Master of Arts, Miami University, 2024, History

This thesis focuses on the early post-Soviet period and explores the history of the Cherkizovsky market (Moscow, Russia). Being the largest and most high-profile market, Cherkizovsky epitomized the golden era of street trade. It emerged from the Soviet collapse in a wasteland and became by the mid-2000s the largest open-air market in Europe with almost 100,000 traders from China and Central Asia working and a total daily profit reaching $1,000,000. Due to its unprecedented size and notorious reputation, Cherkizovsky was always on the cutting edge of any discussion of markets which were criticized for increases in crime rates, illegal migration from Asia, drug traffic, and ghettoization of close neighborhoods. Russian authorities shut down the market in 2009 in a very authoritarian manner, promising “civilized” trade and renovation in its place. Instead, the market was turned into a wasteland again and remains largely so to this day. This story portrays the upheavals and turns that took place in post-Soviet Russia between the state and society. It demonstrates how the state regulation of public space and street trade changed in the 1990s–2000s, and how the Cherkizovsky market was discredited as an “uncivilized” place and became a multifaceted symbol.

Committee: Stephen Norris (Advisor); Neringa Klumbyte (Committee Member); Daniel Prior (Committee Member) Subjects: History; Russian History

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2022, Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies

Similar to the space race or nuclear arms race, Olympic competition was a battle between East and West in the Cold War. This thesis examines Soviet engagement in the 1952 Summer Olympics as a form of early Soviet cultural diplomacy and originally claims that Soviet propaganda portrayed the Cold War as a battle for peace. It also identifies the Soviet Union's 1952 Olympic debut as a precursor to the Soviet Union's engagement in international cultural diplomacy emerging in 1956. By analyzing publications of the Soviet press, this thesis argues that the Soviet Union aimed to prove the ideological supremacy of socialism not only through excellent athletic performances, but also by demonstrating the superior moral consciousness of Soviet athletes. To do so, the Soviet press applied its ‘peace offensive' to sport and highlighted parallels between core tenants of Olympism and socialist ideology, such as egalitarianism and international friendship. Soviet newspapers lauded Soviet athletes as fierce defenders of the Olympic Games and invoked the memory of World War II to condemn the ‘capitalist perversion' of sport by ‘warmongering' Western nations—most commonly, these criticisms targeted the United States. The thesis then examines the depictions of individual Soviet athletes. Patriotic biographical sketches presented Soviet Olympians as hero athletes who exemplified the New Soviet Person. These inspirational depictions urged Soviet youth to pursue sport and mobilize for the battle for peace—that is, the Cold War. This research is increasingly relevant in 2022 following the Russian Federation's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as Russian media eerily presents a narrative of fascist aggression against Russian athletes.

Committee: David Hoffmann (Advisor); Theodora Dragostinova (Committee Member) Subjects: East European Studies; History; Russian History; Slavic Studies

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

For over one hundred years, the centralized Soviet system determined the urban landscape of Georgia. Housing complexes such as those seen in Gldani District and similar microrayons (pre-planned residential complexes) continue to plague Georgia's capital city, Tbilisi, in its post-Soviet life. Due to this imposition, many of the city's citizens have been left to grapple with redefining their architectural and urban identity. Authors like Joanna Warsza in her book The Ministry of Highways question whether or not Georgian society will allow these sites to remain in their current state. This thesis will contribute to preserving the historical value of these communities and buildings while simultaneously redefining and renewing the spaces under the design criteria of David Sim's Soft City. The research for this paper will analyze the history of the existing building fabric and propose adaptations derived from precedent and other novel solutions to achieve responses to emerging social trends. The documentation of one selected site and a proposal for adaptive reuse will act as a scalable driver for other sites facing the same issues. This thesis intends to provide a proper answer to the question of adaptation by engaging in palimpsest, or the act of reusing and altering these spaces while ensuring that they bear visible traces of their earlier forms. Maintaining the context is part of the historic identity of the site and past programs; the alterations are required for continued use. The aim is to provide a feasible solution for adaptive reuse and to “soften” the microrayons commonly found in Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs). Furthermore, this work expects to raise consciousness about the wide array of endangered Soviet large housing estates (LHEs) that still exist throughout Eurasia so that the challenges of utilizing such locations in a contemporary urban context are brought into the general knowledge of architectural education and practice.

