Events

The Centre of Western Armenian Studies and Ghent University are delighted to present this year's Taniel Varouzhan Annual Lecture, which will be held at Ghent University.

Prof. Andrei Zorin will explore the enduring cultural myth of the "true tsar" in Russian history - a figure believed to lead the nation from disaster to triumph. The talk will conclude with a reflection on Vladimir Putin as a contemporary embodiment of this powerful myth.

Yerofeyev, whose novels include the infamous "Russian Beauty" (1990) and "The Good Stalin" (2004), began work on his "horror comedy" before the war, but did not publish it until October 2024. On 13 February, the writer will be in Ghent to talk about the role of culture and literature in contemporary Russia.

Prof. David R. Marples will speak about Ukraine's modern history. The lecture covers the various manifestations of Ukrainian self-assertion and aspirations toward independence and democracy from the end of WW2.

Volodymyr Ishchenko will discuss the concepts of caesarist rule, passive and Jacobin revolutions and hegemony crisis in relation to the post-Soviet condition.

For Russia, history is an ideological tool to justify political decisions, both internal and external.