What made Soviet people "soviet"? This question has dogged scholars for decades. But one innovative approach to digging into the "soviet" of Soviet life is through material objects and spaces during the late socialist era. Soviet things influenced Soviet people's gender roles, habitual choices, social trajectories, and imaginary aspirations. And, in turn, Soviet people used objects to shape their sense of self as part of a global experience of modernity that went beyond communist propaganda. How did objects make Soviet people and society "Soviet"?

Did you know that there were hippies in the USSR? There were. Faced with societal scorn and repression, Soviet hippies created a version of Western counterculture in and despite late Soviet realities that linked them youth cultures beyond the Iron Curtain. How did these Soviet long-hairs defy police harassment, survive psychiatric hospitals force feeding conformism, and social stigma? This live interview with Juliane Furst will delve into the story of Soviet hippies and how they ironically meshed with Soviet life.

The relationship between the Soviet Union and revolutionary Cuba was a flash point in the Cold War. Soviet aid played a critical role in Cuba—but not without controversy. The Cuban Revolution was born out of a drive to rid itself of imperialist intervention and foreign control. So how did Cuba reconcile the need for Soviet support with efforts to avoid dependency? Soviet-Cuban scientific exchanges were one key area where this tension played out.

Join the Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies for the annual East European Festival. Events will include cultural celebrations, children's activities, and presentations.

Homeward shares the story of a Crimean Tatar father and son coping with family loss as they travel to transport the body of their son and brother from Kyiv to Crimea.

Please join us for a screening of Homeland as part of the series, Displaced from Home: A Series on Crimea.