Committee: Edward Mitchell M.Arch (Committee Member); Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Architecture

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, History

For most of Soviet history, sex and sexuality were forbidden topics. The official state position was that sex was primarily a means to an end: the conception of future Soviet generations. The state enforced this hushed tenet by restricting discourses on sex in film, the press, and medical journals. However, Gorbachev's glasnost (“openness”) policy relaxed censorship and allowed Soviet people to explore the role of sex in society openly. Between 1986 and 1991, the USSR saw an unprecedented explosion of public discussions on sex and sexuality among journalists, filmmakers, medical clinicians, policy makers, activists, and others interested in the topic. Soviet researchers unearthed realities that the state had attempted to conceal, such as rampant prostitution, sexually transmitted disease (STDs), and high rates of sexual violence. This dissertation argues that a sexual revolution took place in the USSR between 1986 and 1991, due in large part to glasnost. The sexual revolution was mainly a discursive one, in which glasnost allowed journalists, artists, filmmakers, writers, academics, activists, and medical clinicians to publicly debate the terms of sexual citizenship through artistic depictions, medical and sociological studies, legislative decisions, news discourse, and independent publishing. However, the Soviet sexual revolution also brought about discernable changes in sexual behaviors and identities. Some people began to see sexual freedom as a vital aspect of a wider social and political liberation within Soviet society. And when they could not reconcile sexual liberation with the Soviet system, these people began to envision alternatives. Thus, my dissertation explores the Soviet sexual revolution and evaluates its form and function. I show throughout this project that sexual liberation and gender equality could not be achieved within the confines of the Soviet system. As many people, especially LGBT+ activists, came to believe (and express), liberation (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David Hoffmann (Advisor); Nicholas Breyfogle (Advisor); Mytheli Sreenivas (Committee Member) Subjects: European History; Gender; Gender Studies; History; Russian History; Slavic Studies; World History

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2022, Slavic and East European Studies

In this thesis I explore the historic roots and origins of the political and ideological dispute between Moldova and Pridnestrovie. Why did these two regions become divided as the Soviet Union collapsed? An examination of the history of Pridnestrovie during the final years of the Soviet Union (1989-1990) and the actions, rhetoric, and motivations of Moldovan and Pridnestrovian actors demonstrates that the main factors of the dispute were 1) the Pridnestrovians' fears of excessive Romanian influence and 2) debates over the roles of linguistic equality, multiculturalism, and regional autonomy in the future Moldova. The use of primary-source news articles, interviews, and Party and government documents allows me to detail the Pridnestrovians' fears of so-called “Romanianization” and their attachment to polylingualism, multiculturalism, and regional autonomy— ideas rooted in Soviet nationality policy. This is coupled with secondary sources detailing Soviet nationality policy, which I use to place Pridnestrovie in comparison with other Soviet regions. Finally, I present modern day Pridnestrovian sources to further explore the legacy of Soviet policy and to relate this dispute to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. My examination of the region's history shows that Pridnestrovie maintained its multicultural character, causing multinational population to eschew ethnic nationalism. This thesis adds to our knowledge of Moldova and Pridnestrovie by illustrating the meaning of Romanianization and by examining the term's historic usage in the Russian language and its relation to the fascist occupation of Pridnestrovie during World War II. Additionally, this work is important because I draw connections to the actions and rhetoric of Pridnestrovians in the late Soviet period to the tenets of Soviet nationality policy. Ultimately, this thesis conveys the Pridnestrovians' story and expands on the deeply rooted issues and historic trends, which caused the Moldo-Pridnestrovian split (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Nicholas Breyfogle (Advisor); David Hoffmann (Committee Member) Subjects: East European Studies; European History; History; Russian History; Slavic Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1991, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Political Science

