CONFERENCES AND LECTURES
Socialism Reexamined: a dialogue between Israeli and Soviet scholars on the evolution and experiences of socialism in both countries -
4/91
In April 1991, leading economists and historians from the Soviet Union, Hungary, Romania and Israel participated in an international symposium entitled
"Socialism in Crisis: The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe". The symposium was part of the Center's joint research project on socialism. Among the topics discussed were
the Russian roots of Israeli culture and politics, the crisis of East European communism, the social and political consequences of the communist experiment in Russia, and the
Romanian and Hungarian experience.
Program
Soviet Foreign Policy 1917-1991: A Retrospective - 2/92
In February 1992, the Cummings Center, the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Shevardnadze's Association for Foreign Policy
sponsored a three-day conference in Moscow on "Soviet Foreign Policy, 1917-1991 -- A Retrospe ctive". This important international event constituted the first open and
direct dialogue between Russian and Western scholars on the subject. It brought together leading experts from all over North America, Europe, Russia and Israel, as well as
prominent members of the Russian Foreign Ministry, military and intelligence communities. The conference attracted considerable attention in the Russian media and among political
figures currently engaged in formulating new approaches to foreign policy. In the new spirit of open debate and the opening of previously classified archives, the conference
participants reassessed questions of Soviet relations with the West, and policy towards Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The concluding session was devoted to an examination of
the future prospects of Russian foreign policy. Western participants were guests of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Parliament.
Program
Russian Historiography at a Crossroads - 4/92
The symposium, held in April 1992, focused on current dilemmas in Russian historiography arising from the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the emergence
of academic freedom in the former USSR and the opening of archives. Papers were given by Dr. A ndrei Sakharov (Deputy Director of the Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy
of Sciences), Dr. Mikhail Narinskii (Deputy Director of the Academy's Institute of General History) and Prof. Sidney Monas of University of Texas, Austin (former editor o f Slavic
Review).
Program
Russia in Transition: From the Soviet Union to the Commonwealth of Independent States - 5/92
The Center hosted the annual meeting of the Israeli Association of Slavic Studies in May 1992. The papers presented were devoted to a discourse on the
dissolution of the Soviet Empire and the impact of the process on future politics, on the nationali ty problem, and on identity and cultural consciousness.
Program
Unification of Germany -1/93
The Cummings Center and the Institute of German History, Tel Aviv University, sponsored a symposium on the unification of Germany, in January 1993.
Participants included Fedor Burlatsky, Ingeborg Fleischhauer, Anatoly Cherniaev, Viacheslav Dashichev, Igor Lebedev, Heinz Timmermann and Rolf Steininger
Program
Jews and Jewish Life in the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States: Past, Present and Future - 4/93
The three-day conference was sponsored jointly by the Cummings Center, the Graduate Center of the City College of New York and the Department of History of
the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was the first time that an international academic symposium on this subject was held in Moscow. The wide variety of participants included
historians, ethnographers, demographers, political scientists, and officials of the Russian Foreign Ministry and government. They engaged in a public dialogue on previously taboo
issues such as Soviet ethnic policy toward the Jews, Jewish religion in the pre- and post-War years, anti-Semitism in the USSR, the Doctors' Plot, the impact of the Bible and other
Hebrew literature on Russian letters, the impact of Jewish emigration on Russia's economy, as well as a roundtable discussion of new documents which have recently been
declassified.
Program
Central Asia Meets the Middle East - 10/93
This conference was held in May 1993 by the Cummings Center and the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University. The conference
brought together leading scholars from the US, Europe, Russia and Israel in the fields of history , sociology, anthropology, culture and ethnography to engage in a high-level
academic discussion on the Muslim regions of Central Asia. The participants addressed the legacies of the past, domestic trends and developments, long-term prospects for
cooperation and even confederation of the newly independent states, and the implications of independence for the relations of these states with the Middle East.
Program
Russian Jews on Three Continents - 12/93
In the past twenty years almost of a million Russian Jews have emigrated to the West. Their presence in Israel and North America and their absence from
Russia have left an indelible imprint on these societies. On 27-30 December 1993, an international group of experts in a variety of fields took a closer look at those who left,
those who received them and those who stayed behind. The Conference was sponsored by the Cummings Center, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and by the City College and
Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. Among the topics discussed were: Russian Jewish emigration in historical perspective; factors determining
the decision to leave; public opinion in Russia on Jewish emigration; absorption in the US and Israel; Israeli Arab attitudes towards Russian Jewish immigrants; and the impact of
the immigrants on Israeli politics.
