Antony Kalashnikov, an alumnus of the MPhil REES program, recently defended his DPhil History thesis "Stalinist Monumental Art and Architecture, and the 'Immortalization of Memory'." The thesis examines the Stalinist policy of the "immortalization of memory," which sought to ensure that contemporary events and individuals would be remembered by posterity, in perpetuity. Arguing that monumental art and architecture were the central means for "immortalization," the thesis traces its effects on the style and form of Stalinist monumentalism, and analyzes the significance of the “immortalization” myth to Stalinist culture.
In the course of the DPhil, an offshoot project resulted in the article "Stalinist Crimes and the Ethics of Memory," published in Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian Studies 19.3 (2018). Antony will be taking up a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Alberta (Canada) in September.
