Category Archives: Conferences

Registration to XLVIII RSACS International Conference opens October 1, 2022

The theme of the conference is American Family in Flux as Reflected in Literature, Art and Media. 

Dates November 30- December 3, 2022

Planned sections:

  • Journalism,
  • American Culture of the 17-19th Centuries,
  • Contemporary Literature and Culture, with a Round Table Discussion on American Drama
  • Ethnic Aspects,
  • Gender Studies,
  • Fantastic in the Arts,
  • Canadian perspectives,

A traditional Round Table discussion: Imprints – Image of America and Image of Russia will also be held and dedicated to the memory of Professor Yasssen Zassoursky.

Registration starts October 1, 2022 at the portal Lomonosov 

Applications for additional sections or panel discussions are accepted until October 20 together with the names of at least three participants and should be sent to the address larmih@gmail.com

The deadline for abstracts is October 31. Letters of acceptance will be sent by November 15.

The conference will be held in a hybrid format, with a possibility for participants to present their papers online. Platform – Zoom.
Participants and registered listeners will be sent invitation links for conference sessions by November 29.

XLVII International RSACS Conference 2021 Schedule

DayTimeSection
December 1 Wednesday6.00 PM-8.00 PMOpening Plenary Session
December 2
Thursday
11.30 AM-2.30 PMSection 1. Journalism
2.30 PM- 3.00 MPLunch break
3.00 PM-7.00 PMSection 3. Contemporary American Culture of the 20th-21st Centuries
December 3
Friday
10.00 AM-12.30 PMSection 2. American Culture of the 17th-19th Centuries
1.00 PM-4.00 PMSection 4. Ethnic Aspects of American Culture
4.00 PM-4.30 PMCoffee break
4.30 PM-7.00 PMSection 6.
Fantastic in American Art and Culture
December 4
Saturday
11.00 AM-1.00 PMSection 5. Gender Aspects of American Culture
1.00 PM-2.00 PMLunch break
2.00 PM-4.00 PMSection 5. Gender Aspects of American Culture.
Continued
4.00 PM-5.00 PMCoffe break
5.00 PM-7.00 PMRound Table in Memoriam of Professor Yassen Zassoursky
«Imprints: Image of America and Image of Russia»
7.10 PM-8.00 PMClosing Plenary Session

XLVII RSACS International Conference Program «Преодоление: выработка идеалов и их отображение в культуре США — Overcoming: Cultivating Ideals through Overcoming Barriers in American Culture»

Plenary Opening Session  

December 1,  Wednesday 6.00 PM

  1. Dr. Larisa Mikhaylova

RSACS Academic Secretary

Journalism Department, Lomonosov Moscow State Universuty,Russia

Plenary Speakers Introduction

 

  1. Cynthia Lazaroff

 Cynthia Lazaroff is the founder of Women Transforming Our Nuclear Legacy and NuclearWakeUpCall.Earth. She is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and author of Dawn of a New Armageddon, a personal account of the Hawaii missile scare amidst escalating nuclear dangers, published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Hiroshima Day. Cynthia is engaged in Track II citizen diplomacy and mediation efforts with Russia and has founded groundbreaking U.S.-Russian exchange initiatives since the early 1980s. Cynthia is dedicated to catalyzing efforts in U.S.-Russia relations to reduce the nuclear risk and to working with people in Russia and all countries to move towards a world without nuclear weapons.

Cynthia Lazaroff Opening Words — American Studies Conference Moscow 12-1-21

 

  1. Professor Nikolai Popov

PhD in History, Leading Researcher

RAS Institute of the USA and Canada, Moscow, Russia

American and Russian High School Students –Direct Connection Against the War Threat

 

Section 1. Journalism

Coordinator Professor Yulia Balashova (St.-Petersburg State University, Russia)

December 2, Thursday  11.30 AM – 2.30 PM

 

  1. Yulia Balashova

St.Petersburg State University, Russia

Russian and American Almanacs Calendar Invariant

Comparative media researches are one of the most demanded areas, however, in fact, they have not actually been sufficiently developed in the historical aspect. The media comparative approach is based primarily on the socio-political, not the general cultural factor, which is not always adequate to the historical and journalistic realities. This type of publications as an almanac emphasizes the cultural code. Comparison of the Russian and American traditions of publishing almanacs is being undertaken for the first time. In these two diverging traditions, almanacs have historically functioned in the different cultural environments: elite – in the  Russian culture, and popular, mass –  in the American version. Nevertheless, almanacs  comparative typological invariant  reveals the unity associated with the mediatization of the calendar, the seasonal reading circle. As the main empirical material, the almanacs of the period of formation are considered, by the 18th  –  19th centuries.

