The American Studies in Russia: Eight Anthropological Forums (1982–2018)

Abstract

The paper describes the development of American Studies in Russia based on eight anthropological forums held from 1982 to 2018. On the initiative of Valery Tishkov (Head of the Department of America at the Institute of Ethnography, Academy of Sciences of the USSR), the First Soviet Symposium in Native American’s Studies (“Indeanistika”) was held at the Institute in Moscow in 1982. Other five symposia also dedicated to the Native Americans (1985, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2003) were held at the same institution (Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, since 1990). After a twelve-year break, the Seventh Symposium whose topic expanded to comprise the entire population of the Americas took place at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology in 2015. The Eighth American Symposium organized by the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences, was held in St. Petersburg in 2018. The number of participants and diversity of topics increased significantly compared to the previous symposia. Researchers from eight Russian cities, as well as from Mexico, the United States, Poland, Spain and Colombia presented their papers.