50th Anniversary Research Articles

Erving Goffman at 100: A Chameleon Seen as a Rorschach Test within a Kaleidoscope

The 100th anniversary of Erving Goffman's birth was in 2022. Drawing on his work, the Goffman archives, the secondary literature, and personal experiences with him and those in his university of Chicago cohort, I reflect on some implications of his work and life, and the inseparable issues of understanding society. This paper seeks to make some sense of the highly varied, often conflicting, characterizations of Goffman. He was the ultimate Rorschach test in a kaleidoscope, ever ready to be turned (or turning himself) to a different angle, which, even then, does not guarantee that observers will draw the same conclusions. I identify 14 contrasting characterizations of his work (e.g., map maker‐theorist/hypothesizer; structure functionalist‐symbolic interactionist; conservative‐liberal; outsider‐insider) and note ways of connecting, or at least making sense of, diverse perspectives. I explore two of the categories—politics and outsider‐insider—in detail and discuss an appendix on sociology of information issues involving privacy and publicity with respect to intellectual biography.

Reflections on My Experiences as Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Black Psychology

In this commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Black Psychology (JBP), this editorial presents the former editor-in-chief’s reflections and observations of his time as Editor-in-Chief. The current author notes the challenges of racist perceptions of JBP, reinforcing high standards, and raising the impact factor. He identifies signature articles published during his tenure and discusses the future of JBP.

Collective expansion of provenance research and institutional capacity to promote and sustain peace

Strong institutions contribute greatly to peace and its promotion, as the U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 16 vividly recognizes. Institutional capacity for supporting peace initiatives from the local to the global levels is built by promoting a culture of accountability and transparency, especially through effective recordkeeping about heritage objects under their care. Such capacity can also be tested during a crisis response, involving urgent and collaborative work alongside judiciary and law enforcement agencies, to address any displacement of artifacts from their country of origin. UNESCO marked the European Year of Cultural Heritage and the early 50th anniversary of its 1970 Convention by publishing a toolkit that relays core concepts of provenance alongside practical tools available for tracking stolen art, special investigative techniques, and essential knowledge of deterioration agents and preservation. We see the 2018 toolkit and its active usage in a well-attended 2023 workshop as a form of peace work. Archivists can continue to train soldiers on the rescue and recovery of perilous artworks, monuments, historic sites, and informational archives – in non-traditional settings prioritizing rapid recognition and communication of all of the assembled available evidence. We integrate data gathered both from asking professional archivists how they research and communicate provenance information and from job ads mentioning provenance and how archivists are expected to research it today, to encourage new provenance research efforts that promote peace by protecting heritage for community enjoyment.

The Scandinavian Journal of Economics at 125: a bibliometric overview

AbstractEstablished in 1899 by David Davidson, The Scandinavian Journal of Economics is one of the most respected journals in the field of economics. In 2024, the journal celebrates its 125th anniversary. To commemorate this exceptional event, this study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the publications of the journal. The objective is to identify the leading trends that have occurred in the journal, especially during the last decades. The bibliographic data are retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus databases. The work also uses the VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software tools to construct and visualize bibliometric maps. The results reveal that authors affiliated with Scandinavian institutions are the most productive in the journal, along with those from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The keyword and topical analysis shows that The Scandinavian Journal of Economics covers a wide range of topics within economics, publishing frequently on labour, monetary, public, and international economics.

FRANZ WERFEL’S "THE FORTY DAYS OF MUSA DAGH", A PERPETUALLY PRESENT PRODUCTION RATHER THAN A PRODUCT

The article is a tribute to the 90th anniversary of Franz Werfel’s renowned novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. Borrowing Roland Barthes’ approach to texts – regarding their function and effects – and his explanation of writerly texts (scriptible), I see The Forty Days of Musa Dagh as one such text that, according to Barthes, is not a product but a production perpetually present, continuing to force the reader to participate, ponder and find a meaning or meanings, an entrance, among the plurality of entrances, an opening into the text. Ninety years after the publication of Franz Werfel’s literary masterpiece, there are still discussions ongoing and new insights being added. In my presentation, I will open my own way into the metamorphic perception of this timeless artistic creation by Diasporan Armenians and the world and focus on its function as the embodiment of the Armenian spirit of resistance to injustice, as a tool against the Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide – the Turkish hysteria against this novel and repression of European governments to denounce it is further proof of its power – its effect on the self-realization and reawakening of the generations of Armenians on the verge of assimilation. I have often spoken and written about the impact of genocide literature on the understanding of the scope of the calamity and the universal truth that lies at the roots of factual writings and documents. The Forty Days of Musa Dagh is the most expressive voice in the history of the Armenian Genocide, an unequivocal representation of the horrifying reality, the prototype of the crime against humanity, ultimately playing a major role in influencing and inspiring Rafael Lemkin to devise the word “genocide”. I will point to why and how about 312 passages totalling 1062 lines, that is 11% of the original was omitted in the first English translation and reinstated in the new, 2012 version. The ensuing enthusiastic salutation of this new publication is representative of Diasporan Armenians’ continuing devotion to the book and the author.

