independent Ukraine. Despite gaining free speech and property rights, citizens faced economic hardships. Corruption scandals and the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze in 2000 sparked nationwide protests against the political elite. The Local and Independent Ukrainian Newspapers collection covers this era up to the Orange Revolution (2004–2005), offering insights from over 900 newspapers across 340 cities, reflecting regional and ethnic dynamics. The collection includes publications in Ukrainian, Russian, and other languages like Armenian, German, Polish, etc., providing a detailed view of historical events. Access to this database is supported by the Center for Research Libraries and its members.
One can access this collection here.
In memoriam: Aleksey Navalny ( Navalʹnyĭ, Alekseĭ)
The ongoing wars in several parts of our beautiful planet have taken their toll on our humanity. Sometimes, unexpected but awaited news of the killing/ demise of someone who believed in democracy desperately shakes me- such was the news that prompted this post.
I am a librarian and not a politician; I serve students, faculty, and members of the public. But this morning, a Russian colleague from the Russian Federation alerted me that “it is finally done, and it was to be expected, and that we are going to hell.” It was early morning, and I could not understand until I read the famous/infamous NY Times online. The news told me that Aleksei Navalny was no more…I looked for Kira to post something, but she did not.
See here for those interested in knowing more about Aleksei Navalny-related books in our catalog.
As a librarian, I gather information and do not engage in academic debates about just-in-time or just-in-case types of collections. I do not have ideological views on what we collect (I do have personal views; the cloak of American librarianship ethics separates them from my work).
For example, what does this book teach us?
Or how about this Polish imprint? What is it that the author is trying to say?
Besides books, I debated whether I should post the following documentary. After all, I might get banned from visiting Russia, and for a Slavic Librarian, it is a big no-no… Then I decided why not; it was Aleksei’s documentary, and one should choose to watch it. After all, as a proud Indian-American Slavic Studies Librarian blessed by UC Berkeley’s Academic freedom doctrine, I remain grateful to the United States Constitution for guaranteeing some fundamental freedoms–Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of…Queda mucho por aprender
Conference at UC Berkeley: Ruling Together Consultation and Collaboration in the Political Regimes of Premodern Eurasia
Ruling Together: Consultation and Collaboration in the Political Regimes of Premodern Eurasia
February 16, 2024
Maude Fife Room, 315 Wheeler Hall, UC Berkeley
Organized by Tang Center for Silk Road Studies
The conference focuses on the medieval and early modern periods (1000-1700 CE) as a crucial era for cross-cultural contact, challenging the lesser emphasis this period has received within “Silk Road” scholarship. It argues that viewing Eurasia merely as a space of intermittent object and idea exchange through trade or diplomacy depoliticizes cultural and goods spread, which is inadequate for understanding the political dynamics of these centuries dominated by the Mongol Empire and its successors. Emphasizing the role of political institutions in transregional history, the conference aims to integrate the study of cross-cultural contact with political history, highlighting Central Asia’s significance in the global political history of the medieval and early modern periods.
8:30 Tea and Coffee
9:00 Welcome Remarks
Panel 1
Who Should Rule? Institutions of Sovereignty and Succession
9:15 Christopher Atwood, University of Pennsylvania
The First Interregnum: Imperial Stake Holders in a (Temporarily) Khan-less World
9:45 Michael Bechtel, Nazarbaev University
Mongol Empire 1229-46: Frameworks of Rule and Redistribution (Related article is here)
10:15 Jonathan Brack, Northwestern University
Chinggisid Family Feuds, Islamization, and the Religious Sphere in Mongol-ruled Iran
10:45 Evrim Binbaş, University of Bonn
The Theater of Constitutional Ideas: The First Timurid Civil War and Shahrukh’s Ascension to Timur’s Throne
11:15 Discussion
11:45 Lunch break
Panel 2
How to Rule? Transcontinental Institutions
1:30 Carol Fan, University of Bonn
Revenue sharing networks within the Mongol Empire and transregional contacts
across Eurasia in the 13th and 15th centuries
2:00 Paehwan Seol, Chonnam National University
The Jarghu: Mobile Courts and Justice Networks of the Mongols throughout East-
West Asia during the 13th to 14th Centuries
2:30 Natalia Królikowska, University of Warsaw
Numerous Nogay peoples, the Circassians and innumerable Tatars’ influence on the decision-making process in the Crimean khanate.
