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Category: Forum of Ideas

Russian Orthodoxy, Human Rights, and the War on Ukraine

Versions of this paper were presented at the following international symposiums: Russian Literature, Philosophy, and Religious Thought in a Time of Catastrophe, Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), Lisbon, Portugal, March 2023, and Russian Literature and Philosophical Thought: Religion, Nationalism and Dissidence, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil, November 2022. Written by Randall Poole:   In

Notes from the Underground, COVID-19, Freedom, and Compassion

The following article was written and presented as in-class lectures two years ago, during the height of the pandemic lockdowns, by Peter Winsky. It is published here, for the first time.  As the pandemic wears on, we have begun to enter into a new routine of day-to-day life. With a tangible threat to our and

Love as an Act of Rebellion: Orthodoxy and Literary Culture

The following article, written by Caryl Emerson, was first published in Christian History issue 146 and is republished here with the permission of the author. “When cruelty is the norm, love is an act of rebellion.” This thesis, applied to Christ’s response to the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov (1880), belongs to Dostoevsky scholar

Studying Russian Culture In A Time of Catastrophe: Taking A Stand

The following are two statements from members of the Northwestern University Research Initiative for the Study of Russian Philosophy and Religious Thought regarding the influence of the war in Ukraine on reading and discussing Russian Literature. The first is an open letter from Susan McReynolds, Co-Director of the Initiative and Associate Professor and Chair of

Video: Roundtable “Russian Literature and Philosophy: Religion, Nationalism and Dissidence”

Below is the video footage from the roundtable discussion at the international symposium, “Russian Literature and Philosophy: Religion, Nationalism and Dissidence,” which took place at the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brazil, November 2022. The roundtable included Caryl Emerson, Gary Saul Morson, and Paul Contino. The footage is hosted by RELIGANDO Ciência da Religião