BA, Oberlin College, 2022, Russian and East European Studies

The Siberian punk movement of the 1980s is often regarded as the Soviet Union's most aesthetically and politically iconoclastic rock underground. Amidst the numerous bands the scene produced, none has matched the notoriety of Grazhdanskaia Oborona (Civil Defense) and its leader Egor Letov. At first glance, Letov's songs declaring hatred for the “totalitarian” Soviet Union and its destruction of the individual evoke associations with the previous generation of Soviet dissidents, who used the term “totalitarianism” to contrast the Soviet system with the Western democracy they admired. Yet Letov, who rejected democratic reforms and after the collapse of the USSR proclaimed himself as an ardent communist, described totalitarianism not as a form of government but as an inborn state of being. Accordingly, resistance toward the Soviet state became a manifestation of the struggle against human nature. Totalitarianism thus serves as a lens through which to examine the role of radical politics in Grazhdanskaia Oborona: a reflection of existential rebellion. By analyzing his interviews and musical output in the mid- to late-1980s, I argue that Letov manipulates listeners' understandings of what it meant to be “against” in the Soviet Union by drawing from existing rhetoric of political protest, replacing the image of the liberal dissident with that of a rebel whose radical politics reflect an existential struggle. I demonstrate his conception of totalitarianism as a line of continuity between his “anti-Soviet” and “pro-communist” years. In doing so, I present Letov as a figure whose works defy conventions of liberal political resistance traditionally employed by Western scholars of the Soviet Union.

Committee: Vladimir Ivantsov (Advisor); Thomas Newlin (Committee Member); Nicholas Romeo Bujalski (Committee Member) Subjects: East European Studies; Russian History; Slavic Studies

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2022, Slavic and East European Studies

In 1923, the leadership of the Soviet Union set forth resolutions announcing their commitment to supporting the development of national communities throughout the Union. These resolutions decentralized decision-making and opened a relatively unfettered intellectual space for national development. The policy lasted through the end of the 1920s when the Central Party became disillusioned because of national communities' demands for more autonomy or independence. The Central Party believed national development should be directed toward building a socialist country, but some national communities were wary of Moscow's influence. As a result, the Party began to target the national communities in the late 1920s and turned to terror in the 1930s to centralize power. I argue that the trajectory of the Ukrainian writers in Kharkiv from 1925 to 1934 offers a very personal but also analytically fertile example of changing Soviet policies. Their story sheds light on a generation of hopeful revolutionary writers that experienced two very different realities as the Stalin-led Soviet Union tried to consolidate its power: wide-ranging creative opportunities followed by unfathomable terror. The lives of Mykola Khvylovy, Ostap Vyshnya, and Mike Johansen, and the creation of Slovo House, where they came to live, demonstrate how writers in Kharkiv freely worked to develop a system where Ukraine's fledgling culture and economy could progress within the Soviet system. The Slovo House, which the writers completed in 1930, transformed from their dream home to their prison. The trajectory of the writers, and their eventual arrests and murders, highlights the Soviet state's transformation from a relatively decentralized state with an emphasis on nationalization to a centralized state machine.

Committee: Angela Brintlinger (Committee Member); Nicholas Breyfogle (Advisor) Subjects: History; Slavic Studies

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2022, Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures

This paper explores the collective memory of Guzel' Yakhina in her novel Zuleikha opens her eyes (2015). In 2020, the novel was transformed into a television series where it reached an even larger audience. The representation of Tatar Muslim culture in this work of contemporary Russian literature and television will be analyzed. Yakhina negotiates between historical memories and old stereotypes as she frames Zuleikha's story of acceptance into her Siberian labor camp and Soviet society. Although the Soviet Union does not exist as a physical space anymore, in recent years, Russia has developed historical memory projects that focus on the period of Stalinism (1927-1953) as a source of national pride. The positive depiction of exile seen in both the novel and television series is problematic because it promotes deculturalization and continues to erase the Muslim identity in Russia. First, analyzing the representation of a Tatar Muslim woman on television revealed a trope of unveiling held onto by the Russian contemporary audience. They linked Zuleikha to the negative stereotype of Muslim women as victims of their cultural and religious identity. The television audience saw the repeated motif “Zuleikha opens her eyes” as a call to take off Zuleikha's veil. Secondly, the scene in the tv show where the Hagia Sophia dome is removed and replaced with the new Stalinist-style dome monument reveals an erasure of ethnic and religious identity. Finally, Zuleikha's connection to her past ethnicity and religion is severed when the identity of Zuleikha's son, Yusuf is transformed. His name is changed to the Russian name: Iosif Ignatov. Using the historical context of the 1930s as a teleport, contemporary media establishes Russian nationalism as the only pathway to belonging for minorities in post-Soviet Russia. Ultimately, in both the television series and novel, one's Tatar Muslim identity is declared obsolete and must be removed. Such memories contribute to the growing influence (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Yana Hashamova (Committee Member); Angela Brintlinger (Advisor) Subjects: Slavic Literature; Slavic Studies

