I am ready for a long road flight for work with a week- or months-long projects.
Constructing Soviet Difference:
Culture and
Society
Society
Summer School
June 29-July 8, 2026
Gyumri, Armenia
Gyumri, Armenia
Program Description
“Constructing Soviet Difference: Culture and Society” continues the summer school series “Societies and Cultures Torn Apart”, started in 2024. The 2026 summer school will focus on the ways in which, across the Soviet century, categories of difference were conceptualised, in different realms and through different practices, and how the legacies of those ideas and modalities continue to resonate today. It will explore Sovietness as a capacious category, experienced in different ways in different places. With contributions from across disciplines and areas, we will consider issues such as the following.
How the conception of being Soviet depended on ideas of distinction from other social, political, national, and moral modalities? How it was manifested in searches for alternative ways of living across diverse fields in order to correspond to the Soviet ideal? How it navigated, affirmed and/or denied ethnic and national difference in relations across the Soviet Union’s republics, and across global borders in networks of international socialism? How groups and/or individuals carve(d) out their own modes of distinction—against or within the Soviet project—using a range of mechanisms and definitions? The role of culture(s) in modelling Soviet distinctiveness and in maintaining or challenging categories of difference.
Sessions will be organised according to four thematic strands.
• Politics and/of Difference
• Discourses and/of Difference
• Materiality and/of Difference
• Identity and/of Difference
• Aesthetics and/of Difference
We invite graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the humanities and social sciences, studying the USSR and its aftermath to discuss these and related problems together with leading academics in the field. The summer school will consist of a thematic series of lectures and seminars. It will include workshops on academic writing, as well as masterclasses in disciplinary frameworks such as anthropology, history, and cultural studies, helping to equip students to work productively within the interdisciplinary space of our field.
The 2026 summer school will take place in Gyumri, a city with a rich imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet heritage that provides an ideal setting for examining the complexities of Soviet difference.
How the conception of being Soviet depended on ideas of distinction from other social, political, national, and moral modalities? How it was manifested in searches for alternative ways of living across diverse fields in order to correspond to the Soviet ideal? How it navigated, affirmed and/or denied ethnic and national difference in relations across the Soviet Union’s republics, and across global borders in networks of international socialism? How groups and/or individuals carve(d) out their own modes of distinction—against or within the Soviet project—using a range of mechanisms and definitions? The role of culture(s) in modelling Soviet distinctiveness and in maintaining or challenging categories of difference.
Sessions will be organised according to four thematic strands.
• Politics and/of Difference
• Discourses and/of Difference
• Materiality and/of Difference
• Identity and/of Difference
• Aesthetics and/of Difference
We invite graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the humanities and social sciences, studying the USSR and its aftermath to discuss these and related problems together with leading academics in the field. The summer school will consist of a thematic series of lectures and seminars. It will include workshops on academic writing, as well as masterclasses in disciplinary frameworks such as anthropology, history, and cultural studies, helping to equip students to work productively within the interdisciplinary space of our field.
The 2026 summer school will take place in Gyumri, a city with a rich imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet heritage that provides an ideal setting for examining the complexities of Soviet difference.
Lecturers
Mollie Arbuthnot
Nazarbayev University
Masha Salazkina
McGill University
Madeline Reeves
University of Oxford
Michael Kunichika
Amherst College
Jochen Hellbeck
Rutgers University
Serguei Oushakine
Princeton University
Jeanne Kormina
YCIE
Emma Widdis
University of Cambridge
How to apply
The priority deadline is January 18, 2026, 23:59 GMT+4. Applicants will be notified of the admission results by mid-February. Students in need of financial assistance for travel will have the opportunity to apply for a travel allowance after acceptance.
Dates: June 29-July 8, 2026
Cost: Free; travel must be covered by participants (needs-based travel allowances available)
Applications should include a one-page cover letter introducing yourself, explaining your academic and professional interests, and outlining your qualifications, as well as demonstrating how you are a good fit for YCIE's Summer School program.
The application should also include a small-scale creative or research project that addresses one of the thematic strands; this could take the form of a short essay, a podcast, a curated archive of materials, or another innovative format. In addition, applicants must submit a copy of their CV/resume and a recommendation letter from their academic advisor. All materials should be uploaded and submitted using the application form available via the "Apply" button on the left.
Please ensure that all documents meet the specified requirements before submission. In case any of the required materials are accessible via an online link, please include the active link in a Word or PDF document and upload it through the form.
The application should also include a small-scale creative or research project that addresses one of the thematic strands; this could take the form of a short essay, a podcast, a curated archive of materials, or another innovative format. In addition, applicants must submit a copy of their CV/resume and a recommendation letter from their academic advisor. All materials should be uploaded and submitted using the application form available via the "Apply" button on the left.
Please ensure that all documents meet the specified requirements before submission. In case any of the required materials are accessible via an online link, please include the active link in a Word or PDF document and upload it through the form.
*By clicking 'Apply,' you consent to the processing of your personal data in accordance with our Data Processing Consent Agreement.
Photo Credit: Soviet mosaics in Armenia by Armenian Explorer.
