DELC Research Seminar Series: Vera Tolz In brief Date - 4 March 2025Venue - Project Room 1.06, 50 George SquareSpeaker - Professor Vera Tolz (University of Manchester)Title - Re-examining Early Soviet Approaches to Propaganda and Disinformation About the eventSince the 1960s, the Soviet media has been perceived in much Western research as the ‘Other’ to the Western media systems. This perspective has prompted researchers of Soviet propaganda to study their subject in isolation from global developments in political communication and from broader academic research in media studies.The isolationism shaped even the academic work on time periods (such as the 1920s) when Soviet actors themselves conceived of their work on propaganda and its influence on public opinion as part of translational efforts to theorise the role of information in modern society in the aftermath of the First World War.Scholars of Soviet propaganda overlooked early Soviet attempts to establish a new field of press research ('gazetovedenie') both in competition with and in collaboration with the concurrent Western research on media techniques and their impact on audiences. This seminar will tell a little known story of early Soviet media and propaganda studies, while raising a broader question about the pitfalls associated with studying a global trend as if it is a unique and exceptional case.About the speakerVera Tolz is the Sir William Mather Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Manchester. She achieved her MA in Classics from Saint Petersburg State University in 1981, and her PhD in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Birmingham in 1993.She has published and co-edited multiple books, including 'Nation, Ethnicity and Race on Russian Television' (2015), 'Nation and Empire at War' (2015), and 'Russia, Disinformation, and the Liberal Order' (2024). Her research interests include nationalism, ethnic politics and the relationship between imperial and national visions of collective identity in modern and contemporary Russia.How to attendThis event is free to attend and open to all. No registration is required - just come along!About the seminar seriesThe DELC Research Seminar Series (DRSS) encourages collaboration and coproduction between staff and students across European Languages and Cultures and beyond.Entry is free and everyone is welcome. No registration is necessary.Are you interested in studying European Languages and Cultures?Our interdisciplinary environment brings together specialists in nine European languages, and the many cultures worldwide in which they're spoken, with experts in film, literature, theatre, translation and intermediality. Working with colleagues elsewhere in LLC, and across the wider University, we are able to support research which crosses boundaries between disciplines and/or languages. Find out more about studying with us Mar 04 2025 17.10 - 18.10 DELC Research Seminar Series: Vera Tolz An in-person seminar by Professor Vera Tolz that will attempt to re-frame and re-examine early Soviet propaganda, and to situate it alongside Western media. Project Room 1.06 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue: 50 George Square
DELC Research Seminar Series: Vera Tolz In brief Date - 4 March 2025Venue - Project Room 1.06, 50 George SquareSpeaker - Professor Vera Tolz (University of Manchester)Title - Re-examining Early Soviet Approaches to Propaganda and Disinformation About the eventSince the 1960s, the Soviet media has been perceived in much Western research as the ‘Other’ to the Western media systems. This perspective has prompted researchers of Soviet propaganda to study their subject in isolation from global developments in political communication and from broader academic research in media studies.The isolationism shaped even the academic work on time periods (such as the 1920s) when Soviet actors themselves conceived of their work on propaganda and its influence on public opinion as part of translational efforts to theorise the role of information in modern society in the aftermath of the First World War.Scholars of Soviet propaganda overlooked early Soviet attempts to establish a new field of press research ('gazetovedenie') both in competition with and in collaboration with the concurrent Western research on media techniques and their impact on audiences. This seminar will tell a little known story of early Soviet media and propaganda studies, while raising a broader question about the pitfalls associated with studying a global trend as if it is a unique and exceptional case.About the speakerVera Tolz is the Sir William Mather Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Manchester. She achieved her MA in Classics from Saint Petersburg State University in 1981, and her PhD in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Birmingham in 1993.She has published and co-edited multiple books, including 'Nation, Ethnicity and Race on Russian Television' (2015), 'Nation and Empire at War' (2015), and 'Russia, Disinformation, and the Liberal Order' (2024). Her research interests include nationalism, ethnic politics and the relationship between imperial and national visions of collective identity in modern and contemporary Russia.How to attendThis event is free to attend and open to all. No registration is required - just come along!About the seminar seriesThe DELC Research Seminar Series (DRSS) encourages collaboration and coproduction between staff and students across European Languages and Cultures and beyond.Entry is free and everyone is welcome. No registration is necessary.Are you interested in studying European Languages and Cultures?Our interdisciplinary environment brings together specialists in nine European languages, and the many cultures worldwide in which they're spoken, with experts in film, literature, theatre, translation and intermediality. Working with colleagues elsewhere in LLC, and across the wider University, we are able to support research which crosses boundaries between disciplines and/or languages. Find out more about studying with us Mar 04 2025 17.10 - 18.10 DELC Research Seminar Series: Vera Tolz An in-person seminar by Professor Vera Tolz that will attempt to re-frame and re-examine early Soviet propaganda, and to situate it alongside Western media. Project Room 1.06 50 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9LH Find the venue: 50 George Square
Mar 04 2025 17.10 - 18.10 DELC Research Seminar Series: Vera Tolz An in-person seminar by Professor Vera Tolz that will attempt to re-frame and re-examine early Soviet propaganda, and to situate it alongside Western media.