 

  1. Linna Liberchuk

Independent Scholar, Moscow, Russia

The Ideals and “Pitfalls” of the Founding Fathers’ Actions: Interviews with Accomplished American Historians at the Library of Congress

Interaction and mutual influence of American history and culture presented through interviews in а book “American History. Conversations with Master Historians” (2019) by D. Rubenstein, a philanthropist, investor, founder of “patriotic philanthropy”. Using the chapters which discuss the Founding Fathers, the presentation shows (1) key points of interviews with historians in regard of unusual historical, cultural and social events in the country’s past: the Founding Era of the nation. The “Congressional Dialogues” program at the Library of Congress was designed for members of Congress, (2) the book includes a part of these “Dialogues”, which was presented to the general readers in Washington, DC at the popular bookstore “Politics and Prose” (2019) and at the National Press Club (2020) for national and international journalists, (3) inspiring moments of biographies of “giants” – George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin with focus on ideals which motivated them (e.g. independence, freedom, readiness to give up power, international relations, diplomacy), as well obstacles of the crisis we never knew: an unsupported military budget, hierarchy, dynasties and partisan biases, inconsistency of political processes and segregation, excessive trustfulness and personal mistakes. Conclusion: (1) The book is a powerful tool of studying interview techniques through international communication. A civilizational shift in 1776 affected the complicated, difficult and confusing world as our world does now. David Rubinstein’s exceptional professionalism in asking questions shows authors’ knowledge of history, enthusiasm and humor. (2) The collection of interviews presents different opinions about historical decisions which changed the course of the nation, the Founding Fathers’ destinies illuminating their values, respect for ordinary people, priority of revolutionary ideas in private lives. This book is an effective source for historians, political scientists, international journalists in a search for strategies for the international cooperation.

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Registration for XLVII International RSACS “Overcoming: Cultivating Ideals through Overcoming Barriers in American culture” is open

The concept of Overcoming is suggested as a focus for interdisciplinary discussion of both contemporary period of American culture – such as implications of COVID-19 and its aftermath, crisis of trust in social life and overcoming Trumpism in politics, –  as well as in history with the persistent necessity to overcome various barriers in building and maintaining ideals – be it religious divides or the barriers spawned by immigration status, gender, race or class.


Planned sections:

  • Journalism,
  • American Culture of the 17-19th Centuries,
  • Contemporary Literature and Culture, with a Round Table Discussion on American Drama
  • Ethnic Aspects,
  • Gender Studies,
  • Fantastic in the Arts,
  • Canadian perspectives,

A traditional Round Table discussion: Imprints – Image of America and Image of Russia will also be held and dedicated to the memory of Professor Yassen Zassoursky.

The deadline for applications is November 10. Letters of acceptance will be sent by November 15.

Though the conference was planned to be held on-site, at MSU Journalism Department, 9 Mokhovaya ul., Moscow, Russia,  still, due to anti-COVID-19 measures protraction, the conference will be held online during the same dates – December 1-4, 2021. Platform – Zoom.
Participants and registered listeners will be sent invitation links for conference sessions by November 29.

