Russian Enrichment Program with Dr. Alan Barenberg

Dr. Alan Barenberg Barenberg will discuss the founding of The Soviet Union, or USSR, by the Bolsheviks as the world’s first anti-imperialist empire, as well as its treatment of minorities and the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

He will also attempt to answer the questions: What are the legacies of the Soviet Union today, 100 years after its creation and more than 30 years after its collapse? How should we understand Russian invasions of Georgia (2008) and Ukraine (2014 and 2022)? Is Putin attempting to resurrect the USSR as a zombie empire?

The Buena Vista Foundation Associate Professor of History at Texas Tech, Barenberg is also author of the award-winning book, “Gulag Town, Company Town: Forced Labor and Its Legacy in Vorkuta” (2014), and co-editor of “Rethinking the Gulag: Identities, Sources, Legacies” (2022).

Barenberg’s ASU presentation is sponsored by the Department of English and Modern Languages, Arnoldo de León Department of History, ASU Russian Club and ASU History Society.