Angelo State University Presenting Free Program on History of the Soviet Union

SAN ANGELO- The Angelo State University Russian Enrichment Program will host a presentation by Dr. Alan Barenberg, a professor of history at Texas Tech University, on the impact and importance of the Soviet Union.

Titled "The Soviet Union at 100: A Zombie Empire?" the presentation will begin at 6 p.m. in the University Center's C.J. Davidson Conference Center and is free and open to the public.

Barenberg will discuss the founding of the Soviet Union, or USSR, by the Bolsheviks as the world's first anti-imperialist empire, as well as its treatment of minorities and the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

He will also attempt to answer the questions: What are the legacies of the Soviet Union today, 100 years after its creation and more than 30 years after its collapse? How should we understand Russian invasions of Georgia (2008) and Ukraine (2014 and 2022)? Is Putin attempting to resurrect the USSR as a zombie empire?

The Buena Vista Foundation Associate Professor of History at Texas Tech, Barenberg is also author of the award-winning book, "Gulag Town, Company Town: Forced Labor and Its Legacy in Vorkuta" (2014), and co-editor of "Rethinking the Gulag: Identities, Sources, Legacies" (2022).

Barenberg's ASU presentation is also the first fall 2022 installment of the ASU History Lecture Series. It is sponsored by the Department of English and Modern Languages, Dr. Arnoldo de Leon Department of History, ASU Russian Club and ASU History Society.

ASU's Russian Enrichment Program hosts guest speakers and other presentations during each academic year to encourage the study of Russian language and culture.

The Soviet Union at 100: A Zombie Empire presentation will be on Monday, Sept. 12, in the Houston Harte University Center, at 1910 Rosemont Drive at 6:00 p.m.