Past events

Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed. 

Prior to 2019, seminars were organised along subject lines. 

Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed. 

Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

• 16th November 2019 - 'Jornadas de Español en Edimburgo: Español en Andalucía'. A professional development event for Spanish teachers.
• 8th October 2019 - '“Teatro político y comprometido en Argentina” by Professor Fernando Operé'. Professor Fernando Operé (University of Virginia, USA).
• 21st October 2019 - '"Nation Through Landscape: Rodrigo Rey Rosa's Use of Environmental Themes in Lo que soñó Sebastián" by Professor Stephen Henighan'. Professor Stephen Henighan (University of Guelph, Canada).
• 5th - 6th September 2019 - 'Transnational Perspectives on the Study of Spanish in Society'. The IX International Conference of Hispanic Linguistics and VII Biennial Meeting of the International Association for the Study of Spanish in Society.
• 13th - 14th June 2019 - 'ELE-UK 2019: Research and Practice in Spanish Language Teaching'.
• 23rd April 2019 - 'SPLAS Seminar Series: María Ángeles Pérez López'. Professor María Ángeles Pérez López (Universidad de Salamanca).
• 5th April - 29th June 2019 - 'Conectando: Scottish Encounters with Spanish & Portuguese'. An exhibition celebrating 100 years of the Spanish Degree at the University of Edinburgh.
• 27th March 2019 - 'SPLAS Seminar Series: Bárbara Fernández Melleda'. Dr Bárbara Fernández Melleda (University of Edinburgh).
• 4th March 2019 - 'Are you ready to catch the Basque wave?'. Basque taster session.
• 12th February 2019 - 'SPLAS Seminar Series: Cinema of/as Garbage workshop with Luz Horne'. Instituto Camões and CCLAS in conjunction with Film Studies.
• 28th November 2018 - 'The Cunninghame Graham Lecture 2017: Carlos Zanón'.
• 28th November 2018 - 'Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (SPLAS) Christmas get together'. DELC Festive Showcase.
• 13th November 2018 - 'SPLAS Seminar Series: Maite Conde'. Dr Maite Conde (University of Cambridge).
• 20th November 2018 - 'SPLAS Seminar Series: Beatriz Caballero Rodriguez'. Dr Beatriz Caballero Rodriguez (University of Strathclyde).
• 31st October 2017 - 'The Cunninghame Graham Lecture 2017: Carlos Zanón'. Carlos Zanón (poet).
• 30th October 2017 - 'Dos renovadores de la escritura del ‘yo’: Carmen Martín Gaite y Rosa Montero'. Professor José María Pozuelo Yvancos (University of Murcia).
• 27th January 2017 - 'I Am Tango. Biography of María Nieves'. Elaine Newton-Bruzza (screening).
• 18th October 2016 - 'Diálogo entre escritores'. Paula Varsavsky and Carlos Gamerro (writers).
• 30th September 2016 - 'Tango Negro - The African roots of Tango'. (screening).
• 7th - 11th March 2016 - 'Spanish Play: 'Maribel y la extraña familia'. Various students.
• 18th - 20th March 2015 - 'Spanish play 2015 - Enseñar a un ERASMUS'. Various students.
• 23rd May 2013 - 'La defensa de los indios en dos filósofos novohispanos'. Caribbean and Latin American Research at Edinburgh (CLARE).
• 6th - 8th March 2013 - 'El Florido Pensil'. Basque group Tanttaka.
• 2013 series - 'One Region, Many Peoples'. Various events on race in Latin America.
• 30th January 2013 - 'Seminar: An Early American Diaspora'. Dr Dodds Pennock.
• 2013 - 'Spanish play 2013 - El Florido Pensil'.
• 2012 - 'Spanish play 2012 - Bajarse al moro'. 

