Past events - Lectures, talks, discussions and readings

Date: 28 July 2023

Venue: 50 George Square

Panel discussants: Jorge Egusquiza, Gretel Alfonso, Dean Luis Reyes, Dr Nikolaus Perneczky (Queen Mary University of London), and Dr Jessica Gordon-Burroughs (University of Edinburgh)

Organiser: Dr Jessica Gordon-Burroughs (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A discussion and panel on the legacy of Afro-Cuban filmmaker Nicolás Guillén Landrián and the recent restoration of his works, featuring Cuban filmmaker Jorge Egusquiza, Cuban artist Gretel Alfonso (Guillén Landrián’s widow), Cuban critic and curator Dean Luis Reyes, and Dr Nikolaus Perneczky. The panel discussion concerned the restoration project, the filmmaker’s legacy, and the broader challenges of Afro-diasporic archives.

This event marked the 20th anniversary of Guillén Landrián's death.

Date: 30 March 2023

Venue: 50 George Square

Featured guest: Lars Kraume (director, 'Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer')

In brief: A virtual conversation with director Lars Kraume on his 2015 film, 'Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer'. The event was chaired by Dr Paul Leworthy and held in a mix of German and English. It was followed by networking and discussion.

Date: 2 March 2023

Venue: Institut français d'Ecosse

Speaker: Anne Simon (École normale supérieure (Paris))

Organiser: The Franco-Scottish Research Network

In brief: As part of the Institut Français Écosse's Mois de La Francophonie 2023, Anne Simon gave a talk in French on the concept of 'zoopoetics' using the expressiveness of animals and humanity's own animality.

Date: 26 January 2023

Venue: Institut français d'Écosse

Guest speakers: Fabien Arribert-Narce (University Edinburgh); Tamzin Elliott (University of Edinburgh); Catherine Guiat (Institut Français Écosse); Elise Hugueny-Léger (University of St Andrews); Caroline Verdier (University of Strathclyde); Ed Welch (University of Aberdeen)

In brief: A round-table discussion in French and Q&A in both English and French to celebrate acclaimed French writer Annie Ernaux. Participants read book excerpts to the audience, then took part in a round-table discussion in French where panelists examined some of the key themes in Ernaux’s work.

Date: 22 November 2022

Venue: 50 George Square

Participants: Dr Frauke Matthes (University of Edinburgh), Dr Karolina Watroba (University of Oxford) and Dr Jenny Watson (University of Edinburgh)

Chair: Dr Hanna Schumacher (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A book launch for the last volume of the Edinburgh German Yearbook, 'Tracing German Visions of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century', edited by Jenny Watson, Hanna Schumacher and Michel Mallet.

A panel chaired by Dr Hanna Schumacher and made up of Dr Frauke Matthes, Dr Karolina Watroba and Dr Jenny Watson led an informal discussion and invited reflection on the "Eastern European Turn" (Haines, 2008) in German literature and its relevance in the contemporary cultural space.

Date: 1 June 2022

Venue: 50 George Square

Speaker: Dr Esther Whitfield (Brown University)

Discussants: Dr Frauke Matthes (University of Edinburgh) and Professor Federica Pedriali (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A talk that offered offers a reading of the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo and the surrounding areas of Eastern Cuba as a borderland region that shares a natural environment, a marking of human lives by isolation, and a body of literature and art privileging survival over political hostility. It drew upon an archive of poetry, art and memoirs by detainees and military personnel at the base and by Cubans nearby.

The event was introduced by Dr Jessica Gordon-Burroughs (University of Edinburgh) and followed by refreshments.

Date: 4 April 2022

Venue: 50 George Square

Speakers: Bel Olid and Borja Bagunyà

In brief: A conversation event with two acclaimed Catalan writers as part of the Catalan Culture Spotlight 2022 programme within the London Book Fair. The event was moderated by Sergi Mainer (SPLAS) and featured a Q&A with the writers as well as readings from students.

Date: 8 March 2022

Venue: Online via Zoom

Speaker: Nara Vidal

Discussant: Karla Bessa (Coordinator of Núcleo de Estudos de Gênero PAGU, Unicamp)

Organiser: Rosane Carneiro Ramos (Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies)

In brief: The inaugural meeting of the Palavreada Series of 2022, this event saw author Nara Vidal discuss the literary female voice and issues that have been central to her work, such as immigration, violence, mental health, stereotypes and social roles.

