Summer School "Russian Historic Memory: in Search of Identity" in Rostov the Great

Dear colleagues!
If you are interested in Russian history and issues of collective memory or identity-building, we are pleased to invite you to our forthcoming summer school. The school is called “Russian historic memory: in search of identity” will be held on 22-28 of September in ancient heartland of Russia - Rostov the Great.Over the past 15 years, the Department of Public Policy has held a range of summer schools, previously called “Baltic Practice” which focused on an exploration of the relationship between Russia and the European Union. But from this year we are changing our focus and will be exploring the complex issue of Russian identity, which has renewed importance as the Russian government has increasingly celebrated key events of Russian history.

The main aim of the school is to introduce Russian and foreign students to some of the national and regional political identity-building policies and how these policies affect citizens in the regions with their own regional or local identity, based on their own historical and cultural traditions. What kinds of identity are developed locally or are diffused from outside or ‘above’? How have existing clichés, stereotypes, and propaganda images survived? These questions will be explored by our school, as they help us to understand the connections between identity policy, struggles over policy and public policy in general. How important are identities in supporting and developing