Centre for the History of the Book Seminar Series

• 29 March 2019 - Lucinda Byatt (Teaching Fellow in Translation from Italian and Lecturer in History), 'Janet Coats, founder of the James Tait Black Prizes' (in celebration of International Women's Day)

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Dates: 13 and 14 December 2018

Venues: 7 George Square, University of Edinburgh; L’Institut français d’Ecosse

Keynote speakers: Professor Nobuko Akiyama (Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo); Professor Nobuko Anan (Kansai University); Professor Fuhito Endo (Seikei University, Tokyo)

Organisers: Dr Fabien Arribert-Narce (University of Edinburgh); Dr Akihiko Shimizu (Cardiff University) 

In brief: A two-day international conference in comparative literature on representations of the face in Japanese and Western European art, literature and theatre from the Early Modern period to the present. Comprising 13 papers over five sessions, and three keynote lectures, the event was supported by the DAIWA Foundation (UK), L'Institut Français Écosse and LLC.

Dates: 28 and 29 June 2018

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Organiser: Dr Séverine Genieys-Kirk 

In brief: A two-day research meeting of the Dariah-EU Working Group on Women Writers in History. Bringing together an international group of 15 researchers, the event comprised panel sessions, a film screening, workshops and working group discussions.

Related research: Cultural Encounters/Dialogues; Learning to see the power of women

Find out more about research in DELC

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Date: 15 June 2018

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Organisers: Dr María Alonso Alonso, Dr Charlotte Bosseaux, Dr Véronique Desnain and Dr Fiona Mackintosh

In brief: A one-day symposium on the evolution of narrative techniques towards noir aesthetics in world literatures. Combining panel sessions involving nine selected researchers, and a facilitated conversation with author Christopher Brookmyre, the event looked at texts which favour the adoption of a new consciousness towards cultural politics, as they reinforce the connection between literature and public affairs. 

Related research: Language and Violence 

Find out more about research in DELC

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Date: 8 March 2018

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Organisers: Professor Rob Dunbar and Dr María Alonso Alonso

In brief: A one-day symposium bringing together established and early-career researchers working on issues related to Galician Studies. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, the panel sessions shed light on how Galician Studies engage with the most diverse avenues of research, with particular emphasis on new approaches within the Humanities.

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Dates: 2 and 3 November 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Keynote speakers: Professor Juliet Hooker; Professor Peter Wade 

Organisers: Dr Julie Cupples and Dr Charlotte Gleghorn

In brief: A two-day gathering on Afrodescendant film and media from Latin America organised as part of the AHRC-funded International Network, ‘Afro-Latin (in)visibility and the UN Decade’. Comprising a keynote address, three panel sessions and a roundtable discussion, the event included the screening of a selection of films curated by the Network steering committee and the Africa in Motion film festival.

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Events series: The World After Fukushima

Date: 15 September 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh; Summerhall

Organiser: Dr Fabien Arribert-Narce 

In brief: The third in a series of events on the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 and the future of nuclear energy. This international one-day conference, in English, focused on Post-Fukushima Art and Literature in Japan and the West. Comprising five panel sessions and a roundtable discussion, it culminated with a screening of 'The World after Fukushima' and a Q&A with its director Kenichi Watanabe and scriptwriter Michaël Ferrier. Generously supported by the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee. 

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Events series: The World After Fukushima

Date: 14 September 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Organiser: Dr Fabien Arribert-Narce 

In brief: The second in a series of events on the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 and the future of nuclear energy. This international one-day conference, in French, focused on the Tokyo-based writer Michaël Ferrier, author of the 2012 book 'Fukushima: Récit d'un désastre'. Generously supported by the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee, it comprised three panel sessions and a talk with Michaël Ferrier.

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Dates: 11 and 12 May 2017

Venues: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh; Scottish Parliament; and Italian Cultural Institute

Format: Six panel sessions; exhibition; parliamentary debate; in-conversation event

Organisers: Cristina Savettieri and Federica Pedriali, with assistance from Eugenio Cannovale, Domenico Crea and Carolina Rossi

In brief: A two-day interdisciplinary conference exploring to what extent and how the First World War, its representations and contemporary memory can be considered as a laboratory for testing identities at large.