This seminar was supported by the Núcleo de Estudos de Gênero PAGU of Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) through the participation coordinator and researcher Karla Bessa as a discussant.

The series brought together women writers from Portuguese-speaking countries to discuss how the literary female voice can act in this context. 

With the aim of encouraging reflection on these processes of inclusion and diversity in Lusophone literature, University of Edinburgh (Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies), and Instituto Camões (Portuguese Language Centre) opened this space for discussion among students, researchers, writers and the community.

Date: 19 March 2021

Venue: Online (Zoom)

Organisers: Centre de recherches francophones belges; Institut français d’Ecosse; Institut français du Royaume-Uni

In brief: An online talk - in French - with celebrated Congolese author In Koli Jean Bofane. Hosted by Edouard Notte, the event was introduced by Laurence Païs, Director of the Institut français d’Écosse, and by the University of Edinburgh's Rector, Debora Kayembe.

Date: 16 November 2019

Venue: 50 George Square

Organisers: The Spanish Embassy Education Office; University of Edinburgh; Asociación de Escuelas de Español para Extranjeros de Andalucía

In brief: A professional development event for Spanish teachers, made up of presentations and workshops. The event aimed to deal with new trends in the teaching and learning of Spanish, with academics and professionals working in Scotland and Andalucía (Spain) sharing interesting reflections and pedagogical proposals.

Date: 13 November 2019

Venue: Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities

Participants: Kristoffer Noheden (Stockholm University, and Visiting Research Fellow at IASH); Ana Calvete (PhD candidate at the University of Helsinki); Angus Sutherland (PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh)

Chair: Dr Simon Cooke (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: Organised by Ana Calvete, visiting researcher at Edinburgh University, with the support of Cultural Encounters/Dialogues and the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, this roundtable discussion start with short presentations centred on the role of nature and the animals in the works of André Breton, W. G. Sebald and Peter Matthiessen.

It then moved to open discussion with the audience in which the attendees are actively encouraged to participate, debate the issues and share their ideas on our modes of thinking “the animal” and the integration of humankind in the natural environment.

Date: 21 October 2019

Venue: 50 George Square

Speakers: Professor Stephen Henighan (University of Guelph, Canada)

In brief: A seminar by Professor Henighan on Guatemalan writer Rodrigo Rey Rosa and the techniques used by Rey Rosa to dramatise the theme of environmental justice, as well as the significance of the jungle in terms of the trajectory of Rey Rosa's later career, all by examining his novel 'Lo que soñó Sebastián'.

This talk was co-sponsored by SPLAS and the Centre for Contemporary Latin American Studies.

Date: 21 May 2019

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Amanda Diserholt (Edinburgh Napier University)

In brief: A special guest seminar on psychoanalysis and contemporary culture, turning around Lacan’s notions of the drive and desire. Co-hosted with Lacan in Scotland, the event was chaired by Dr Katharine Swarbrick, Lecturer in French and Francophone Studies, who has written on Lacanian perspectives on the psychopathology of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Date: 23 March 2019

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Organisers: Professor Marion Schmid (University of Edinburgh); Dr Hugues Azérad (University of Cambridge)

In brief: The second in a pair of special events marking the visit of film director Pascale Breton to Edinburgh. Sponsored by the Institut Français d’Ecosse, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and AMOPA (Association des Membres de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques), the talk offered a fascinating, illustrated insight into Breton's practice as a filmmaker and scriptwriter - one of the most original voices in French contemporary cinema.

Date: 8 March 2019

Venue: Portuguese Centre Coffee Area

In brief: The weekly postgraduate poetry reading group in Spanish read and discussed poetry in Spanish by women poets from Latin America in celebration of International Women's Day.

Date: 7 March 2019

Venue: Potterrow Dome

In brief: To celebrate International Women's Day, the University of Edinburgh Water of Life Society, including our own Elaine Newton-Bruzza (Tutor and PhD student in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies) gathered together for stories and a dram that connect women to the world of whisky.

Date: 4 March 2019

Venue: 50 George Square

In brief: A language taster session for Basque, held to promote the new Level 8, 20-credit course on the Basque Language for Beginners in 2020.

