The Research Initiative on Post-Soviet Space (RIPSS) is an interdisciplinary seminar series and research network for scholars working in Soviet/post-Soviet/Slavic studies, convened by Professor Mark Edele and Dr Julie Fedor in the Faculty of Arts.
This research network was founded in 2017, as the Melbourne Eurasianist Seminar Series (MESS). In 2023, it was re-launched as the Research Initiative on Post-Soviet Space (RIPSS).
Core aims
- Consolidate the emerging strength of post-Soviet studies at the University of Melbourne;
- Build a platform for further grant success;
- Advance postgraduate and post-doctoral recruitment and enhance the postgraduate experience in post-Soviet studies across the University;
- Build relationships of mutual benefit with other research groups and institutions in the Asia-Pacific Region;
- Advance knowledge and public understanding of the post-Soviet world, past and present
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Associate Professor Nicholas Tochka
Associate Professor In Music (Ethnomusicology)
Phone: +61390353131
Email: nicholas.tochka@unimelb.edu.au -
Dr Robert Lagerberg
Senior Lecturer in Russian Studies; Convenor, Russian Studies
Phone: +61383445187
Email: robertjl@unimelb.edu.au -
Dr Olga Maxwell
Lecturer in ESL
Phone: +61390358754
Email: omaxwell@unimelb.edu.au -
Associate Professor William Partlett
Associate Professor
Phone: +61383448740
Email: william.partlett@unimelb.edu.au -
Professor Mark Edele
Hansen Chair in History of the Soviet Union and Successor States. Deputy Dean, Faculty of Arts.
Phone: +61383440523
Email: mark.edele@unimelb.edu.au -
Associate Professor Andrew Jamieson
Associate Professor in Near Eastern Archaeology
Phone: +61383443403
Email: asj@unimelb.edu.au -
Dr Julie Fedor
Senior Lecturer in Modern European History. Engagement Coordinator, SHAPS.
Email: julie.fedor@unimelb.edu.au
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Associate Professor Maria Tumarkin
Associate Professor In Creative Writing
Phone: +61383444988
Email: m.tumarkin@unimelb.edu.au -
Dr Oleg Beyda
Hansen Lecturer in Russian History.
Email: oleg.beyda@unimelb.edu.au
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Dr Natasha Wilson
Teaching Associate, Periodic.
Email: nwils@unimelb.edu.au
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Professor Stephen Wheatcroft
Professorial Fellow
Email: s.wheatcroft@unimelb.edu.au
Our core activities include:
- Convening the RIPSS seminar series
- Promoting high-quality research through peer-reviewed journals and book series:
- Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society (General Editor: Julie Fedor) (an international bi-annual journal published by ibidem Press, Stuttgart and distributed by Columbia University Press)
- Elements in Soviet and Post-Soviet History (Editor: Mark Edele) (a new Cambridge University Press series designed to support an intellectually sophisticated reinvigoration of historically informed post-Soviet area studies)
- Australian Slavonic and East European Studies (Editor: Robert Lagerberg) (a refereed venue for work on all aspects of Slavonic and East European studies, including language, literature, history, political and social science, and art)
- Embedding our research into teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels
- Fostering a collegial community of scholarly inquiry embracing both staff and students
- Extending the research and impact of our research, including through digital scholarship
- Building relationships with local diaspora communities and other stake-holders
For more information or to be added to our mailing list, email Julie Fedor: julie.fedor@unimelb.edu.au