Announcement from Acting Director - Dr. Robert Geraci

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As Acting Director of REEEC, I want to welcome you all back, or for the first time, as the case may be, to UIUC and the REEEC community for the new academic year. I hope that your summer was both relaxing and productive. I’m filling in for Director John Randolph, who is on sabbatical for the fall semester.

This year is somewhat unusual because of the federal funding situation. The grant programs that have sustained REEEC programs for several decades have been discontinued, and consequently our calendar is somewhat less saturated with events than has been typical. However, we have applied to a new program designed to replace the previous ones and are optimistic that we will adapt successfully to whatever outcome may ensue.

I moved to Illinois seven years ago from the University of Virginia, where I taught Russian, Eurasian, and European history for 23 years. A partner hire brought me here, where my primary appointment is on the faculty of the International and Area Studies Library. I also have faculty affiliations with History, Slavic Languages & Literatures, and REEEC, and I have served several times on REEEC’s Executive Committee.

Broadly speaking, I am a specialist in the ethno-national-religious diversity of Eurasia over the past several centuries, with an emphasis on the late tsarist period. My earlier work focused on imperial assimilation ideologies and projects, including religious missions, schools, and ethnographic research, particularly in the Volga/Ural region. I am presently writing a book on the relationship between commerce and ethno-national identities and rivalries from Peter I to the present day. It spans a number of diverse regions, and research for it has taken me not only to Russia but also to Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

I hope to meet as many of you as possible. I will be keeping regular office hours on Thursday afternoons from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in Coble 105 and will also be happy to meet by appointment.