Registration

https://lomonosov-msu.ru/eng/event/7011/

Themes of RSACS conferences in 1975-2020

  • Conference I: 1975 Literature and Journalism of the USA
  • Conference II: 1976: Periodization of American Literature
  • Conference III: 1977: Great October Revolution Influence on American Literature and Journalism
  • Conference IV: 1978: American Romanticism and Modernity
  • Conference V: 1979: Realism in American Literature
  • Conference VI: 1980: Tradition as a Problem in American Literature
  • Conference VII: 1981: Ideological Confrontation Influence of Studying and Teaching Literature and Journalism of the USA
  • Conference VIII 1982: American Novel and American Society
  • Conference IX 1983: Literature, Journalism and American Political Life
  • Conference X 1984: American Literature and Journalism: Worldviews, Methods, Genres
  •  Conference XI 1985: American Writers and American Society
  • Conference XII 1986: Poetics of American Literature and American Way of Life
  • Conference XIII 1987: Great October Revolution Influence on American Literature and Journalism-2
  • Conference XIV 1988: Ways of Expressing Views in American Literature and Journalism
  • Conference XV 1989: Tendencies of American Literature and Journalism of the 1980s
  • Conference XVI 1990: Tradition and Experiment in American Literature and Journalism
  • Conference XVII 1991: American History and Culture in Literature and Journalism of the USA: Commemorating 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of America
  • Conference XVIII 1992: Reconstruction and Revision of American Literary History: Canon, Feminism, Ethnos
  • Conference XIX 1993: Ethnic Problems in Literature and Journalism of the USA
  •  Conference XX1994: American Literature in the World Literary Context
  • Conference XXI 1995: American Literature and Russia
  • Conference XXII 1996: Changing Styles, Trends, and Epochs in American Literature and Culture
  • Conference XXIII 1997: Literature and Culture of the USA: Poetics and Aesthetics
  • Conference XXIV 1998: Literature in the Cultural Context
  • Conference XV 1999: American Culture and Literature on the threshold of the Third Millennium
  • Conference XXVI 2000: Christianity and American Culture
  •  Conference XXVII 2001: American Culture: Globalization and Regionalism
  • Conference  XXVIII 2002: Mass Culture: An American Experience
  • Conference XXIX 2003: Literature and the Arts
  •  Conference XXX 2004: Freedom of Choice in the American Civilization
  •  Conference XXXI 2005: Word and/as Power: Author and Authority in American Cultural Tradition
  • Conference XXXII 2006 America Real, Imaginary, Virtual
  • Conference XXXIII 2007: Interdisciplinary Studies of American Culture as a Medium of Contacts
  • Conference XXXIV 2008: Interpretation of History in American Culture.
  • Conference XXXV 2009: Cultural Pluralism: History, Literature, Art.
  •  Conference XXXVI 2010: Nature and Sustainability of Culture
  • Conference XXXVII 2011: City and Urbanism in American Culture
  • Conference XXXVIII 2012: American Values: Devaluation, Reevaluation, Reconstruction.
  • Conference XXXIX 2013: American Culture in Multipolar World
  • Conference XL 2014: American Culture: From Making a Nation to  Transnationalism
  • Conference XLI 2015  Peace and Conflict Resolution in American  Culture
  • Conference XLII 2016:: Creative Communication: American Culture  as Communication System
  • Conference XLIII 2017: American Humor and Satire:  Functions and Forms
  • Conference XLIV 2018: American and Europe: Forms of Cultural   Interaction
  • Conference XLV 2019: Immigration and American Culture
  • Conference XLVI 2020: “Screening” American History and Dreams: Documents and Interpretation in Cinema and TV

XLVI International RSACS Conference Program

 

Section 1. American Journalism and Culture

Coordinator Professor Yulia Balashova (Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia)

December 3, Thursday, 10.00-13.00

 

  1. Alina Odoeva

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Institute of International Research MGIMO, Russia

The Dynamics of Television Entertainment Talk Shows in the US

  1. Svetlana Kanashina

Ministry of Foreign Affairs MGIMO, Russia

American Screen Culture In Modern Communicative Space (The Case Of Internet Memes)

  1. Nikolai Zykov

Journalism Department

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Historical themes in the Voice of America videos

  1. Yulia Balashova

Journalism Department

Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia

American TV Shows Deontology

  1. Alina Kuchieva, Maryana Karmova

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Russia

American vs. Russian Political Journalism on the example of V.Pozner

  1. Ranjbar Daniyal

RUDN University, Moscow,  Iran\Russia

The Evolution of American Political Journalism after 2016

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Plenary Opening Session December 2, 2020

December 2, Wednesday, 5.50 pm 

  1.  Dr. Larisa Mikhaylova

RSACS Academic Secretary, Journalism Department,

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Welcome speech 

 

  1. Maniko Dillon-Barthelemy

Educator, Executive Producer/Director in Southern Belle Production

Louisiana, USA

Social Awareness and reporting (documentary filmmaking)

The speaker will talk about how teaching social responsibility and awareness leads to a better reporting, how her students seek and pitch ideas for social issues films and reporting, and how a single documentary can change the law.

 3. Alberto Galina Mendoza 

Vancouver-based documentary filmmaker, Canada

 Social-issues documentaries: life in front of the camera and beyond

The speaker will explain why he started making social-issues docs, how his team built the relationship with their characters, how tough and how important to make social-issues films and what happens after the cameras are gone.

Maniko Dillon-Barthelemy

Educator, Executive Producer/Director in Southern Belle Production 

Filmography: 

Unlikely sex offenders, film’s description: https://newsheels.blogspot.com/2011/04/unlikely-sex-offenders-film-screening.html

PURPOSE: This session examines the steps taken throughout documentary production to produce a powerful, unnerving, provocative film like “The Unlikely Sex Offenders” that informs the target audience and impacts public policy.