BA, Oberlin College, 2019, History

In 1986, the Soviet newspaper ​Komsomolskaya pravda ​printed an article titled “Nina of Minsk” detailing the scandalous adventures of a prostitute-turned-brothel owner. The first of its kind, this article horrified and fascinated the Soviet reading public in equal measure, serving as an initial exposure to the topic of prostitution in the mass media. The conversation surrounding prostitution became more heated in light of the Soviet Union's failing economy, as well as the policy of ​glasnost', ​which freed the press from rigid censorship. Prostitution rapidly became a popular topic of debate due to its illicit nature and impact on labor and public health issues. In response to these concerns, individuals from all walks of life began writing letters to newspapers explaining their views on prostitution. This public conversation about prostitution thus reflected a broader set of social and economic anxieties, and offers historians specific insight into how the Soviet public was reacting to the economic turmoil that rocked the Soviet Union in the 1980s. This thesis will explore this conversation and how the mass media's focus on prostitution reveals concerns about broader social issues, including shifting gender norms, standards of morality, and public health, more specifically associated with fears about the spread of AIDS.

Committee: Chris Stolarski (Advisor) Subjects: History; Russian History

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, History

This dissertation charts the path by which an idealized understanding of the Soviet Union aided the transformation of Marxism from a counter-hegemonic to a hegemonic discourse within China over the course of the four decades from the 1917 October Revolution until Nikita Khrushchev's 1956 “Secret Speech.” It probes previously unexamined commercial, political, and student presses, as well as organizational records, to detail ways by which the “image” of the Soviet Union was employed by separate groups to critique domestic political forces during China's Republican era (1912-49), challenge capitalism and international imperialism, and secure popular support during the early years of the People's Republic (1949-). Such inquiry sheds light on the conflicting ways in which Chinese imagined themselves and their world, and reveals an alternative conception of modernity that promised to bridge “East” and “West.” Chapters One, Two, and Four through Six provide a chronological reading of the “Soviet Union” in Shanghai and Beijing presses. As China experienced the consecutive pangs of revolutionary upheaval, state consolidation, foreign invasion, and civil war, the “meaning” of the Soviet Union also changed. Activists in the 1920s viewed the October Revolution as the opening salvo of a growing international movement against all forms of oppression. Over the following decades, however, “modernization” eclipsed “internationalism” as the USSR's chief selling point. The Soviet Union came to be portrayed as an industrialized nation with high rates of economic growth, able to provide for its citizens, and withstand foreign aggression. By depicting New China as the “younger brother” of the modern USSR, the Chinese Communist Party upon taking power implied that it would be able to replicate Soviet successes domestically. Chapters Three, Seven, and Eight examine organizations that defined their respective eras: the proletarian women's movement of the 1920s, and Shangh (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Christopher Reed (Advisor); Ying Zhang (Committee Member); David Hoffmann (Committee Member); Judy Wu (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; History; Mass Media; Modern History; Political Science; Russian History

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2017, Music Ethnomusicology

This thesis explores the roles of internal others in constructing a Soviet and post-Soviet Ukrainian national identity. I begin with an analysis of the kobzars—a group of blind, itinerant minstrels who performed across Ukraine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before they disappeared entirely during Stalin's Great Terror in the 1930s. First, I explore the ways in which the Ukrainian bandura, an asymmetrical lute instrument, has become a site for documenting epistemologies of blind musicians in Ukraine. I then examine how these ways of knowing blindness have been influenced by myths of blind musicians in Ukraine that seek to demystify these internal “others.” Furthermore, I discuss how these myths continue to influence 21st century depictions of blind minstrels through an analysis of the 2014 Ukrainian film, The Guide. Finally, I turn my focus to the Eurovision Song Contest in order to examine how narratives of internal others are deployed in order to negotiate Ukraine's position in 21st century Europe and in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. I then reflect on the ways in which deploying these narratives of internal others does not draw these groups into the mainstream, but instead emphasizes and exploits their difference for the purpose of rejecting external hegemony in Ukraine.

