Madina Seytmuradova
Contributor
The Troy University Russian Club will hold its second annual interdisciplinary student conference in October.
Students are encouraged to submit abstracts on the topic of “Center vs. Periphery” to participate and get a chance to publish their papers on new online journal sponsored by the club.
“The purpose of organizing the conference is to bring together students from different disciplines who studied Russia and the former Soviet Union,” said Michael Slobodchikoff, assistant professor of political science and faculty adviser of the Russian Club.
“It’s an interdisciplinary panel and conference, so students from history, political science, and really any discipline where they have written papers regarding Russia are welcome to apply and to share their research.”
To present their research at the conference, students need to send an application to Slobodchikoff, along with a 150-word abstract on the topic of relationships between the center and periphery in Russia and the former Soviet region.
“This could include historical papers related to the Cold War period or Russian politics as well,” he said.
The club committee will select the best abstracts and notify the authors. The students will then need to submit the paper to be able to present at the conference.
“I hope that students gain an understanding that this region has many issues like many others,” Slobodchikoff said.
Xavia Alloway, a senior political science major from Troy and vice president of the Russian Club, said students should participate in order to expand their knowledge about Russia and also to gain experience in research and public speaking.
“The more you talk in front of people, the better you get at it,” she said. “Because when you write your paper you should be comfortable about the research you’ve done and be comfortable with answering questions that people have, and it just builds confidence.”
The abstracts can be sent to Slobodchikoff at mslobodchikoff@troy.edu by Sept. 30. Selected students will be invited to give a 10- to 15-minute presentation at the conference.
The group said anyone interested in the topic is welcome to participate, regardless of whether he submits papers or not, by attending and posing questions to the speakers.