REMEMBERING AND UNDERSTANDING GENOCIDE THROUGH THE ARTS: A CASE STUDY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

The article is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the heroic novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. One of the most discussed and influential genocides globally is the Armenian Genocide which has been explored in journalistic, academic and artistic ways. Despite war-time censorship, the mass deportations and killings of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War One was covered extensively and graphically by the international press. Such atrocities became a catalyst for the emergence of the important analytic terms of ‘crimes against humanity’ and ‘genocide’, along with the extension of the concept of ‘war crimes’. These three terms constitute key conceptual aspects in international criminal law, history and the social sciences. In addition to new analytical frameworks seeking to portray the magnitude of mass atrocity crimes, we also have witnessed personal accounts within an Arts and Humanities format. The Arts have often explored the personal costs of war, genocide and their extended aftermath. Franz Werfel’s historical novel “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” was an exemplary example and its international influence was extensive. Forms of coverage and commentary on genocide can include a range of approaches from journalistic accounts, academic historical writings, memoirs, museums, social science theorizing to various aspects of the Arts, such as novels, plays, poetry, film, paintings and music. While detached academic accounts are important to develop our analytical understanding; more engaged personal artistic forms of expression can be profoundly influential in fostering empathy and sympathy towards the victims. The Arts can be powerful forms of personal connection. In the tradition of Franz Werfel’s novel, an overview of a variety of works in the Arts about the Armenian Genocide will be discussed. Together, the different approaches of i) journalistic first-impressions, ii) the academic analytical mind and iii) the Arts’ passionate heart can help us to more effectively remember, understand, sympathize and educate about genocides. It is useful to employ a variety of ways of reaching potential bystanders to remember, understand and become more engaged to overcome the devastating impact of genocide.

ONE IMPORTANT PUBLICATION ABOUT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Arshag Chobanian’s extensive article “La nation Arménienne et son œvres culturelle” published in 1945 is dedicated to the Armenian Genocide, committed by the leaders of the Young Turks. They chose the following solution for the Armenian Question - Armenia without Armenians. It cites many testimonies of contemporaries, which are full of terrifying facts, and shows us the brutality of the Turkish government. It makes an accent on many glorious facts of the historical past of the Armenian nation, which confirm the most honorable role of Armenia in the history of mankind. It is shown that, although the Armenian inhabitants of Western Armenia were exterminated, they continued their historical course on a territory much smaller than their historical motherland, and were revived. There are many facts about how great the role of Armenians was in developing Turkey in the fields of culture, industry and especially architecture. I dedicate this article to the 90th anniversary of the publication of the heroic novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh where an episode of Armenian’s self-defence stuggle against the Genocide of Armenians is skillfully depicted due to Franz Werfel’s humanitarian impulses.

"FAR TOO HEAVY TO BEAR...": THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN CONTEMPORARY GERMAN-LANGUAGE POST-MIGRANT PROSE

The experience of genocide usually locks the mouths of the victims' descendants for two generations. It is usually communicated in the third or grandchildren's generation. The literary expression of this externalization is a prose that oscillates between fiction and factography, which emerged already decades ago in the large Armenian diaspora communities of the USA and France and is now very widespread. Peter Balakian's Black Dogs of Fate and Micheline Aharonian Marcom's genocide trilogy are probably the most internationally known examples. In Germany, the evolution was considerably delayed. There is no quantitatively large Armenian diaspora here. The community of around 60,000 people is also heterogeneous in terms of their countries of origin. Most of them originally came from Turkey; in the meantime, numerous Armenians from the post-Soviet space have joined them. The Young Turks’ genocide of 1915/6 was first addressed in German by authors of Jewish origin, namely Franz Werfel and, after WW2, Edgar Hilsenrath. Since 2019, four novels by authors of Armenian descent have been published: Katerina Poladjan’s Hier sind Löwen (2019), Laura Cwiertnia’s Auf der Straße heißen wir anders (2022), Marc Sinan’s Gleißendes Licht (2023) and Corinna Kulenkamp’'s Aprikosenzeit, dunkel (2023). With the exception of K. Poladjan’s novel, these are all debut novels, which is at the same time indicative of the importance of the topic for the authors. The genre hybridity of these works, which combine the features of family, coming-to-age and travel novels, is likewise characteristic. As a subgenre of German-language post-migrant prose, these novels are about the authors' or their protagonists' confrontation with their hybrid descent from Armenian-German or Turkish-Armenian homes, about identity and belonging, as well as the confrontation with the post-Soviet state of Armenia, which remains alien and incomprehensible to the authors or their protagonists, just as the acceptance of the genocide as an obligation to remember and a legacy seems difficult to bear. In this article, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the heroic novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, I intend to describe the peculiarities and weaknesses of the recent post-genocidal remembrance prose in the German language on the basis of the four novels mentioned above.