METHODS: Two of the more than 800 Louisiana women who are registered sex offenders after being convicted of breaking the state’s 1805 Crime Against Nature law give gripping details of life as they live with the stares, stigma, and setbacks that define them because of the conviction. A state lawmaker who introduced legislation to change the law during production of the film goes through the history, hypocrisy, and hard road to amending Louisiana’s constitution.  Louisiana State Police explain their role in maintaining the state’s sex offender registry. All perspectives for the film are on-camera in an unscripted, content relevant setting. Weeks of field legal research at Louisiana courthouses, on and off-camera interviews, meetings with potential participants, field research, filming, location scouting, writing, and editing over a six month period culminated with the film screening at the Obama Administration’s Human Rights Film Festival in Washington, DC.

CONCLUSION: The 2010 documentary added the human touch Louisiana lawmakers struggled to make in their efforts to draft and pass legislation that made breaking the 1805 Crime Against Nature law by solicitation, punishable by up to six months in jail, a maximum fine of $500 or both, for a person’s first offense. It changed the punishment from a felony to a misdemeanor, as it relates to adults soliciting adults. The offender must register with police as a sex offender if he or she has been convicted of soliciting a minor on a first offense or after a second conviction of soliciting a crime against nature of an adult. Previously, breaking the Louisiana 1805 Crime Against Nature law as a result of soliciting an adult, meant if convicted, the offender possibly faced hard time in a state prison, was required to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 15 years, and the words SEX OFFENDER were capitalized in red letters stamped on the convicted offender’s driver’s license or state ID, regardless of the offense.

Alberto Galina Mendoza 

Vancouver-based documentary filmmaker 

Filmography: 

The Heart of the Children: Supporting Children with Refugee Experiences (https://vimeo.com/95486159)

This short doc was commissioned by the Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia, as an educational video-documentary for teachers in the Vancouver region with a duration of 10 min approximately. The purpose was for the teachers to learn about immigrant children recent arrivals and integrated into the education system, to understand these kids were probably dealing with trauma and how this is usually identified and how art therapy can help them deal with their emotions better and at the same time allowing better integration into Canadian education system and culture. The author uses kids’ art and poetry and their experiences to drive the mini-doc.

Million Dollar Med$ (https://www.milliondollarmeds.com)

This is a long in-depth documentary about rare diseases in Canada. The film won the Jack Webster Awards for the best health sciences journalist work. This project also was awarded the Edward Murrow Awards in New York, the USA for the best international small news organization.

XLVI RSACS International Conference Schedule

Day Section Zoom Meeting link
December 2, Wednesday

 

17.40-20.00

 

 

 

Opening Plenary Session

Plenary session

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89319925526?pwd=dGV3bDd4bWx6Z2ZYb0ZlNTF1QUF2UT09

Идентификатор конференции: 893 1992 5526

Код доступа: 542597

December 3, Thursday

11.00 – 14.00

Section 1. Journalism Тема: Zoom meeting invitation – Zoom Meeting Section 1  Journalism Larisa Mikhaylova

Время: 3 дек 2020 10:00 AM Москва

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87486615293?pwd=V2h6SnZVcmF3NGtCUjZRY0pFSFBrUT09

Идентификатор конференции: 874 8661 5293

Код доступа: 810656

14.00 – 15.00 Lunch break
15.00 – 18.00 Section 3. Contemporary American Literature and Culture Zoom Meeting Section 3 Contemporary American Culture Larisa Mikhaylova

Время: 3 дек 2020 03:00 PM Москва

Подключиться к конференции Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82567062902?pwd=UVo1SDBhSGg1L0lLL1BuOWFRbHc1QT09

Идентификатор конференции: 825 6706 2902

Код доступа: 042417

18.00-19.30 Section 2. American Culture of the 17th-19th Centuries Zoom Meeting  Section 2 American Culture of the 17-19 centuries Larisa Mikhaylova

Время: 3 дек 2020 06:00 PM Москва

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83114678024?pwd=VWlkdFRUL00rZWswYU1sbi9TMFBqdz09

Идентификатор конференции: 831 1467 8024

Код доступа: 392480

December 4, Friday
13.00 – 15.00

 

15.20 – 18.00

Section 4.

