Exploring the new Russia

As Russia’s societal and political landscape changes, so does the terrain of Trinity’s Russian studies program. And although the end of the Cold War had a major impact on the world of Russian studies at Trinity and other colleges across the country, Trinity’s program remains robust and dynamic.

“Trinity has a remarkably strong program in Russian studies. There are very few colleges that can match our breadth and depth,” says Katherine Lahti, associate professor of modern languages and coordinator of Russian and Eurasian studies.

Two new initiatives take their cues from the extraordinary changes in the former Soviet Union and illustrate the continuing vitality of Russian studies at Trinity. In characteristic Trinity fashion, one endeavor is global and the other local. Next year the College will open a global learning site in Moscow, where it will immerse students in the project of rebuilding civil society in Russia. The other initiative is taking place in the neighborhood, where Trinity is building ties with a sizeable Russian immigrant community in Hartford.

Both of these projects depend on the fundamental strength of Trinity’s faculty and curriculum in Russian studies. “The range of our faculty is really unusual. Most colleges teach some Russian and have a few history or social science courses,” Lahti says. “Here, we have at least seven faculty members working primarily in Russian studies in language and literature, history, political science, sociology, and economics. Hardly anyone has an economist!”     

Cold Warriors no more
The “typical” student of the Russian language has changed over the past decade, Lahti notes. Before 1992, students were caught up in the Cold War, some in support of the U.S. role and others in opposition to the Cold War itself. “But increasingly they are what we call ‘heritage students,’ students with some family tie to Russia,” she says.

In fact, the end of the Cold War brought a nationwide shift in the makeup of Russian studies programs. During the 1990s, enrollments plummeted across the country in college courses on Russian language, literature, history, and culture. Trinity, too, saw a sharp decline in Russian language enrollments. But many courses on Russian history, politics, economics, and culture are still very popular at Trinity, as students of every discipline pursue a liberal arts education, Lahti notes. And interesting times create interested students. “It may be true that it’s hard to attract many students to the study of Russian, but many of those who try it really fall for it,” says Carol J. Any [below], associate professor of modern languages. “They’re a very passionate group.”

Many of today’s students, especially “heritage students,” have deep connections to Russian culture that their predecessors lacked, Lahti says. “One of my students now, Alexander Oji ’04, is the son of a Nigerian father and Russian mother. He grew up with a Russian grandmother, too. He’s from New Haven and he looks and sounds like a young African American guy. But when he begins to speak Russian, you literally see him transform into a Russian, with characteristically Russian gestures and pace of speech.”

“When my mother immigrated, people told her not to speak Russian with me, so that she would learn English,” Oji says. “So I didn’t speak it much although I heard it around the kitchen. But she told me she wanted me to take advantage of the opportunity to learn Russian when I went to college, so here I am.”

He finds his Russian classes challenging and interesting. “I plan to carry on through the advanced level,” says the first-year student, who expects to major in educational studies and sociology. Oji says he also aims to explore his African heritage during his time at Trinity, although probably not by taking language courses.

Alumni are using their Russian learning in all sorts of ways, according to Any. A few, like Samuel D. Kassow ’66 [right] and Steven Hoch ’73, have become academic specialists, teaching history at Trinity and the University of Iowa, respectively. Many more are involved with businesses and nongovernmental organizations. Joshua Perrin ’97 works as a financial consultant in Russia.  Nathan Stowell ’94 fell in love with a Russian woman while studying in Russia and returned there and married after graduation. “He works for a company that gathers scrap metal in Russia and sells it in Poland,” Any says. “That doesn’t sound glamorous, but it’s a real contribution to the reconstruction of the Russian economy.” Greg Milbourne ’90 is using his Russian during the course of his graduate training in clinical psychology. “He runs group therapy sessions for Russian immigrants in Philadelphia,” Any reports.

New initiatives
Russian studies appeared at Trinity after World War II, and Trinity’s first Russian-speaking historian, Anthony Netting, joined the faculty in 1967. The pace of academic development picked up in the 1970s, when the faculty was bolstered by Kassow, an expert in Russian, European, and Jewish history; Jay West, a specialist in Russian history and Communism; and sociologist Michael P. Sacks, an expert in gender, ethnic, and regional differences in the former Soviet Union and emerging forms of inequality in present-day Russia. (West retired in 1995.) In the 1980s, Russian studies became an established major for the first time, and Any joined the modern languages department, where she teaches Russian literature, history, and film. Another group of faculty members arrived about 1990, including Lahti, a specialist in Russian literature, theater, and linguistics; economist Carol Clark, an expert on economies in transition; and political scientist Brigitte Schulz, an authority on the Cold War and the Soviet Bloc. Graduate fellow Michael Pesenson teaches courses in medieval Russian language and literature, and Visiting Lecturer Nathan Collins specializes in Russian history and the Russian revolution. Others have been involved, notably Josh Karter, associate professor of theater arts and current director of Trinity’s San Francisco program.

The program does not rest on its laurels. It has launched several new projects to introduce students to Russia and the profound changes reshaping a country that is still a critical world actor.

[Alex Fish '01 and Alice Affleck '03 analyze
 a film in Any's course"Cinema and Societies
 in Crisis: Contemporary Russian and American Films".]

 The global learning site in Moscow will begin operation in the spring of 2002. Designed by Trinity faculty members, the program will offer a fast-paced, in-depth introduction to Russian history, society, culture, and language. The special focus for 2002 will be on the challenges of constructing a post-Communist civil society. Studentsfrom Trinity and other colleges will study Russian; enroll in courses at the Russian State University for the Humanities, one of the leading post-Soviet institutions of higher learning; attend seminars at the Gorky Institute; and participate in internships with businesses and groups struggling to address social, environmental, cultural, religious, political, and personal issues.

Moscow itself will be a major part of the experience, Lahti says. “It’s not only a city with an amazing historical and cultural heritage; it’s also a very exciting place these days. I don’t think there’s a more exciting city in the world right now. You don’t do Moscow; it does you, and it changes you forever.”

Trinity’s other evolving asset in Russian studies is the Hartford area itself. The region is home to about 6,000 recent Russian immigrants, many of whom are clustered in Hartford’s West End and in the neighborhoods of West Hartford just across the city line. It’s not uncommon now to come upon groups of people speaking Russian on the streets of the city. In addition, a small commercial district with grocery stores and a bookstore has developed in West Hartford.

“There’s also a small Russian Orthodox church within walking distance of the campus,” Any says. “The Russian community here is delighted to work with our students. It’s a very sophisticated group and they sponsor, on average, about one significant cultural event a week.”

One recent visitor was the famous Moscow Cat Circus, which provided a crucial object lesson about Russia and the Russians, Lahti says. “As I told my students, never count out a culture that’s learned how to herd cats.”

--Andrew Walsh