Photo Courtesy of Numan Qardash
At the beginning of November, EURUS was able to host its first graduate student conference thanks to the generosity of the Magna Fund for Russian Studies. The conference was called “Russia in the 21st Century: Historical Legacies, Present Challenges and Future Outlook.”
On November 2nd, graduate students from Carleton University and University of Ottawa, as well as the University of Toronto and McMaster University presented their current research projects. The first panel concentrated on domestic policy and international relations, the second on social and cultural issues, and the third panel on politics and economics. Each panel was very well attended, by many students as well as professors, and also business representatives. Held in the newest building on campus, the River Building, the location was ideal to facilitate discussion and a question and answer period after each panel presented. As a conference for grad students and also run by grad students, the discussants were themselves students at Carleton affiliated with the EURUS program. Several professors stopped in to listen to panels and give their feedback on presentations, and members of the Russian delegation joined Professor Dutkiewicz at the conference for part of the day.
After a day full of discussion, participants and attendees alike went to a reception graciously held at the Russian Embassy. After a glass of wine and mingling with diplomats, the conference-goers had the pleasure of being addressed by the Ambassador himself. A great success, EURUS hopes that this graduate student conference will become an annual event.