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The next Chautauqua lecture at Eastern Kentucky University will examine “Contrary Imperatives: Culture and Society under Putin.”

Dr. Helena Goscilo will provide insight into contradicting views of Russia President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, Sept. 17. Goscilo, professor of Slavic and East European Studies and Comparative Studies and former chair of the Slavic East European Studies Department at Ohio State University, will speak at 7:30 p.m. in O’Donnell Hall of the Whitlock Building. Her talk, free and open to the public, also serves as the Annual Distinguished Lecture in International Studies.

Goscilo specializes in Russian visual culture, specifically art, graphic ideology and film; novels; folklore and gender issues. She is active and well respected in the field of contemporary Russian cultural studies with a publication record stretching back three decades. She has written, co-authored and co-edited a dozen collections over the past decade alone.

Her more recent publications include “Fade from Red: The Cold War Ex-Enemy in Russian and American Film, 1990-2005,” published in 2014; “Lives in Transit: Contemporary Russian Women’s Writing,” published in 2013; and “Putin as Celebrity and Cultural Icon,” published in 2012.

“Putin as Celebrity and Cultural Icon” brings together a host of scholars to critically examine Putin’s iconic status in Russia and his public persona as a glamorous hero. The book looks at cultural representations, the role of the media, the attitude of the Russian populace and the dissent of the minority.

Previously Goscilo was chair of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of Pittsburgh and has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Helsinki in Finland and a Guest Researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Queens College in New York and graduate degrees from Indiana University.

Goscilo’s lecture is sponsored by the Intelligence Studies Program, Office of Diversity, Department of Languages, Cultures & Humanities and the Honors Program.

For more information, visit www.chautauqua.eku.eduor contact Chautauqua Lecture Coordinator Dr. Erik Liddell at erik.liddell@eku.edu