Generously funded by the European Commission (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions), the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Department of European Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh, and the Italian Cultural Institute in Edinburgh.

The event included an exhibition on WWI landscapes by masters students at Edinburgh College of Art, a parliamentary debate on Nationhood and Nationalism Today, and a public, in-conversation event with writer Paolo Rumiz.

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Dates: 8 to 10 September 2016

Venue: Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities (Days 1 & 2); L’Institut français d’Ecosse (Day 3)

Organiser: Dr Séverine Genieys-Kirk 

In brief: A three-day conference bringing together 35 international experts to explore the power of women in Europe and America from the Renaissance to the present in panel sessions, exhibitions, a documentary screening, public talks and discussions. The first in an ongoing series of ‘cultural encounters’ between past and present, the event unlocked disciplinary differences and opened a new field of cross-cultural and transmedial investigation between playwrights, artists, filmmakers and others. 

Related research: Cultural Encounters/Dialogues; Learning to see the power of women

Find out more about research in DELC

Date: 3 to 5 December 2015

Venue: 50 George Square

Organisers: Creation of Reality Group, L'institut Français, School of Literature, Languages and Cultures

In brief: The first CRAG International Conference, organised by the Creation of Reality Group explored discourse analysis, environmental studies, cognitive sciences, history, education, anthropology, sociology, and more.

Date: 16 and 17 November 2012

Venues: Summerhall and 40 George Square

Organiser: The Swedish Institute and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh

In brief: In honour of the centenary of August Strindberg's death, Scandinavian Studies commemorated the playwright, author, and artist with a series of events held across a number of Scottish universities. These events culminated in performances of three Strindberg plays and extracts on 16 November by students from the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews. These were each followed by a chaired panel discussion. The following day, there was a day-long conference in 40 George Square which further addressed the reception of Strindberg’s drama in the Digital Age. 

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.

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Date: 17 April 2018

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre

Guest speaker: Shamil Idiatullin

In brief: Award-winning author, Shamil Idiatullin, gave a talk on his work and career, as well as performing a reading from his novel Brezhnev City (2017). This event was organised in collaboration with Russian Children’s Book Festival, and was given in Russian.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Date: 9 May 2017

Venue: Scottish Parliament

Guest speakers: Floriana Fossato (Centre for Media and Society, Russia and Oxford); Jakub Kalensky (East StratCom Task Force, EU) Professor Luke March (University of Edinburgh); Ben Nimmo (Atlantic Council Digital Forensic Research Lab); Andras Racz (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest); Dr Lara Ryazanova-Clarke (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A panel discussion between selected academics and professionals. In it, they examined the origin, transmission and promotion of narratives directed at the international community by Russia. This event was hosted by the Cross-Party Group on Russia, based in the Scottish Parliament.

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Date: 28 March 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: 

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Find out more about research in DELC

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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

Find out more about research in DELC

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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.

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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’.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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)

In brief: A public lecture from Professor Nancy Ries (Colgate University) based off her anthropological field research in Russia. The talk used Guy Debord's concept of 'the spectacle' to analyse a collection of military news and entertainment videos, some of which highlight contemporary tools and forces (Tupolev bombers over Europe, opolchentsy in Ukraine, bombing in Syria, Russian nuclear modernisation) and some of which warn of the coming 'Third World War' started by the US and NATO.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

Dates: 26 November 2015

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Research strand: Global Russians: Transnational russophone networks in the UK

Keynote speaker: Diane Koenker (University of Illinois)

In brief: Part of a two-day workshop entitled 'The Global Russian: International Travel as Cultural and Linguistic Practices', which itself is part of the research project ‘Travelling Cultures: Discourses of Russian Tourism in Scotland’ within the Dashkova Centre's Global Russians research strand. This lecture was given by Professor Diane Koenker, who was at the time Professor of History at the University of Illinois, specialising in modern Russian and Soviet history.

