Since starting his third presidential term in March 2012, Vladimir Putin has refashioned himself as an ideological leader. His ideology is that of "traditional values." Masha Gessen tells the story of the creation of that ideology, beginning with the antigay campaign, ballooning into a civilizational mission, and culminating with war – whether in Ukraine or in Syria, it is against the United States. The creation of ideology went hand-in-hand with a political crackdown – the arrests of peaceful protesters, the attack on NGOs – and together, they set in motion a process unlike any we have ever seen. The mechanisms of life under totalitarianism kicked back in, often apparently set in motion at the ground level rather than imposed from the top.
Masha Gessen is one of the world’s leading journalists and critics of contemporary Russian culture and politics, including LGBT issues. She is the author of several books, including Perfect Rigor, Blood Matters, Ester and Ruzya, Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot and most recently The Brothers: The Road to an American Tragedy. Her most recent book is Where the Jews Aren’t: The Sad and Absurd Story of Birobidzhan.
Hosted by: The Program in Jewish Culture & Society/ Krouse Family Visiting Scholars in Judaism and Western Culture Fund and Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center, and in conjunction with: Center for Global Studies, Cline Center for Democracy, Department of Anthropology, Department of English, Department of Gender & Women's Studies, Department of History, Department of Journalism, Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures, Department of Sociology, Hillel, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trangender Resource Center, Program in Comparative & World Literature, Spurlock Museum, Women & Gender in Global Perspectives Program.
Join in the Conversation with Masha Gessen and Christopher Benson on October 26, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. in the IPRH Lecture Hall, Levis Faculty Center, Fourth Floor (919 West Illinois Street, Urbana, IL).
Come and listen to a lively conversation between Masha Gessen, the Russian and American journalist, author and activist, and Christopher Benson, professor of Journalism and African American Studies at Illinois. The two will talk about the changing environment of journalism today; the ways that global social media shapes narratives of geopolitics; the payoffs and perils of being a critic as well as a reporter of the news; and the challenges of keeping up with the 24-7 news cycle. This is unique opportunity to hear first-hand how two journalists are thinking about the state of media coverage at a key moment in the US election cycle – and at a time when the world order seems on the verge of a paradigm shift.
This event is organized in partnership with the CAS/MillerComm Lecture Series and co-sponsored by the Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies Center and the Program in Jewish Culture and Society. Learn more about this event and read the participants' full bios at the IPRH Calendar:
http://illinois.edu/calendar/detail/4639?eventId=33238690&calMin=201610&cal=20161003&skinId=10050
Thanks to the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities for this information item.
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