News

Nina Scherbak, visiting fellow

Nina Scherbak (St Petersburg State University) visited the Dashkova Centre on a short fellowship, investigating materials regarding Silver Age Russian literature.

School visit

A delegation of 15 students of Katrinebergs folkhögskola (Katrineberg Folk High School), Halland, Sweden, visited the Dashkova Centre for a chat about Russian culture past and present.

Sonnets Exchange Project

The Dashkova Centre and the British Council hosted a poetic evening.  Poets from Scotland and Russia united to celebrate Shakespeare’s Sonnets as part of the UK-Russia Year of Language and Literature 2016 and global Shakespeare Lives programme.

Russian Schools Poetry Competition

The Dashkova Centre hosted a poetry competition for Russian Schools in Scotland, with about 50 children participating.

Visiting student

Gulnaz Sigbatullina, a PhD student from Leiden University, was a visiting student at the Dashkova Centre. As part of her stay, she gave a talk on 22nd November entitled "The Russian language as a medium of religious communication: the case of Russian Muslims".

Marianna Shakhnovich, new Dashkova Centre fellow

Professor Marianna Shakhnovich (St Petersburg State University) works as a Fellow in the Dashkova Centre from 2-16 May, on a project on Simon Desnitsky in Scotland.

Erickson Lecture

Professor Alexei Kudrin (Hon Professor in LLC, former Russian Finance Minister) gave the annual Erickson lecture, on the topic ‘The Russian Economy: Structural Problems and Perspectives on Economic Growth’

The Marriage Proposal (Anton Chekhov)

University of Edinburgh Russian students give a performance of Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Marriage Proposal’ at the Dashkova Centre.

Russian Chronicles Gifted to University of Edinburgh

A Lavish Reproduction of an epic medieval Text Has Been Gifted to the University of Edinburgh.

Dashkova International Trainees

Valentina Verzeni is a first-year MA student in Foreign Languages for Communication and International Cooperation at the University of Milan, where she also obtained a BA degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures (English and Russian). Valentina will stay with us till July 2015.

Valentina Pudano is a second-year MA student in International Relations at the University of Bologna, is specialising in Eastern European Studies and Russia, and will stay at the Dashkova till April 2015.

Both Trainees will give assistance in the organisation of the Centre’s activities and will provide administrative support.

Research Fellow at the Centre

In December the Dashkova Centre welcomed one more Visiting Fellow from St Petersburg. Dr Elena Kalimova (Russian Academy of Fine Arts, St Petersburg, Russia), Assistant Professor at St Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Her research interests include contemporary art and media culture. During her fellowship at the Dashkova Centre, Elena has been working on a research project exploring the role of cultural diplomacy as an instrument of ‘soft power’ in the national foreign policy

The Dashkova Fellows Scheme

In November 2015 the Dashkova Centre hosted a Visiting Fellow from St Petersburg. Dr Vadim Golubev spent his visit working on his research titled ‘British and Russian media language: cultural and linguistic aspects of English-Russian translation’.

Catherine the Great’s Medals meet the Princess

The University of Edinburgh recently welcomed its Chancellor, HRH Princess Royal, for the opening ceremony of the newly refurbished 50 George Square – housing the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures.

Year Abroad Photographic Exhibition

The Dashkova Centre invites all Fourth Year students of Russian studies to take part in the photographic exhibition of their year abroad. Please send us (dashkova.centre@ed.ac.uk, with ‘Photo Competition’ in the subject field) up to five image files of your choice that, in your view, are representative of Russian culture, contemporary society, nature, or indeed of your most memorable and special experiences. Please supply captions for your photographs.The deadline is 5 p.m., Friday October 9.

New Volunteers at the Dashkova Centre

We are excited that three new volunteers have joined our Centre –postgraduate students Viola Erbach, Elena Granina and the Final Year Russian Studies student Robin Veale. Viola and Robin will run the Russian film club at the Dashkova Centre, while Elena will help in documenting our rapidly growing collection of books including both academic publications and contemporary Russian literature.

Welcome Party for Russian students

On September 23, the Dashkova Centre hosted a Welcome Party for all students and speakers of Russian, coming to study and continuing their studies at the University of Edinburgh. The party featured some traditional Russian foods and was an excellent opportunity to find new contacts, make friends and begin planning work in the University’s Russian society.

Visit by Ambassador Matlock

On Wednesday, 10th of June 2015, the Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1987-1991) Jack Matlock visited the Dashkova Russian Centre.

The Total Dictation

On Saturday, 18th of April 2015 Edinburgh is participating in The Total Dictation. The Total Dictation is an annual educational event aimed at drawing attention to issues of literacy and at developing a culture of literate writing. The event is a voluntary free dictation in Russian open for everyone taking place at the same time in tens of cities in Russia and around the world.

Dashkova International Trainee

We are pleased to announce that 19th of March the Dashkova Centre team is joined by Erika Perico, a first-year Master student at the University of Milan. Erika will stay in Edinburgh for 3 months and will support the Dashkova staff in organising of our series of research seminars, workshops and other events.