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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) 

Read more about Islay Life Explorer on our research page

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”.

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Date: 15 March 2018

Venue: 40 George Square

In brief: A screening of the play Evgenii Onegin staged and filmed before a live audience in Moscow's venerable Vakhtangov Theatre. The play was shown in Russian with English subtitles.

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Date: 30 June 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

In brief: A screening of 'Chitai, chitai', the debut film from Evgenii Koriakovskii, prolific Russian actor. The film was shown in Russian, and was followed by a Q&A session.

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Date: 27 June 2018

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Organiser: Dr Séverine Genieys-Kirk 

In brief: A public screening of Bertrand Tavernier​​​​​​'s 2010 film La Princesse de Montpensier [The Princess of Montpensier] shown in collaboration with The French Institute as part of the two-day event, Cultural Encounters Between North, South, West And East. Inspired by a novel by an iconic seventeenth-century French woman writer, the film was introduced by Dr Séverine Genieys-Kirk based on her research ‘Women of the past, Reception of women writers: Madame de La Fayette as a case study’.

Related research: Cultural Encounters/Dialogues; Learning to see the power of women

Find out more about research in DELC

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Events series: The World After Fukushima

Date: 13 September 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Organiser: Dr Fabien Arribert-Narce 

In brief: The first in a series of events on the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 and the future of nuclear energy. A screening of the 2015 documentary 'Nuclear Lands' (Kami Productions, Arte France), followed by a Q&A with director, Kenichi Watanabe, and scriptwriter, Michaël Ferrier. Generously supported by the Japan Foundation Endowment Committee. 

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Date: 24 September 2016

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Guest speaker: Ekaterina Eremenko

In brief: A screening of the new film 'The Discrete Charm of Geometry' (2015) by Ekaterina Eremenko, a Russian film director. The event began with an introduction from Ekaterina, and ended with a Q&A session.

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Date: 9 September 2016

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

In brief: MARCH (2015, 40 minutes) documents March of Women, a large-scale public art event in Bridgeton, Glasgow held on the eve of International Women’s Day 2015. Through a series of interviews with a wide variety of the participating women, the film considers the gap in documenting women’s history, and points to the resounding importance of having a female generation to both honour and draw inspiration from. A screening of the film was included in the programme of the Recovering Women’s Past conference in September 2016. It was introduced by Professor Anna Birch, Artistic Director of March of Women, and followed by a debate moderated by Professor Gina Luria Walker (New School, New York).

Related research: Learning to see the power of women

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Date: 2 July 2013

Venue: Filmhouse Cinema

Organisers: Department of European Languages and Cultures and Film Studies, University of Edinburgh

In brief: As part of the European Cinema Research Forum 2013, two departments in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures hosted a screening of Ghosted (2009, dir. Monika Treut). The film was followed by a discussion between Dr Leanne Dawson (German Studies) and the director Monika Treut.

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Date: 2 November 2017

Venue: City of Edinburgh Methodist Church

Guest performer: Vera Pavlova

In brief: An evening of music and performance with Russian poet and pianist Vera Pavlova, who played Tchaikovsky's 'Childhood' cycle. This was interspersed with readings from her poetry which she read in Russian, but English translations of her poetry was provided on a screen.

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Date: 31 May 2018

Venue:  L’Institut français d’Ecosse, Edinburgh

Organiser: Dr Séverine Genieys-Kirk 

In brief: The second in a series of workshops examining the lives and literature of female writers from the early modern period (16th to 18th centuries). Held in French, this event centred on the novels of Madame de La Fayette, with a particular focus on La Princesse de Montpensier.

