In recent years I’ve undertaken several projects that extend my work with students beyond the classroom. These include the “Soviet Apartment” (in which students lived in a Soviet “kommunalka” on campus), the “Soviet House of Rest” exhibit (in which students assisted in curating and displaying the installation), and Cruzmul’tfil’m, in which students studied and subtitled Russian animation and film.
The latest of these projects is Sochi in Six Dimensions. It will involve student participation in collecting and developing materials to be displayed in Chicago and Los Angeles for an installation marking the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The aim of the project is to explore the cultural history of the town itself, and the Russian/Soviet resort more generally as a Russian archetype of urban space and cultural design.
