The history department will host a colloquium from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Friday, Feb. 29 on The Russian Intelligentsia. The event will feature a scholarly abstract by Gary M. Hamburg, CMC's Behr Professor of Intellectual and Cultural History, exploring the origins and historical evolution of the Russian intelligentsia.
Focusing on one of the most widely discussed and controversial issues in Russian historiography in the last century, Hamburg's paper examines the historical evolution of the term intelligentsia, pointing out that it is a much older term than commonly thought. Hamburg sharply criticizes English-language histories of the Russian intelligentsia for unduly restricting the chronological range of the intelligentsia phenomenon and for associating the term exclusively with the socially "alienated" radical left. In addition, it takes to task the penchant of historians for subordinating the history of the intelligentsia phenomenon to the history of the Russian revolutionary movement.
Hamburg's paper will be discussed by professor of literature Nick Warner, associate professor of government Hillary Appel, and Pomona College professors Konstantine Kliutchkine and Larissa Ludova.
"Intellectual life that exists on campus but outside the classroom is very important," says colloquium organizer Nita Kumar, the Brown Family Professor of South Asian History at CMC. "Colloquiums such as this give students and scholars the opportunity to listen to each other and debate each other's work, which is very exciting for all."
Friday's event will be held in Pitzer Hall, room No. 3.
Copies of Hamburg's paper may be obtained by contacting Alicia T. Acosta in Frazee Hall, 909-621-8419 (from on-campus: ext. 18419).
The colloquium is open to all CMC and 5-Colleges students.