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CRUSH

Cambridge Russian Sensory History Network
 

Jointly organized by UCL SSEES and the University of Cambridge, the Symposium is intended to mark the retirement of Julian Graffy, Professor of Russian Literature and Cinema at UCL SSEES, and to celebrate his long career and vital role in establishing and sustaining the academic field of Russian and Soviet cinema studies. This state-of-the-art event brings together leading members of an international community of scholars in order to explore and assess potential new directions in Russian and Soviet cinema studies. In so doing, it seeks to identify the current state of the scholarly field, to outline the key questions and challenges it faces, and to encourage and promote an innovative and forward-looking approach to research in this field.

We are committed to 'new directions' in both the content and the format of the presentations at this event: Panels are organised thematically around methodological and conceptual questions that seem central to our field: Genealogies, Personalities, Archives, Transnational Cinemas, Theory, New Platforms and Reading the Image.  Rather than a conventional 'conference paper', speakers have been asked to indicate, in succinct twelve-minute presentations,  the way in which their own research illuminates (or challenges) the panel's theme.  It is our hope that this format will encourage in-depth discussion and productive debate that will benefit not only scholars already established in this field, but also postgraduate students.

The conference also includes a public screening and discussion of legendary director Kira Muratova's Eternal Homecoming (Ukraine, 2012) at 7:30 pm on Friday, 19 September. The screening is made possible by SOTA Cinema Group (Ukraine) and the Cambridge Programme in Ukrainian Studies.  For details and to book free tickets, please click here.

The conference conveners are (for UCL) Dr Phil Cavendish and Dr Rachel Morley, and (for Cambridge) Dr Susan Larsen, Dr Anna Toropova and Dr Emma Widdis.

Date: 
Thursday, 18 September, 2014 - 13:30 to Saturday, 20 September, 2014 - 13:00
Event location: 
The Winstanley Lecture Theatre, Trinity College, Cambridge