Program
The Soviet Union on the Eve of War - 1-2/95
From 31 January to 3 February 1995, leading Western and Russian experts on the military and diplomatic history of the Soviet Union met in Moscow, for a first
frank exchange of views on Soviet foreign policy and strategy on the eve of the German invasion of Russia. The four-day international conference launched the official commemoration
marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The opening session was attended by the Ambassadors of Poland, Germany, and Israel and the heads of the Russian
Academy of Sciences. The Conference sought to present an innovative and coherent analysis of Stalin's policies on the eve of the German invasion, based on Russian and Western
archival material which had hitherto been classified, and by utilizing an approach which examine d both military and diplomatic aspects under a single spotlight. Key sessions
included: the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact; the division of Poland and Soviet occupation of the Baltic States; the Winter War in Finland; the German encroachment in the Balkans; the
German deployment for "Barbarossa"; Anglo-Soviet relations in 1939-1941; The intelligence community on the eve of the War and the events of 22 June 1941; as well as a
round table on the last day of the Conference devoted to the current fierce controversy on preemptive or defensive war.
Program
Russia and Israel: A Retrospective - 2/96, Moscow
On the occasion of the publication by the Cummings Center of the Memoirs of Aryeh Levin - Israel's Ambassador to Moscow (1988-92) - the Center and the
Institute of Universal History (Russian Academy of Sciences) sponsored a one-day conference on Soviet-Israeli relations. Participants included leading figures in the Russian
Foreign Ministry and Anatolii Chernyaev, the former personal adviser to Gorbachev on foreign affairs.
Program
Foreign and Security Policies of the Soviet Union in the Second World War: The Current Controversy, 6/96, Konstanz
The colloquium, sponsored jointly by the Cummings Center and the Philosophy Department of Konstanz University dealt with the controversial topic of Soviet
foreign and security politics in World War II. The Russian participants, who included among others, General Tsarev of the Russian Intelligence Services, and Lev Bezymensky -
Marshal Zhukov's interpreter, revealed new documentary material which throws fresh light on the Second World War.
Program
Between Germany and Russia - The Legacy of East-Central Europe - 10/96
Central Europe currently faces a major crisis of identity. The smaller countries of the region are torn by their respective affinities to the major powers on
the one hand, and to Europe on the other. The outcome of these deliberations are crucial for the future development of a united Europe. The issues addressed in this conference
included the concept of East-Central Europe, classic questions in political history, such as the interrelationship between the European system and the internal organization of
multi-ethnic Empires; the Eastern Question, the emergence of nationalities in a setting of empire; questions of cultural and political geography of power and identity, the
definition of Europe and its boundaries; the identities of Russia and Germany, the identity of Poland between Germany and Russia; the interconnection between minority-problems and
collective security in the 1920s. But perhaps the most intriguing question concerns the extent to which relations between Germany (Prussia) and Russia have affected the fate and
self-definition of people in this borderland of European cultures - the land `in between'.
Program
The Teaching of History in Contemporary Russia: Trends and Perspectives - 10/97
An international conference, devoted to the teaching of history in secondary schools in post-Soviet Russia, was organized by the Cummings Center for Russian
and East European Studies, Tel-Aviv University, in cooperation with the Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University in the framework of the project "The Teaching of History in
School and the Formation of New Historical Narrative in Contemporary Russia". The conference took place in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 27 to 31 October 1997.
The conference brought together historians and educators from Russia, Ukraine, Israel, the United State and Germany. The sessions focused on the emergence of new historical
narratives in the Russian classroom between the years 1985-95 and on the institutional and professional changes that have made innovations in history education in Russia possible.
The panels addressed the issues of history textbooks, the evolving role of the history teacher (with special attention to preparation in pedagogical universities and institutes)
and the teaching of history as a school subject in the context of overall educational policy.
The final day of the conference was devoted to the debate over how the Holocaust is to be taught in Russian schools. This was a ground breaking session inasmuch as the specific
fate of the Jews in the Second World War was a taboo subject in the Soviet curriculum. Among the participants were the Minister of the Israeli Embassy in Moscow, Mr. Avi Benjamin,
representatives of the Jewish Agency in Moscow and St. Petersburg as well as a number of Russian scholars, educators, and a large student audience.
