New York Times Opinion: Bard Professor Sean McMeekin’s Book on Stalin Is Recommended Reading for Historical Context on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer
According to New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat, of all the reading one can do to put the events of the film Oppenheimer into historical and political context, Stalin’s War: A New History of World War II, by Sean McMeekin, Francis Flournoy Professor of European History and Culture at Bard College, is the one that will restore “a corrective to the movie’s final act, in which the spirit of a simplifying anti-anti-communism prevails over the political complexity that Nolan carries off for most of the film.”
New York Times Opinion: Bard Professor Sean McMeekin’s Book on Stalin Is Recommended Reading for Historical Context on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer
Post Date: 08-08-2023
Bard College Alumnus Liam Gomez ’22 Among the First Peace Corps Volunteers to Return to Service Overseas
Bard College alumnus Liam Gomez ’22 is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020. The Peace Corps suspended global operations and evacuated nearly 7,000 volunteers from more than 60 countries at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.Bard College Alumnus Liam Gomez ’22 Among the First Peace Corps Volunteers to Return to Service Overseas
Gomez, from Red Hook, New York, graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He will serve as an education volunteer in the nation of Georgia. He first became interested in the Peace Corps while he was studying abroad in Russia on a Bard language intensive program. He enjoys both speaking and writing in the Russian language, a language he acquired at Bard.
“The Peace Corps was always an option thrown around to employ my language skills post-graduation. I also always love a change of scenery and the challenges that will come from this experience, although daunting, excite me more than anything else,” said Gomez. “I see the Peace Corps as a perfect opportunity for both personal growth and helping others.”
In a recently published article about Gomez, the Red Hook Daily Catch writes "he formally applied to the corps in July 2021 at the height of the pandemic, specifically asking to be sent to Ukraine or Georgia, with the hope of improving his Russian language skills. Georgia attracted him for other reasons, too, notably the food and family culture. Known for khachapuri, a flat cake with cheese, meat, or steamed fish, Georgian cuisine is also famous for various sweet pastries. ‘Their country sounded very alluring,’ Gomez said. ‘The food, how closely and tightly knit the families are, Georgian cheese, it all sounded great.’"
The Peace Corps volunteer cohorts are made up of both first-time volunteers and volunteers who were evacuated in early 2020. Upon finishing a three-month training, volunteers will collaborate with their host communities on locally prioritized projects in one of Peace Corps’ six sectors—agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health or youth in development—and all will engage in COVID-19 response and recovery work.
Currently, the agency is recruiting volunteers to serve in 56 countries around the world at the request of host country governments, to connect through the Peace Corps grassroots approach across communities and cultures. Volunteers have already returned to a total of 47 countries around the world. The Peace Corps continues to monitor COVID-19 trends in all of its host countries and will send volunteers to serve as conditions permit. Americans interested in transformative service and lifelong connections should apply to Peace Corps service at www.peacecorps.gov/apply. Apply before April 1 to make a global connection by fall 2023.
Post Date: 01-27-2023
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Urges State Department to Aid in Reversing Russia’s Recent Threat to Bard’s Smolny College Program
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to support efforts in reversing the Russian government’s recent designation of Bard College as an “undesirable” organization. Bard first partnered with St. Petersburg State University 25 years ago, cofounding Smolny College, Russia’s first liberal arts college.U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Urges State Department to Aid in Reversing Russia’s Recent Threat to Bard’s Smolny College Program
Post Date: 08-24-2021
More RES News
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Professor Sean McMeekin on Churchill’s Enigma: The Real Riddle Is Why He Cozied Up to Stalin
Professor Sean McMeekin on Churchill’s Enigma: The Real Riddle Is Why He Cozied Up to Stalin
“There are, of course, many criticisms that should be levelled at Churchill’s wartime policies,” writes Sean McMeekin, Francis Flournoy Professor of European History and Culture. “But there is one in particular that, in the rush to paint him as a racist imperialist, has avoided scrutiny: his relationship with Stalin. Churchill, in fact, sacrificed British imperial interests in order to save Soviet communism. Stalin could not have asked for a friendlier British government.”
Post Date: 03-19-2021
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Bard Professor Jonathan Brent Explores the Polish Court Order Convicting Historians Jan Grabowski and Barbara Engelking of Libel for their Book about the Holocaust
Bard Professor Jonathan Brent Explores the Polish Court Order Convicting Historians Jan Grabowski and Barbara Engelking of Libel for their Book about the Holocaust
“Were this an isolated case, it might be understood differently than what in fact it is: part of a much wider effort of the Polish government and active elements of Polish society to silence the legitimate work of Holocaust scholarship in favor of protecting the supposed interests of the Polish state for which the narrative of Polish innocence during the Holocaust plays an important role. The present case must be seen as part of that larger effort,” write Brent and Grabowski in Tablet. Jonathan Brent is the executive director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the Visiting Alger Hiss Professor of History and Literature at Bard College.
Post Date: 03-01-2021
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Bard Professor, YIVO Director Jonathan Brent: Virtual Jewish Food Course Offers a Seat at the Table
Bard Professor, YIVO Director Jonathan Brent: Virtual Jewish Food Course Offers a Seat at the Table
This summer, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Learning is making its vast digital collection of food-centric discussions, demonstrations, recipes, interviews and hundreds of archival objects available for free as part of its online course A Seat at the Table: A Journey Into Jewish Food. “Food helps to alleviate some of the anxiety that everyone is feeling in this particularly stressful time we’re in,” says Jonathan Brent, Visiting Alger Hiss Professor of History and Literature at Bard College and YIVO Executive Director and CEO. “Food enables us to have that kind of deep experience of memory, sensory pleasure, imagination and knowledge. There’s a great deal of value in studying the history of food. And it’s especially relevant now, when people are locked indoors and searching for things to do.”
Post Date: 07-08-2020
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Lia Russell ’17 on Fighting Bias in AI-Powered Decisions
Lia Russell ’17 on Fighting Bias in AI-Powered Decisions
Artificial intelligence and automation can streamline or eliminate manual labor, but public- and private-sector organizations still need managers to monitor and make corrections when algorithms exhibit biases, writes Russell.
Post Date: 12-11-2019
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Professor Sean McMeekin on How Hitler and Stalin Made Modern Poland
Professor Sean McMeekin on How Hitler and Stalin Made Modern Poland
The neglected history of the Warsaw uprising helps explain the country’s nationalist politics today, writes Professor McMeekin.
Post Date: 08-05-2019
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Professor Jonathan Brent Receives Lithuanian State Award for Preserving Jewish Archives
Professor Jonathan Brent Receives Lithuanian State Award for Preserving Jewish Archives
Jonathan Brent, Bard faculty member and executive director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, received the Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania from H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania. The honor recognizes Brent’s work in promoting cooperation between Lithuania and YIVO and for the preservation of the prewar Jewish archives of Lithuania.
Post Date: 07-12-2019
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