Academic Contributions of Russian Émigré-Scholars to American Universities in 1920-1970s

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

This roundtable is dedicated to academic pedagogical practices and intellectual contributions by multiethnic Russian Emigres-scholars in the US in the 1920s-70s. The history of intellectual immigration started when the “Philosophy Steamer” shipped out the best academic minds from Bolshevik Russia in 1922 and continued after WWII when DPs moved out to the US and started their academic careers in American universities. The academic experience and life of Émigré-scholars reflect the main idea: the Mind and the Self exist beyond borders and time. The roundtable participants will focus on the scholarly contributions of leading figures of the American-Russian academic circle: Prof. Pitirim Sorokin, a famous American sociologist (Harvard, 1931-65); Prof. Nicholas Timasheff (Harvard, Fordham, 1936-57); Prof. Michael Karpovich (Harvard, 1927-59), the father of Slavic studies in the US, and others. Karpovich’s prominent students, R. Pipes, L. Haimson, M. Malia dominated the field of Russian history in North America up to the present. They span the political/historiographic spectrum from the right (Pipes) to the left (Haimson), all acknowledging the profound influence of their mentor. We also will talk about the academic contribution of Prof. Leonid Rzhevsky (New York University, 1963-74), the famous post-war writer. The extension of the talk will be about Vermont academic schools, Norwich (1960-2000) and Middlebury (1946-current), that hosted émigré scholars for decades who contributed to the professional development of generations of American Slavists. The participants focus on the theme of the liberation of mind and spirit from suppression and the development of the principles of academic pedagogical practices.

Sub Unit

• History: 1945-1990

Chair

• Marina Adamovitch, The New Review

Roundtable Members

• Matthew E. Lenoe, U of Rochester

• Norman Pereira, Dalhousie U (Canada)

• Vasily Sergeyevich Lvov, CUNY Hunter College

• Roger W Smith, Independent Scholar

• Tatiana Smorodinska, Middlebury College