Dr. Richard Robbins, UNM & Dr. Marina Oborotova, CFIS/AIA
May 5, 2017

The Russian Revolution, begun one hundred years ago, cast a long shadow across the twentieth century.  Although the attempt to “build communism” ended in failure, the impacts of this “Great Experiment” are felt today and will continue to influence events in the years to come. Why did the Revolution occur? What were the hopes and dreams of the people who made it? Why did it unfold the way it did, leading to tyranny and terror? What is the Revolution’s legacy for the world? Can Russia ever emerge from under the rubble of the Soviet regime? And what of the future? Will Vladimir Putin make Russia great again? These are some of the questions that Richard Robbins and Marina Oborotova will ask and attempt to answer in their joint presentation.

Dr. Richard Robbins is a historian of late 19th and early 20th century Russia. He is a graduate of Williams College and Columbia University (Ph.D.) and the author of Famine in Russia, 1891-1892: The Imperial Government Responds to a Crisis; The Tsar’s Viceroys: Russian Provincial Governors in the Last Years of the Empire, and the forthcoming Overtaken by the Night: A Russian’s Journey through Peace, War, Revolution and Terror. He taught Russian History at UNM Department of History from 1969 to 2007.  Dr. Marina Oborotova, CFIS-AIA President, co-taught courses on Russian History and Politics.

Supported by New Mexico Humanities Council and Sandia National Labs