Date: 1 March 2019

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Dr Anne Whitehead (Newcastle University)

In brief: A keynote talk by Dr Whitehead titled 'Past Imperfect: A Memoir That Is Ongoing' organised by the Connecting Memories research initiative in collaboration with Department of European Literatures and Cultures in LLC.

Find out more on the Connecting Memories website

Date: 4 October 2018

Venue: 50 George Square

Organisers: Italian Studies at the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee

In brief: A talk from Italo-Scottish artist Richard Demarco on his artistic, cultural and personal heritage. Richard was in conversation with Laura Leuzzi, Adam Lockhart, Stephen Partridge & Elaine Shemilt, and the talk was preceded by an introduction by Professor Davide Messina (Italian Studies), and a screening of Winterline (2014, 7 mins) by Elaine Shemilt.

Date: 8 November 2018

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Professor Jay Winter (Yale University)

In brief: A keynote talk by Professor Winter titled 'Silence as a language of memory: War, revolution and trauma, 1914-1924', organised by the Connecting Memories research initiative in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Modern and Contemporary History (CSMCH), the University of Edinburgh's leading centre for research into the history of the modern world. It was followed by a Q&A and wine reception.

Find out more on the Connecting Memories website

Date: 19 June 2018

Venue: G.01, 50 George Square

In Brief: A CPD seminar for Spanish language teachers held in association with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Date: 1 June 2018

Venue: 50 George Square

In Brief:A one-day event exploring interdisciplinary perspectives relating to memory, with a keynote by Professor Andrew Hoskins.

Date: 13 April 2018

Venue: 50 George Square

Speaker: Professor Richard Morris

In brief: Richard Morris from the Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems in the University of Edinburgh presented a talk titled ‘The making, keeping and losing of memory’ as the Connecting Memories group's first keynote lecture. It was followed by a Q&A and wine reception.

Find out more on the Connecting Memories website

Date: 17 April 2018

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre

Speaker: Shamil Idiatullin

In brief: Award-winning author Shamil Idiatullin read from his book Brezhnev City and talks about contemporary Russian literature as a Dashkova Centre seminar.

Date: 30 November 2018

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Dr Alicia Salomone (University of Chile)

In brief: A keynote talk by Dr Salomone titled 'Transgenerational memories in artworks by children and grandchildren of victims of Pinochet’s dictatorship' organised by the Connecting Memories research initiative in collaboration with the Centre for Contemporary Latin American Studies (CCLAS) at the University of Edinburgh. It was followed by a Q&A and wine reception.

Find out more on the Connecting Memories website

Date: 8 March 2018

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre

Guest speaker: Sheila Sim

In brief: An illustrated talk by translator and garden photographer, Sheila Sim, in collaboration with the Scotland-Russia Forum. Sheila discussed Russian garden history from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Date: 8 February 2018

Venue:  50 George Square

Guest speaker: Professor Peter France (former University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A talk by Professor Peter France to celebrate the launch of his latest publication, 'Writings from the Golden Age of Russian Poetry' (Columbia University Press). Professor France discussed one of the creators of modern Russian poetry, Konstantin Batyushkov, and illustrated his points by readings in Russian and English. The event was followed by an informal reception.

Date: 25 January 2018

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Professor Mary Buckley (University of Cambridge)

In brief: A book launch for Professor Buckley's latest publication, 'The Politics of Unfree Labour in Russia: Human Trafficking and Labour Migration'. The talk (and the book) focused on human trafficking out of the Russian Federation since the collapse of the Soviet state, as well as labour migration into it from Central Asia, and some internal movement.

Date: 18 January 2018

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre

Guest speaker: Dr Andrea Liebschner (Ural Federal University)

In brief: A talk by Dr Liebschner that examined words for food and drinks in the menu of nine coffee houses and fast-food chains in Russia. Using her most recent research, Dr Liebschner analysed formation of the lexical units, orthography and grammatical adaption to the system of the Russian language.

Date: 22 November 2017

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre

Guest speakers: Mikhail and Viacheslav Durnenkov (playwrights), Maria Kroupnik (arts producer and translator) and Irina Lukyanova (writer)

Organisers: School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures; Department of European Languages and Cultures' Language and Violence research strand; Nicola McCartney and the Class Act project

In brief: A roundtable discussion with the four participants, pulling on their various areas of expertise to explore language and violence in Russian theatre and literature.

