Events
Upcoming Events
-
October 11
CREATIVE HORIZONS SERIES
The Holocaust and Jews in the Soviet Union: Art and Memory
Guest Speaker:
Yelena Lembersky
Date & Time
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
2:00 - 3:15 PM
Location
Marshall Student Center
Room 3707
4103 USF Cedar Circle
Tampa, FL 33620
About the Event
Yelena Lembersky is the author of a critically acclaimed memoir, Like a Drop of Ink in a Downpour: Memories of Soviet Russia, cowritten with her mother, Galina. She is also an editor and contributing author of Felix Lembersky: Paintings and Drawings, the first comprehensive catalogue of her grandfather’s art. Felix Lembersky produced paintings of the Holocaust, including Babyn Yar, that remained locked away for years in Yelena’s childhood home. The Soviets did not allow Holocaust-themed paintings in state-controlled public spaces. Her mother and grandmother refused to accept this censorship. Instead, they organized informal shows in their small apartment in Leningrad, where friends and strangers gathered to commemorate the massacre and see his forbidden art. After years of fighting the system, the three women left Russia and brought Felix Lembersky’s oeuvre to the United States. His Execution: Babyn Yar canvases, created between 1944 and 1952, constitute the earliest artistic representation of the massacre in Kyiv, Ukraine. Silenced by Stalin, the communists, and the Soviet secret police, Babyn Yar became the symbol of Soviet Jewish fight for freedom. In October, Felix Lembersky’s paintings will be on display at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg.
Sponsors
This IREES event is co-sponsored with ResearchOne, and is part of IREES's Creative Horizons Series
-
October 18
EUROPEAN SECURITY, THE TRANSATLANTIC ALLIANCE, AND WHY ORDINARY RUSSIANS SUPPORT THE WAR IN UKRAINE
Guest speakers:
Members of the J3-International Division from US Special Operations Command, including
representatives from Finland, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic
Date & Time
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
3:00 - 4:45 PM
Location
Marshall Student Center
Room 2708
4103 USF Cedar Circle
Tampa, FL 33620
About the Event
This event is part of the Forum on Russian, European, and US Security (REUSS) that is a collaboration between IREES and the J3-International Division at US Special Operations Command. Military representatives from Finland, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic will discuss their views on European security, the evolving role of the transatlantic alliance, and prospects for peace following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sponsors
This IREES event is co-sponsored with ResearchOne
-
November 1
Belarus and the Russia-Ukraine War: The Role of IT and the Belarusian Diaspora’s Humanitarian Efforts
Guest Speaker:
Sergey Barysiuk, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at PandaDoc
Date & Time
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
2:00 - 3:15 PM
Location
Marshall Student Center
Room 3707
4103 USF Cedar Circle
Tampa, FL 33620
About the Event
The people of Belarus took to the streets after Belarus’s dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko stole the 2020 presidential election. Russian President Vladimir Putin helped Lukashenko to brutally crush the largest protest in the history of independent Belarus. During the 2020-21 popular uprising, the founders of PandaDoc – Belarus’s first unicorn IT company-- offered professional training in the tech industry to police officers to entice them away from their repressive work for Lukashenko’s regime. PandaDoc’s efforts to encourage police officer defections prompted the Lukashenko regime to retaliate by launching a criminal case against the company’s founders. Today PandaDoc supports humanitarian aid for the Belarusian Kalinousky regiment that is fighting to advance freedom in Ukraine and to remove the illegitimate leader of Belarus.
Sponsors
This IREES event is co-sponsored with ResearchOne
-
November 16
Urban (In)Flux: The Impact of Russian Emigres, Alliances, and Legacies on Urban Processes and Space in Tbilisi
Guest speakers:
Joseph Salukvadze from Tbilisi, Georgia
Stephen Jones, Harvard University
Suzanne Harris Brandts, Carleton University
David Sichinava, Carleton University
Date & Time
Thursday, November 16, 2023
6:00 - 8:00 PM
Location
Patel Center Auditorium
4202 East Fowler Avenue
Tampa, FL 33620