Ethnic Aspects of American Culture

 Zoom Meeting Section 4 Ethnic Aspects Larisa Mikhaylova

Время: 4 дек 2020 01:00 PM Москва

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87207089113?pwd=Sno2SFJMSHM4VU56TWxXaVB2VmV5QT09

Идентификатор конференции: 872 0708 9113

Код доступа: 331335

15.00 – 15.20 Coffee-break
20.00-21.00 Discussion with Alberto Galina Mendoza and Maniko Barthelme

here is the link to her film  to be discussed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u7xl9hppXY&feature=youtu.be

 

Discussion with Alberto Galina Mendoza

Время: 4 дек 2020 08:00 PM Москва

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87391071230?pwd=ZU1RY0pkb2lzcENyMkZPQVIrT3ovZz09

Идентификатор конференции: 873 9107 1230

Код доступа: 807554

December 5, Saturday
11.00 – 13.00 Section 5. Gender Aspects of American Culture

 

Zoom Meeting Section 5 Gender Aspects Larisa Mikhaylova

Время: 5 дек 2020 11:00 AM Москва

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87468105386?pwd=Q2dLcUpiYmRtTWlHeGlkamNuQ2hXQT09

Идентификатор конференции: 874 6810 5386

Код доступа: 347829

13.00 –14.00 Lunch break
14.00 – 16.00 Section 6.

Fantastic in the Arts

 

Zoom Meeting Section 6 Fantastic in the Arts Larisa Mikhaylova

Время: 5 дек 2020 02:00 PM Москва

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88410027597?pwd=cHZJaVpDL3FSdHYyanphVC9ES2Q3QT09

Идентификатор конференции: 884 1002 7597

Код доступа: 910612

16.00 – 17.00 Coffeе-break
17.00 – 19.30 Round Table discussion

«Imprints: Image of Russia and Image of America»

Zoom Meeting Round Table Imprints Images of the USA and Russia Larisa Mikhaylova

Время: 5 дек 2020 05:00 PM Москва

Подключиться к конференции Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86904815684?pwd=WlhUdkhZUUY3L0pxR1lTSU84cEhnUT09

Идентификатор конференции: 869 0481 5684

Код доступа: 356076

19.30 – 20.30 Closing Plenary Session Zoom Meeting Closing Session Larisa Mikhaylova

Время: 5 дек 2020 07:30 PM Москва

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89815557179

Идентификатор конференции: 898 1555 7179

 

RSACS XLVI International Conference Theme

The theme of the XLVI International conference of the Russian Society for American Culture Studies at Journalism Department of Lomonosov Moscow State University will be “White, Silver and Black Mirrors: ‘Screening’ of American History and Dreams”

Cinematic and TV representation of any aspects of American culture will become for the first time the focus of analysis at our multidisciplinary conference.

The dates of the conference will be December 2-5, 2020.

Planned sections:

  • – Journalism,
  • – American Culture of the 17-19th Centuries,
  • – Contemporary Literature and Culture, with a Round Table Discussion on American Drama
  • – Ethnic Aspects,
  • – Gender Studies,
  •  Fantastic in the Arts, with Round Table  dedicated to Ray Bradbury’s Centennial
  •  Canadian perspectives, 

A traditional Round Table discussion: Imprints – Image of America and Image of Russia will also be held.

Additional panel discussions suggestions are accepted until March 15, 2020 at larmih@gmail.com Registration link will be made available at March 30.  

XLV RSACS Conference “Immigration and American Culture” SCHEDULE December 4-7, 2019

Day Section room
December 4, Wednesday
10.00-13.00 16.00-17.30
  18.00-20.00
Registration
 
Opening Plenary Session
217
233
20.00-21.00 Tea and Pirozhki 217
December 5, Thursday
12.30 – 14.30   Section 5. Gender Aspects of American Culture             217
14.30 – 15.00 Lunch break  
15.00 – 18.00 Section 1. Journalism 217
17.30-19.00 Round Table discussion “Herman Melville Bicentennial” 103
December 6, Friday    
10.30 – 13.00 Section 3. Contemporary American Literature and Culture 217
13.00 –14.00 Lunch break
14.00 – 16.00  
16.30 – 19.00
Section 4. Ethnic Aspects of American Culture 320
16.00 – 16.30 Кофе-брейк 217
14.00 – 16.00
  16.30 – 19.00
Section 8. Geography of the US and Spatial Aspects of
American Culture  
103
December 7, Saturday    
10.00 – 11.30 Section 6.  Fantastic in the Arts   217
11.30 –12.00 Lunch break
12.00 – 13.30 Section 7. Canadian Dimension of American Culture 217
13.30 – 14.00 Coffe-break 217
14.00 – 18.30 Round Table discussion «Imprints: Image of Russia and
Image of America»
103
18.30 – 19.30 Closing Plenary Session 103
20.30 – 21.30 Farewell dinner кафе