WOUNDS OF HISTORY: MEMOIR REFLECTIONS ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN ITALY

This paper delves into the memoirs of Armenian Genocide survivors in Italy, examining how, despite the immense emotional toll, these individuals eventually found the strength to document their suffering. It explores the ways in which they navigated the silence surrounding their trauma, ultimately putting pen to paper to share the horrors they witnessed. These memoirs serve as crucial testimonies, offering the world invaluable insights into the atrocities of the genocide and ensuring that these stories, once buried in silence, are preserved for future generations. The paper also considers the cultural and psychological barriers that survivors faced, as well as the profound importance of memory in shaping historical understanding. The idea of ​​this article was born in me in connection with the 90th anniversary of the novel The Forty Days of Mount Musa by Franz Werfel, a great supporter of humanity and peace and an unwavering critic and rejecter of genocidal acts because the lessons conveyed to us by the survivors’ memoirs are instructive and deserve attention.

THE HEROIC BATTLE OF MOUNT MUSA AND THE VALIANT DEEDS OF THE ARMENIAN WOMEN

This article, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Franz Werfel’s heroic novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, presents the valiant deeds and heroism of Armenian women during the self-defense of Mount Musa, when Mount Musa of Suetia province became one of the prominent self-defense centers of Armenians. Our analysis of this heroic episode of Armenian history presents the reader with a new genocidal policy adopted and elaborated against the Armenians by the government of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. In our study, we have used works published in Armenia and abroad, some of which are primary sources.

FRANZ WERFEL AS A CULTURAL CRITIC. INDIVIDUALISM, COLLECTIVISM AND THE MORAL-AESTHETIC TASK OF A POET

This article is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the heroic novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh created by great Austrian writer and humanist Franz Werfel. With this novel Franz Werfel created a literary monument to the Armenian people. Werfel’s inspiration from his journey to Palestine and his encounter with Armenian orphans in Damascus are well known. Less known are his cultural-critical-philosophical essays that Werfel gave as lectures in the 1930s, framing his work on The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. These texts are densely formulated, often without references or plain argumentation. But they hold insights into Werfel’s moral demands on a poet, broaching that issue in the eras of communism, fascism, and genocide. This paper creates a moral-aesthetic profile that traces Werfel’s socially critical remarks with his view of the task of a poet and contrasts them with another contemporary view of a poet, that of Rainer Maria Rilke.

FROM MOUNT MUSA TO SINJAR MOUNT. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SELF-DEFENSE FIGHTSSIS OF SELF-DEFENSE FIGHTS

The study of self-defense battles of victim groups during genocides is no less important than the study of the crimes themselves. The purpose of this article is to study the self-defense battles of Armenians during the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire and the Yazidi Genocide carried out by ISIS in the Iraqi province of Sinjar (Shangal). In particular, the article provides a comparative analysis between the self-defense battles of Mount Musa and Mount Sinjar (Shangal). The study combines historical-comparative and analytical methods to achieve the stated goals and objectives. The article has used both primary and secondary sources, as well as interdisciplinary research by specialists. As a result of the comparative analysis conducted in the article, both common features and differences were revealed between the self-defense battles of Mount Musa and Mount Sinjar during the Armenian Genocide and the Yazidi Genocide. Despite the almost century-long period separating these two cases, there are certain similarities and significant differences between the self-defense of the Armenians and the Yazidis. To emphasize the rejection of genocides in the world, I dedicate this article to the 90th anniversary of The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.