3:00 Discussion
3:30 Tea and Coffee
Panel 3
What is Ruling? Conceptualizing State and Empire
3:45 David Sneath, University of Cambridge
The Lords’ Administration: Mongolian aristocratic governance and the state as social
relation
4:15 Munkh-Erdene Lhamsüren, National University of Mongolia
The Chinggisid Sovereignty: Myth, Archetype, and Transformation (see similar article here)
4:45 Kaveh Hemmat, Benedictine University
Rule of Law in Islamicate Civic Lore Concerning the Mongol Empire and China
5:15 Discussion
Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies at UCLA
The above image is from one of the pages of the Gladzor Armenian Manuscripts. It was used last year at the 2023 graduate student colloquium
Royce Hall 314
Friday, February 16th, 2024
9:30 a.m.-10:00 Breakfast
10:00-10:10 Opening Remarks
Lori Pirinjian
Director of the 2024 Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies (Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA)
Dr. S. Peter Cowe
Narekatsi Professor of Armenian Studies (Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA)
Panel 1: Contemporary Policy in the Armenian Republic
Chair: Lori Pirinjian (UCLA)
10:10-10:30 Arev Papazian “Fishing Ban on Lake Sevan in Post-Soviet Armenian Republic” (Central European University, Vienna)
Read about the fishing ban here: https://www.azatutyun.am/a/32742178.html
10:30-10:40 Discussion
Panel 2: Modern Political Developments Chair: Lori Pirinjian (UCLA)
10:40-11:00 Orhun Yalcin, “The ARF in the Ottoman Empire” (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
11:00-11:20 Kima Saribekyan, “Cilicia under the French Mandate” (Peter Pazmeny Catholic University, Budapest)
11:20-11:40 Nils Berliner, “Armenian Genocide in Germany” (Technical University of Berlin)
11:40-12:00 Levon-Leonidas Ntilsizian, “Aspects of Greece’s state policy towards the Armenian community in Greece (1945-1975)” (Panteion University, Athens)
12:00-12:25 Discussion
12:25-12:45 Coffee/Tea Break
Panel 3: Early Modern Armenian Communities
Chair: Martin Adamian (UCLA)
12:45-1:05 Andranik Nahapetian, “The Armenian Colony of Nor Nakhichevan” (Free University of Berlin)
1:05-1:25 Andranik Yesayan, “Demographic Transformations in Armenian Peripheral Canton Tavush Under Safavid and Ottoman Rule (1600-1725)” (Institute of History, The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia)
1:25-1:40 Discussion
1:40-3:00 Lunch Break
Panel 4: Armenian Literary Practices in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages Chair: Nora Bairamian (UCLA)
3:00-3:20 Lorenzo Colombo, “Censorship Greek-Armenian” (Universities of Pisa and Geneva)
3:20-3:40 Anush Apresyan, “The Spiritual-Cultural Significance of Translation: Nemesius of Emesa’s Treatise on Human Nature” (Matenadaran Institute, Yerevan)
3:40-4:00 Hayarpi Hakobyan, “Medieval Armenian Book Production in the Lake Van Region in 1275-1350: Scriptoria, scribes, manuscripts” (Martin Luther University of Halle- Wittenberg)
4:00-4:15 Discussion
4:15-4:35 Tea/Coffee Break
Panel 5: Medieval Trade across the Northern Hemisphere Chair: Arpi Melikyan (UCLA)
4:35-4:55 Francesca Cheli, “Chinese Pottery Imports” (University of Florence)
4:55-5:05 Discussion
Panel 6: 19th century Socio-Cultural Developments
Chair: Alexia Hatun (UCLA)
5:05-5:15 Aram Ghoogasian, “Learning to Read in the mid-19th Century” (Princeton University)
5:15-5:35 Emma Avagyan, “19th century Armenian-Jewish Revitalization” (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
5:35-5:55 Nazelie Doghramadjian, “Armenian Women’s Archives” (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
5:55-6:20 Discussion
6:20-6:35 Guest Speaker
Professor Shushan Karapetian
Director of the Institute of Armenian Studies, USC
6:35-8:00 Reception (Royce Hall 306)
Co-sponsored by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UCLA Promise Armenian Institute, UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies, UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies, UCLA Center for Early Global Studies, UCLA Center for the Study of Religion, UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture, UCLA Department of Classics, UCLA Leve Center for Jewish Studies, UCLA History Department.
For further details, please consult the website <nelc.ucla.edu>.
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