Committee: Katherine Meizel (Committee Member); Sidra Lawrence (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1973, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Geography

Master of Arts in History, Youngstown State University, 2012, Department of Humanities

This study examines how Soviet and Western institutions, governmental agencies, presses, and publishing companies often created an image that the Soviet Union was progressing towards an industrialized nation through the inauguration of the First Five-Year Plan, 1928-1932. This study also examines how individuals themselves viewed this industrialization. The study revolves around two industrial cities constructed during the First Five-Year Plan and its immediate aftermath in the Soviet Union: Magnitogorsk and Nizhnii Novgorod. Government city planners constructed whole new industrial and housing facilities from the ground up in locations practically barren just a few years earlier. To the Soviet government these cities were symbols of socialism‘s ability to build planned socialist cities, and by extension their ability to build a new society. The history, importance, and portrayal of these two cities are a microcosm of the Soviet industrialization process in general. Through this study, it becomes apparent the constructed image is one of progress, either progress achieved or in some cases progress unachieved. Soviet as well as Western presses and publications often created an image that the Soviet Union, through its industrialization, was building a new modern society. Furthermore, many of those involved in the construction of these cities, both Westerners and Soviet citizens, seemingly agreed with the images being constructed by the press.

Committee: Brian Bonhomme Ph.D. (Advisor); Donna DeBlasio Ph.D. (Committee Member); David Simonelli Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Modern History; Russian History; World History

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2009, History (Arts and Sciences)

My dissertation will explore the complexities of the role human rights played in U.S.-Soviet relations from 1975 to 1989 through the prism of globalization. It will describe how Western private citizens, Soviet dissenters, and members of Congress exploited the language of Final Act (Helsinki Accords) to forge a transnational network committed to globalizing the issue of Soviet human rights violations. This development challenged bureaucratic discretion in ways that gave the Carter and Reagan administrations little choice but to challenge Soviet internal behavior in forthright fashion. Instead of viewing transnational activities as a threat to their expertise, many officials in each administration made working with and supporting non-governmental groups an integral element of their approach to undermining the international and internal legitimacy of the USSR. Utilizing Soviet internal documents available in English, this dissertation will also explain why many Soviet policymakers feared the human rights critiques of dissenters and Western private citizens just as much, if not more, than the statements of U.S. politicians. Without losing sight of the pivotal role private citizens and Congress played in tarnishing the international reputation of the Soviet Union, this work will also offer an in-depth comparison of the Carter and Reagan administrations' efforts to promote human rights in USSR. It will argue that a transnational perspective calls into question many of the standard interpretations of each administration's efforts to promote human rights in the Soviet Union. In the case of the USSR, a transnational framework complicates arguments that focus on the inherent weaknesses of Soviet dissent during the early to mid 1980s. After exploring these topics, this work will outline the limitations of “constructivist” accounts of how international human rights “norms” shaped Soviet reform efforts after Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary.

Committee: Chester J., Jr. Pach PhD (Committee Chair); Steven Miner PhD (Committee Member); Alonzo Hamby PhD (Committee Member); Patricia Weitsman PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; European History; History; Political Science; Russian History

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1971, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1969, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1972, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, History

This dissertation examines how reformist (1989-1992) and communist (1994-1997) activist groups—holding diametrically opposing ideological views—made sense of the transition period from the Ukrainian SSR to independent Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk print media. The main argument of the dissertation is that the two activist groups participated in the formation of a Dnipropetrovsk-specific variety of civic Ukrainian nationalism, by depicting Dnipropetrovsk political elites as an existential threat to Ukraine's sovereignty and deputizing themselves in the threat response. This blend of civic nationalism helps to explain how the Russophone, industrial Dnipropetrovsk in eastern Ukraine became a bulwark of Ukrainian patriotism and resistance to Russia's invasion of Ukraine since 2014. Dnipropetrovsk residents saw Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a threat to their regional identity, which first developed in the transition period based on the presumption that Dnipropetrovsk would play a coequal role to Kyiv in the political trajectory of the Ukrainian state. Source material for the dissertation includes the activists' periodicals, key officials' autobiographies, and other published works. Historians have noted that Dnipropetrovsk served an important supportive role in the official narratives of state prestige in the Tsarist Imperial and Soviet periods. The tumultuousness of the transition period, combined with the political and economic influence of Dnipropetrovsk vis-a-vis Kyiv, emboldened the two activist groups to claim an unprecedented coequal role to the state in shaping the official narrative of national prestige.

Committee: David Hoffmann (Committee Chair); Nicholas Breyfogle (Committee Co-Chair); Serhii Plokhii (Committee Member); Charles Wise (Committee Member) Subjects: East European Studies; European History; History; Modern History; Regional Studies; Slavic Studies