Date: 24 October 2017

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 19 Buccleuch Place

Guest speakers: Vladimir Sharov (author), Peter Bagrov (film historian) and Kristina Matvienko (theatre critic and practitioner)

In brief: A roundtable discussion with the three participants in Russian as part of the Dashkova Centre's series of events marking the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution. Co-organised with the Moscow Institute of Translation, this event saw the audience hearing extracts from Sharov's work read by himself, and watching archival film footage.

Date: 12 October 2017

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 19 Buccleuch Place

Guest speaker: Dr Dina Khapaeva (Georgia Institute of Technology)

In brief: A lecture by Dr Khapaeva that examined the appropriations of medievalism by contemporary culture and politics, applying the concept of neo-medievalism to Russia.

Date: 18 September 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Ludmila Ulitskaya

In brief: A talk in Russian with Ludmila Ulitskaya concerning contemporary Russian literature and her own work. It was organised by the Princess Dashkova Centre and the Moscow Institute of Translation.

Date: 15 September 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Events series: The World After Fukushima

Organiser: Dr Fabien Arribert-Narce

In brief: The fourth in a series of events on the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 and the future of nuclear energy. An hour-long, round-table discussion chaired by Dr Chris Perkins (LLC), with Professors Doug Slaymaker, Lisette Gebhardt and Michaël Ferrier.

Date: 17 June 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Roman Borisovich

In brief: A talk with Roman Borisovich, an actor, political campaigner and anti-corruption activist who starred in the Channel 4 documentary ‘From Russia With Cash’. Mr Borisovich discussed the film and the perception of corruption in Russia and London.

Date: 16 June 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Alexander Kan

In brief: A lecture by Alexander Kan, BBC World Service Arts and Culture Correspondent, on the growing community of Russians and Russian speakers in the UK capital. The talk explored the ever-changing Russian cultural landscape in London, and attempted to project its evolution into the future.

Date: 30 May 2017

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Guest speaker: Dr Ilya Kalinin (St Petersburg State University)

In brief: A lecture by Dr Kalinin on the subject of energy resources in the Soviet Union, how they were used to advance the socialist cause, and how to to reveal some interconnections and correlation, as well as some mutual translatability, between Soviet power and electric power.

Date: 24 May 2017

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Guest speaker: Dr Katya Rogatchevskaia (Lead Curator, East European Collections at the British Library)

In brief: A lecture and virtual tour by Dr Rogatchevskaia concerning a new major multimedia exhibition by the British Library. The exhibition re-examined the Russian Revolution in light of recent research, using physical tools such as posters, maps, postcards, letters, newspapers, and ephemera.

Date: 11 May 2017

Venue: Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh

Guest speakers: Professor Angie Hobbs (University of Sheffield) and Professor Emeritus Sir Thomas Devine (University of Edinburgh)

Organisers and moderators: Professor Federica Pedriali (University of Edinburgh), Dr Cristina Savettieri (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A public debate and engagement event that tackled issues of nationalism and national identity in the wake of Brexit and against the backdrop of the spread of nationalist movements and parties across Europe. It served as a space of dialogue between academics, MSPs, students, and citizens, and was sponsored by MSP Linda Fabiani.

With the participation of the Italian Consul General for Scotland and Northern Ireland Carlo Perrotta and Professor Jeremy Robbins, Head of School for LLC. This event was funded by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Edinburgh (Knowledge Exchange and Impact Fund) and the European Commission (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions).

Date: 28 March 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Tatyana Tolstaya

In brief: An in-conversation event with Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian contemporary writer and public intellectual. She discussed her work, shared memories of life under the Soviet regime, and answered audience questions. This event was organised in partnership with the University of Glasgow Russian Speaking Society.

Date: 10 March 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

Speaker: Dr Rebecca Braun (Lancaster University)

In brief: A talk that explored how Goethe's ideas on world literature emerged from a larger conceptual programme of relatedness between people, things, and ideas, and will then move to a discussion of 21st-century literary networks.

Date: 9 March 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Professor Wolczuk (University of Birmingham)

In brief: A lecture by Professor Wolczuk, organised in collaboration with the Edinburgh Europa Institute. This talk analysed EU-Ukraine relations by looking at different types of boundaries of order.

Date: 15 February 2017

Venue: 40 George Square

Guest speaker: Professor Massimo Riva (Brown University)

In brief: Professor Riva gave a talk on the birth of a new, transdisciplinary field: media archaeology. The event explored virtual reality in the late 18th and the 19th century.