To the 200th Anniversary of the Signing of the Russian-American Convention

This article examines the history of the formation of borders in the North Pacific Ocean from the late 18th to the first quarter of the 19th century. This period was marked by the struggle between the United States and Russia for control of the North American territory. Russia was the first to declare its claims by announcing the expansion of its possessions to the south. Unlike in 1799, when Russia declared its overseas colonies without any objections from the United States, the 1821 attempt to expand the territory of Russian colonies by 10 degrees led to heightened tensions in Russian-American relations. Negotiations ensued, and the Russian government was forced to make concessions. As a result, in 1824, a convention was concluded between Russia and the United States, which defined the boundaries of their respective possessions in the region. The article, employing an interdisciplinary approach, utilizes new archival materials and, perhaps for the first time, conducts a linguistic analysis of the texts of the convention.

Anangula before and after: to the 50th anniversary of Soviet-American archaeological expedi-tion on the Aleutian Islands

The purpose of this work is to analyze the events in scientific life that preceded and followed the first Soviet-American archaeological expedition to the Aleutian Islands 50 years ago (1974) and the excavations of the Anangula Site, the materials of which date back to ca. 9,000 years ago. The used sources include various publications by Rus-sian and foreign authors, highlighting the key episodes of international dialogue and the stages of the formation of American studies in the Kunstkamera (St. Petersburg), the Institute of Ethnography (Moscow), and the Institute of History, Philology and Philosophy (Novosibirsk), as well as the information on the participation of Russian scientists, with reports, at major international forums, periodicals, and scientific chronicles, freely available archival data, and also records from family collections. The dynamics and forms of academic cooperation between Russian and North American archaeologists and ethnographers (exchanges of visits, conferences, exhibitions, joint projects, publications) are traced during different stages — in the 1900s–1930s, 1950s–1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. The initial period featured the interest of the American side in the study of materials from Siberia and Northeast Asia in the person of such specialists as A. Hrdlicka, F. Rainey, and W. Laughlin, and the late 1960s period — the institutional, structural, and thematic development of American studies in several scientific centers in Russia. The specifics of changes in the structure of financing, and the role of the grant system (Russian and foreign scientific foundations) since the 1990s are noted. As a result, a number of conclusions have been drawn about the regularity of the ap-pearance and implementation of the project on the Aleutian Islands, the role of Siberian researchers (A.P. Okladnikov, A.P. Derevianko, R.S. Vasilievsky) in the development of such areas as American studies and Pacific archaeology in science and education, the long-term effect of the “Anangula legacy” for the next generations of Russian and North American archaeologists, as well as about the current state of the research in the area.

9th Conference on Canadian Studies at Saint Petersburg State University

The article provides information about the IX Canadian Studies Conference held at St. Petersburg State University within the framework of the Second St. Petersburg Congress of Researchers of International Relations on April 25-27, 2024. This conference was organized by the Centre for Canadian Studies at SPbSU and was timed to coincide with three anniversaries: the 300th anniversary of SPbSU, the 30th anniversary of the Faculty of International Relations at SPbSU, and the 25th anniversary of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Association for Canadian Studies. It is noted that the conference was attended by a significant number of Canadianists from various scientific and educational institutions. Their presentations, dedicated to various aspects of Canadian history, politics, culture, and the social sphere, were delivered at an extremely high level.

Rwanda as Africa’s Rising Center of Power? Three Decades of Post-Genocide Development

In April 2024, Rwanda commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Tutsi genocide, which claimed the lives of almost 800 thousand people. The consequences of this tragedy still affect all aspects of the political and economic life of the country, including the relationship between representatives of its two largest peoples – the Tutsi and the Hutu, who strive, although not always successfully, to live in peace and harmony. The government of Paul Kagame is actively promoting the ideology of “Rwandanness”, i.e. blurring the lines between different ethnic groups, and pursues the policy of “national unity”, but selective repression carried out with impunity by security forces and the provision of special preferences to Tutsis in the areas of employment, education, etc. hinder the integration process. Largely due to Western assistance, the regime managed to achieve considerable success in the economic field, although inequality between different groups of the population persists, becoming an important conflict factor. While successfully ensuring its survival through total control, the Kagame regime simultaneously creates the preconditions for problems that future generations of Rwandans may have to face.