Related research: Cultural Encounters/Dialogues; Learning to see the power of women

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Date: 17 May 2018

Venue:  L’Institut français d’Ecosse, Edinburgh

Format: Workshop

Organiser: Dr Séverine Genieys-Kirk 

In brief: The first in a series of workshops examining the lives and literature of female writers from the early modern period (16th to 18th centuries). Held in French, this event centred on the work of seventeenth-century playwright and novelist, Mme de Villedieu, with a focus on her play, Le Favori (1665) (H. Goldwyn and A. Evain (eds.), Théâtre de femmes de l’Ancien Régime, XVIIes, 2008).

Related research: Cultural Encounters/Dialogues; Learning to see the power of women

Find out more about research in DELC

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Dates: 16 to 17 June 2017

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Research strand: Global Russians: Transnational Russophone Networks in the UK

In brief: Part of the AHRC-funded research project, 'Global Russians', this two-day workshop concerned the imaginaries of 'Londongrad' - the British spaces populated and inflected by Russians, with a particular focus on cultural and media productions on the Russian presence in the UK.

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Date: 14 March 2017

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest performers: Grigory Kruzhkov; Lev Oborin; Marina Boroditskaya; Christine De Luca; Jen Hadfield; Stewart Sanderson

In brief: A reading of poetry by three of Russia's leading contemporary poets, as well as three of Scotland's. The poems used Shakespeare's sonnets as a stepping-off point, and the Scottish poets translated the work of their Russian counterparts into Scottish and Shetlandic. Guests received a complimentary copy of a pamphlet of the poems and translations produced by the project. The exchange was organised by the British Council in co-operation with The Scottish Poetry Library, and supported by the Edwin Morgan Trust.

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Dates: 29 July to 8 October 2016

Venue: Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh

In brief: Associating with Andy Warhol and the Beat Generation, Alice Neel (1900-1984) tended to exist on the peripheries of society. Telling the story of the turbulent events that shaped Neel’s life, The Subject and Me was the first solo exhibition of her work in Scotland. It was the latest in a series of exhibitions at Talbot Rice Gallery promoting the work of leading women artists, previously including Jane and Louise Wilson, Hanne Darboven, Jenny Holzer and Rosemarie Trockel. A guided tour of the exhibition with Principal Curator, Pat Fisher, was included in the programme of the Recovering Women’s Past conference in September 2016.

Related research: Learning to see the power of women

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Date: 8 September 2016

Venue: Centre for Research Collections, Main University Library

In brief: An exhibition of artefacts from the University of Edinburgh's Special Collections. A guided tour of the exhibition was included in the programme of the Recovering Women’s Past conference in September 2016.

Related research: Learning to see the power of women

Find out more about research in DELC

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Date: 29 February 2016

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Speaker: Dmity Vodennikov

In brief: An evening of poetry and performances from Dmity Vodennikov, an acclaimed Russian poet and essayist. This event took place in Russian.

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Date: 23 February 2016

Venue: Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Organisers: The Russian department and Princess Dashkova Russian Centre

In brief: A performance of Anton Chekhov's 'The Marriage Proposal' by three undergraduate Russian Studies students: Deana Davis, Anastasia Lopoukhine and Robin Veale. This 30-minute sketch was one of Chekhov's famous 'Шутки' (Jokes), and was performed in Russian.

Date: 27 November 2015

Venue: The Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, 14 Buccleuch Place

Research strand: Global Russians: Transnational russophone networks in the UK

In brief: This workshop developed the Dashkova Centre's ‘Global Russian’ research strand and is part of the research project ‘Travelling Cultures: Discourses of Russian Tourism in Scotland’. It brought together international scholars examining tourism from the linguistic, historical and cultural perspectives, and the practitioners who produce tourist discourses. The workshop explored tourist narratives as a product of cross-cultural interaction, and addressed the questions of how globalisation affects the narratives produced for and by Russian tourists, and what meanings are attached to the newly emerged phenomenon of the Russian globe-trotter.

It also featured an evening with Dmitry Krylov, a travel journalist and author of ‘Neputevye Zametki’, chaired by Lara Ryazanova-Clarke and Vera Zvereva (University of Edinburgh).