Program
Pictures from the conference
Revolution and the Making of Modern Political Identity - 1/99, Tel Aviv
Program
Russia in Transition - 5/99, Tel Aviv
In 1999 Tel Aviv Univesity hosted the biennial conference of the Israeli Association of Slavic and East European Studies. The general theme of the conference
was Russia in Transition and the three panels were devoted respectively to Russian Jewry, Society and Politics, and Russian Culture. Most of the speakers were Israelis, the
exception being Professor Karl Eimermacher of Bochum University in Germany.
Program
The Gathering Storm: Strategy and Politics on the Eve of Operation Barbarossa - 5/99, Tel Aviv
Program
Democracy and Pluralism in the Muslim Areas of the Former Soviet Union - 11/99, Tel Aviv
In November 1999 the Cummings Center held a three-day conference on Democracy and Pluralism in the Muslim areas of the Former Soviet Union. Besides speakers
from Israel and the West, scholars were invited from Russia and a number of the states and republics in question. The lectures and discussion included both historical and
contemporary issues, some relating to specific regions, others of a more general nature. The conference papers will provide the basis for a book.
Program
Unravelling the Threads of Time: The Teaching of History in Contemporary Russia - 12/99, Tel Aviv
The aim of the workshop of the Israel Science Foundation "Unravelling the Threads of Time: the Teaching of History in Contemporary Russia" was to
examine the general subject of history education in contemporary Russia from different perspectives: from the angle of educational reform, as a subject of policy; from that of its
correlation to the development of modern Russian historiography; and from the point of view of its connection to the issues of collective memory and recreating the past. Since the
social role of history teaching is considered to be of major importance, significant attention was devoted to the role of the history teacher, his/her training and retraining. The
comparative approach provided additional tools for examining the issue of history teaching in Russia. Israeli educators and scholars presented their research alongside experts on
Russian educational system from Russia, the US, Great Britain and Germany.
Program
Russia at a Political Crossroad: Lecture by General Alexander Lebed -
3/2000, Tel Aviv
General Lebed, Governor of Krasnoiarsk District, was a
contender in the Russian presidential election of 1996 and was once considered a
possible successor to President Boris Yeltsin. He has been credited with ending
Russia's 1994-96 campaign in Chechnya within a matter of months of being
appointed security chief by President Yeltsin, but was ejected from office
shortly afterwards. Before that, he quelled a civil war in Moldova in the summer
of 1992 as commander of Russian troops stationed there. Lebed, who trained and
served in Afghanistan from 1981-82, rose to fame during the 1991 coup attempt
against then President Gorbachev, when he refused to deploy his troops on the
coup leaders' side.
The New World
Order: Russia between East and West - 4/2000,
Tel Aviv
A mere decade ago the collapse of the Soviet Empire was hailed by some in
euphoric terms as the ‘end of history’. The fall of
the Berlin Wall, the lifting of the ‘Iron Curtain’ and the withering away of
Communist ideology had evoked tremendous hopes for a unified Europe – a region
which now also encompassed the East, including a democratic and economically
reformed Russia. This conference will examine
the challenge facing Russia in establishing its new identity,
which will have a direct bearing on the course
of
its foreign policy in the future.
Martial Ecologies: Toward a New Strategic Discourse -
5/2000, Caesaria
International Conference on the use of force in the 21st
Century co-sponsored with the Curiel Center for International Relations, and
Jaffee Center of Tel Aviv University. Guest speakers included General Ron
Griffith, former U.S. Vice-Chief of Staff and Dr. Jane Holl, Executive Director
of the Project on the Role of American Military Power.
Israeli-Soviet Relations, 1941-1953 - 5/2000, Jerusalem
A symposium held at the Israeli Foreign Ministry on the
occasion of the publication by the Cummings Center of of
Documents on Israeli-Soviet Relations, 1941-1953
The Struggle for Aliya from the Soviet Union,
1953-1967 - 6/2002,
Tel Aviv
A symposium held in the framework of the Avraham Agmon
Project on the Study of Zionist Activity in the USSR. Topics disucussed include
the history and background of 'Nativ' (Lishkat Hakesher), the Israeli Embassy in
Moscow through the eyes of Russian Jews and Jewish national activity in the
Ukraine.
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