Dear colleague, 

You are cordially invited to take part in the conference

RUSSIAN-AMERICAN LINKS:
Leaps Forward and Backward in Academic Cooperation


The Conference is organized by the
Department of Modern Languages, St.Petersburg University of the Russian Academy of Sciences
with support from

 The Public Affairs Section, U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg and
The St.Petersburg Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences,
The St.Petersburg Branch of the Institute of History of Science and Technology, Russian Academy of Sciences,
The European University at St.Petersburg,
The St. Petersburg Association for International Cooperation.

 

The Conference is to be held
in the second half of October 2010
in St.Petersburg, Russia

 

The Conference organizers are endeavoring to follow up on the success of the previous conferences “Russian-American Links: 300 Years of Cooperation” (St.Petersburg 2003), “Russian-American Links: Similar Issues – Different Visions” (St.Petersburg 2005), and “Russian-American Links: African Americans and Russia”  (St.Petersburg 2007), that created a forum for Russian, American and other international specialists in the areas of history, politics, science, ethnic relations, literature, art, and education to discuss problems of interaction and mutual influence of our cultures in the past and present.

The purpose of the Conference is to explore academic, historical, sociological, and political issues of mutual research and educational initiatives between Russia and the United States in pre-Communist, Communist, and post-Communist time. The program will feature papers devoted to:

-        areas of Russian-American “academic competition” in the past and present;

-        challenges to Russian-American collaboration in science and technology in the 1930s, during WW2, the cold war, and at present;

-        international impact on the development of Russian and American science;

-        “brain drain,” “intellectual export,” and “partnership” models of Russian-US cooperation in research;

-        intellectual property issues promoting/impeding Russian-US collaboration;

-        the history and present state of bilateral educational exchange efforts;

-        the influence of contemporary information technologies on international education and research;

-        Americans’ scholarly investigations on Russia and Russians’ study of America.

The main focus of the Conference is both on “technological” and “humanitarian” aspects of the problems discussed and on ways of meeting the existing challenges in political, legal, socioeconomic, and organizational spheres.

As part of the conference program, we envision setting up video conferences with US scholars representing leading American educational and research centers and a panel discussion on issues of academic exchange between USA and Russia.

We expect the speakers to approach the theme from a multidisciplinary perspective: this would encourage an interdisciplinary discussion, lead to a more profound understanding of issues considered, and suggest avenues for further joint investigations.

The Conference is expected to bring together specialists from various fields and geographical locations. We anticipate a variety of papers by Russian academics and educators from a wide variety of research institutes and universities, as well as speakers representing the American academic community in the U.S. and Russia, including U.S. Fulbright grantees stationed in this country, as well as Russian academics and students who have participated in the Kennan Institute and Fulbright programs.

In the aftermath of the Conference, we expect to publish the most interesting and scholarly sound presentations as a book reflecting the development of Russian-American links in scholarship and education, and their influence on the dialog between our two cultures.


 

The Organizing Committee hopes to be able to cover the travel expenses and accommodation of the Russian participants of the Conference.

The preferred working language of the Conference is English; the Department of Modern languages will gladly assist in editing papers in English presented by Russian participants. 

The Organizing Committee will supply further information upon receiving your application. See application details below:


PLEASE NOTE: 


Sincerely,
 

Dr. Yuri P. Tretyakov, Chair
Dr. Natalia A. Alexandrova, Deputy Chair
Conference Organizing Committee
St. Petersburg Department of Modern Languages
St.Petersburg University of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Tel. +7 (812) 328 4811
5 University Embankment, St.Petersburg 199034 Russia