Date: 9 February 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Dr Derek Averre (University of Birmingham)

In brief: A lecture by Dr Averre that examined recent international developments and analysed the opportunities and constraints Moscow faces in its foreign policy.

Date: 25 January 2017

Venue: Appleton Tower

Guest speaker: Dr. Ilya Yablokov (University of Leeds)

In brief: A joint lecture between LLC and the School of Social and Political Science, this event saw Dr. Ilya Yablokov (University of Leeds) investigate the phenomenon of conspiracy theories, and demonstrate how journalists became one of the main drivers to their popularity in contemporary Russia.

Date: 17 October 2016

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Guest speaker: Nina Dashevskaya

In brief: An informal discussion and book reading event with writer and musician, Nina Dashevskaya, particularly aimed at children. Nina read extracts from her books in Russian, and answered questions.

Date: 14 September 2016

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Guest speaker: Alicia Kozameh (Chapman University)

In brief: A bilingual reading in Spanish and English by Alicia Kozameh (Chapman University) from one of her books. An author, editor and Creative Writing teacher, Alicia discussed the fictionalisation of her experience as a political prisoner, and as a political exile.

Date: 10 September 2016

Venue: Institut français d’Écosse, Edinburgh

Speakers: Professor Gina Luria Walker (USA; Chair); Professor Suzan Broomhall (Australia); Professor Mary Spongberg (Australia); Dr Elena Woodacre (UK); Dr Armel Duboit-Nayt (France); Dr Séverine Genieys-Kirk (UK)

In brief: Part of the Recovering Women’s Past conference, this public event discussed the representation in historiography and films of Catherine de Medici, Joan of Navarre, Marie Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots), Queen Margot, and Christina of Sweden.

Related research: Learning to see the power of women

Date: 10 September 2016

Venue: Institut français d’Écosse, Edinburgh

In brief: Part of the Recovering Women’s Past conference, this public event brought together four theatre practitioners to discuss their work. With the participation of Anna Birch (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland):

• Belgian playwrights and actresses Barbara Sylvain and Lula Bery talked about their play on Marie Suart and Elizabeth I, It’s so nice (2011)
• Alexandria Patience talked about her co-authored play on seventeenth-century playwright Aphra Behn, APHRA (1997) and gender equity in theatre
• Clarissa Palmer talked about her co-authored play Olympe de Gouges, porteuse d’espoir/ A Beacon of hope (L’Harmattan, 2012).

Related research: Learning to see the power of women

Date: 3 May 2016

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Guest speaker: Professor Marianna Shakhnovich (Saint-Petersburg State University)

In brief: A presentation by Professor Marianna Shakhnovich (Saint-Petersburg State University) that aimed to contextualise the activity of Semyon Desnitsky, a prominent figure in the philosophical circle formed in Moscow in the late 1760s, in the early history of religious studies in Russia. Professor Shakhnovich was invited to the University by The Princess Dashkova Centre as a Visiting Dashkova Fellow in May 2016.

Date: 30 March 2016

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Alexei Kudrin (Honorary Professor, School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures)

In brief: A public lecture by Alexei Kudrin (Honorary Professor, School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures) organised by The Princess Dashkova Centre, entitled ‘The Russian Economy: Structural Problems and Perspectives on Economic Growth’.

Date: 24 March 2016

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Guest speaker: Professor Sergei Zenkin (Russian State University for the Humanities)

In brief: A presentation by Professor Sergei Zenkin (Russian State University for the Humanities) that explored four aspects of the formalist externalism – the formal, the mimetic, the nomothetic and the historical. It demonstrated that the ideas of Russian theorists converged with some aspects of 20th century European philosophy, but in a different intellectual context.

Date: 18 March 2016

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Participants: Peter Davies (German); Kate Dunn (Hispanic Studies); Barbara Fernandez (Hispanic Studies); Rose France (Russian); Andrea Gullotta (University of Glasgow); Lara Ryazanova-Clarke (Russian)

Organiser: The Dashkova Centre

In brief: A roundtable discussion, as part of the Language and Violence research stream. Topics included defining 'prison/camp', spaces and boundaries, aestheticisation, and voice.