N.A. Vigdorchik — is the founder of the Leningrad scientific school of occupational pathology, an outstanding scientist, teacher and public figure (on the 150th anniversary of his birth)

November 17, 2024 marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai (Nathan) Abramovich Vigdorchik, one of the founders of occupational health, the creator of the country's first department of occupational diseases and a research institute for their study in Leningrad. N.A. Vigdorchik is an iconic figure in Russian occupational pathology. The formation of occupational health as an independent discipline is associated with his name. The biography, creative and scientific path of this man are closely intertwined with the dramatic events of the historical era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in which the pioneer scientist lived and worked. Professor Vigdorchik can rightfully be attributed to those outstanding Russian medical scientists who actively contributed to the progressive formation and development of Russian medical science and practice in the first half of the twentieth century. His multifaceted scientific, pedagogical, therapeutic and social activities had a wide resonance, including at the state level. Thanks to his talent and vast practical experience, N.A. Vigdorchik had the ability to notice in time the shifts in medicine, economics, politics, and the social sphere taking place in our country and abroad, give them a qualified assessment and outline ways to solve topical issues, primarily in the field in which he was an outstanding specialist — occupational health and social insurance. Vigdorchik belongs to that rare breed of specialists who are commonly called encyclopedists. According to the recollections of colleagues, in addition to his brilliant abilities, he possessed excellent human qualities. In the articles devoted to the life and work of this extraordinary man (especially in connection with the 140th anniversary), N.A. Vigdorchik's contribution to Russian science and practice is analyzed in sufficient detail. At the same time, the scale of this personality is such that not all facets of his talent are reflected in literature. In this article, the author tried to focus on information that is little known to a wide range of readers, on issues where the role and importance of professor Vigdorchik are very significant, but, in our opinion, are not fully appreciated by contemporaries.

From regeneration to the evolution of development and philosophy: the work of professor Galina Korotkova (1924–2009), on the 100th anniversary of her birth

Evolutionary and developmental biology are among the most dynamically developing areas of modern biology. Both have a long and turbulent history, especially in Russia (USSR). However, any science develops thanks to the breakthrough research of individual scientists and scientific teams. In this paper, we briefly analyzed the main theoretical works of Leningrad State University professor G. P. Korotkova (1924–2009), who made a significant contribution to general biology at the end of the twentieth century. G. P. Korotkova is known for her pioneering work in the field of regeneration of invertebrate animals and, first of all, sponges, evolutionary and philosophical aspects of biology. In particular, her contribution to the theoretical aspects of regenerative biology, to the development of philosophical aspects of the problems of wholenessis considered. The principles of her original hypothesis of the origin and phase evolution of ontogenesis are briefly outlined, as well as her ideas regarding the theoretical aspects of the biology and organization of sponges (Porifera).

To the 70th Anniversary of the 1953 Meeting on Psychology: The First Post-Stalinist Event

The authors tried to take a new look at a little-known for Russian psychological science event — the II All-Union Meeting on Psychology, convened by the Presidium of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR and held in Moscow from July 3 to 8, 1953, the 70th anniversary of which was celebrated in 2023. The meeting was organized a year after the Meeting on psychology, convened on the initiative of the Presidium of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR and held from June 30 to July 5, 1952. Unlike the Meeting of 1952, where there were mainly theoretical speeches, in the reports at the 1953 Meeting psychologists presented concrete psychological research carried out experimentally, thus summarizing some preliminary results of the reorganization of psychological science on the basis of the teachings of I.P. Pavlov. There were three thematic groups of reports: language and thinking, sensation and perception, typological differences of human higher nervous activity, in which there was a desire to find concrete ways of genuine reorganization of the whole system of psychology on the basis of I.P. Pavlov’s doctrine of higher nervous activity. The disadvantages of the speeches were recognized as the weak connection of specific studies, carried out by the method of objective physiological analysis, with psychological problems, the loss of the specificity of psychological research, the dominance of questions of physiological analysis, the uncritical use of old psychological methods, and the formal use of I.P. Pavlov’s teaching. Another important issue discussed at the Meeting was the Prospectus of the textbook edited by professors S.L. Rubinstein, A.N. Leontiev, A.A. Smirnov, and B.M. Teplov, full members of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR.

The milestones of the life and scientific-pedagogical path of Mikhail Ivanovich Balabolkin (to the 90th anniversary of the birth of Professor M.I. Balabolkin)

The article is dedicated to the 90th year of the birth of Professor Mikhail Ivanovich Balabolkin. He was a well-known endocrinologist, Doctor of Medical Science, Director of the Institute of Diabetes of The National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Head of the Departments of Endocrinology at the Moscow Medical and Dental Institute named after N.A. Semashko, and subsequently at the Moscow Medical Academy named after I. M. Sechenov. Mikhail Ivanovich will forever remain in the memory of all his students and colleagues. The article contains not only biographical data on the professor’s professional and scientific activities, the history of the creation of the departments of endocrinology, which he headed, but also memories of people who were well acquainted with Mikhail Ivanovich. Particular attention in the article is paid to the personal qualities of M.I. Balabolkin, his family, attitude towards his professional team and hobbies.