Date: 17 March 2016

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Title: Towards a New Understanding of the Gulag and of its Literature through the Prism of Auto-Biographical Studies

Speaker: Dr Andrea Gullotta (The University of Glasgow)

In brief: A research seminar from Dr Andrea Gullotta on finding a new understanding of the literature of the Gulag by considering a wide corpus of texts, including those which have been less studied to date (e.g. oral poems composed within the camps). In this event, hosted by the Dashkova Centre, Dr Gullotta discussed some of the features he has identified over the years in this corpus, and towards the end he also highlighted other aspects related to non-literary texts.

Date: 4 March 2016

Venue: 50 George Square

Organisers: The Dashkova Centre and the Calvert 22 Foundation

In brief: A presentation of Calvert 22’s London-based exhibition "Things Fall Apart", curated by scholar of art and film Mark Nash. The exhibition was named after Chinua Achebe’s 1958 classic of post-colonial fiction, and used the association to focus on a similar loss of utopian perspective following the end of the cold war and collapse of the Soviet Union and eastern bloc. Mark Nash’s presentation was accompanied by screening of Abderrahmane Sissako’s “October” (1993).

Date: 2 March 2016

Venue: 40 George Square Lecture Theatre B

Speaker: Yelena Khanga

Organisers: The Dashkova Centre and the Calvert 22 Foundation

In brief: A conversation with popular chat show host and possibly the most recognisable face of black Russia, Yelena Khanga. She discussed her life and career as a black journalist in the Soviet Union, the United States and modern Russia. This was one of a series of joint events between the Princess Dashkova Russian Centre and Calvert 22 Foundation.

Date: 18 February 2016

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Speaker: Professor Nancy Ries (Colgate University)

Organiser: The Dashkova Centre in collaboration with Language and Violence Research strand (DELC)

Date: 28 January 2016

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Speaker: Professor Mika Lähteenmäki (University of Jyväskylä)

In brief: A public seminar by Professor Mika Lähteenmäki, organised by the Dashkova Centre. In this talk, Professor Lähteenmäki discussed language ideological discourse in contemporary Russia and its role in the promotion of national unity.

Date: 21 January 2016

Venue: 50 George Square

Speaker: Billy Kay

Organiser: Dashkova Centre

In brief: Scottish writer and broadcaster Billy Kay presented and discussed his new BBC Radio Scotland series “The Scots in Russia”. He discussed the substantial contribution to Russia made by Scots from the 17th century to the time of the Revolution, and illustrated his talk with clips from the series.

Date: 8 December 2015

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Speaker: Professor Alexander Nakhimovsky (Colgate University)

In brief: A lecture organised by the Dashkova Centre, given by Professor Alexander Nakhimovsky (Colgate University). It investigated how class struggle and interpersonal relationships are represented in dialects of characters of Lydia Seifullina's novella ‘Перегной’ (Humus).

Date: 28 November 2015

Venue: 50 George Square

Title: The "Last address": how the idea of the public memorial becomes the basis to civil movement

Speaker: Sergei Parkhomenko

In brief: A public lecture organised by the Dashkova Centre from acclaimed Russian journalist, broadcaster, publisher and founder of several initiatives aimed at promoting civic activism in Russia. The lecture was given in Russian.

Date: 25 November 2015

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Dr Alan Macniven (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A public lecture, drinks reception and book signing to celebrate the launch of The Vikings in Islay, a systematic review of around 300 of Islay's farm and nature names, turning traditional assumptions about the history of the Scottish island on their head.

Related research: Islay Life Explorer (ÌLE)

Date: 16 April 2015

Venue: Scottish Parliament

Research strand: Italo-Scottish Research Cluster (ISRC)

Guest speakers: Dr Terri Colpi, author of The Italian Factor (1991), QC Lorenzo Alonzi, entrepreneur Gio Benedetti, screenwriter Sergio Casci, Archbishop Conti, entrepreneur Tony Crolla, solicitor Cesidio Di Ciacca, playwright Ann Marie Di Mambro and BBC journalist Giancarlo Rinaldi

In brief: The inaugural event of the newly launched research cluster, ISRC. This event was a discussion between guest speakers, as well as hosts MSP Linda Fabiani, Vice-Principal and Head of College Prof Dorothy Miell, and Italian Consul General Mauro Carfagnini. Discussants explored migrant identities in the light of contemporary debates on nation and nationhood, people’s mobility and integration “elsewhere”.