{"id":11,"date":"2023-07-14T09:44:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T09:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2026-02-10T13:52:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:52:02","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1822 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/CEREEES-banner-SS-300x169.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/CEREEES-banner-SS-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/CEREEES-banner-SS-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/CEREEES-banner-SS-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/CEREEES-banner-SS.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The <strong>QM<\/strong> <span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Centre for\u00a0Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CEREES)<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0brings people together to learn about Eurasia\u2014inclusive of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, East and Central Europe, the Baltics, Central Asia, and the Caucasus\u2014and the region&#8217;s global connections.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond an &#8216;area studies&#8217; centre, QM-CEREES situates the study of Eurasia within a cross-section of broader cross-disciplinary and cross-specialist concerns, ranging from globalism, transnationalism, and colonial and post-colonial migration, to memory politics, Cold War geopolitics, nationalism and multinationalism. We maintain that Eurasia is best understood when studied in dialogue with global developments, and that the region&#8217;s &#8216;particular&#8217; experiences&#8211;be that relating to imperialism, revolution, or ideology&#8211;offer a rich vantage point from which to understand broader developments.<\/p>\n<p>QM-CEREES draws on expertise from across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) at Queen Mary University of London, we partner with a range of national and international institutions, we foster innovative research and collaborations, and we host both scholarly and publics events designed to improve UK and international understanding of a complex region that remains at the heart of significant global developments.<\/p>\n<p>QM-CEREES supports a cross-disciplinary programme of networks, reading groups, training, collaboration, and coproduction. We remain committed to fostering opportunities for innovative scholarship and enhanced learning. Scholars and postgraduate students from inside and outside Queen Mary are welcome to seek support from and contribute to our programme.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 2023, QM-CEREES builds on a long and rich tradition of Eurasian and East European expertise across the disciplines of History, Languages and Linguistics, Literature, Film, Drama, Politics, International Relations, Geography, Law, and Business Management at Queen Mary University of London.<\/p>\n<p>Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022, QM-CEREES seeks to play a formative role in reshaping approaches to the region. In particular, w<span class=\"ContentPasted2\">e seek to expand on established understandings of the politics, people, and culture of the\u00a0<span class=\"ContentPasted3 ContentPasted2\">Russian Empire\/Soviet Union, focusing on<\/span><\/span><span class=\"ContentPasted2\">\u00a0Eurasian epistemologies (the various forms of local, imperial, and global knowledges), as well as the transnational connections and exchanges that help shape this region and the wider world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1852\" title=\"Andy Willimott\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/IMG_7128-1-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"504\" height=\"378\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/IMG_7128-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/IMG_7128-1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/IMG_7128-1.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 504px) 100vw, 504px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>QM-CEREES Discussion with Robert Chandler (<span data-ogsc=\"black\">CEREES affiliate<\/span>)<span data-ogsc=\"rgb(5, 5, 5)\">,\u00a0Edwin Frank (NYRB), and <\/span><span data-ogsc=\"black\">Maria Chehonadskih\u00a0(QMUL)\u00a0<\/span>in the QMUL Chapel, surrounded by the sgraffito murals of renowned Polish artist and former inmate of the Soviet labour camps, Adam Kossowski. (More on the QMUL chapel murals and Kossowski <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qmul.ac.uk\/faith\/stbenets\/chapel-murals\/\">here<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1856 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/Blacker-lec-pics2-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"501\" height=\"376\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/Blacker-lec-pics2-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/Blacker-lec-pics2-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/Blacker-lec-pics2-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/Blacker-lec-pics2-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/03\/Blacker-lec-pics2.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 501px) 100vw, 501px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>QM-CEREES Lecture by William Blacker (UCL), chaired by Natalya Chernyshova (QMUL), in the Montagu Lecture Theatre, Queen Mary University of London.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Our Research Themes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4>Decolonising Soviet studies<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4>Soviet and Post-Soviet Temporalities<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4>East London and the \u00e9migr\u00e9s of Eurasia<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4>Transnational entanglements<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4>Humanitarianism<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4>Eurasian epistemologies (cultural, social, political, scientific and medical knowledges)<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Our Research Activities<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4>Collaborative Doctoral Partnership with the\u00a0<span style=\"color: #000080\"><a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bl.uk\/subjects\/slavonic-studies\">British Library, Slavonic and East European Collection<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/research\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080\">Funded research projects<\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4>Our central programme of lecture, panels, and seminars (<a href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/cerees-lectures\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080\">CEREES Events<\/span><\/a>)<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4>Public film screenings (<a href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/cerees-screenings\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080\">CEREES Screenings<\/span><\/a>)<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4>Research networks and reading groups (<a href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/cerees-groups\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080\">CEREES Groups<\/span><\/a>)<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000080\"><a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/decolonising-soviet-studies-dss\/\">Decolonising Soviet Studies (DSS)<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000080\"><a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/late-soviet-temporalities\/\">Soviet Temporalities Study Group<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000080\"><a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/franco-russian-entanglements-network\/\">Franco-Russian Entanglements Group<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000080\"><a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/eurasian-epistemologies\/\">Eurasian Epistemologies Group<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000080\"><a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/cerees-in-east-london-2\/\">CEREES in east London Group<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000080\"><a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/2024\/02\/21\/post-socialist-studies-group\/\">Post-Communist Studies Group\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/research\/\">Find out more here<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qmul.ac.uk\/faith\/stbenets\/chapel-murals\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2243 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2026\/01\/Seventh-panel-300x240-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"436\" height=\"349\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1>QMUL, St Benet&#8217;s chapel murals<\/h1>\n<p>The seventh panel portrays the final part of John&#8217;s revelation &#8211; a victorious image of the eternal city, the New Jerusalem, and its associated images of the Tree of Life and River of Life (chapter 21). Christ the Lamb of God is the light at its centre.<\/p>\n<p>St Benet&#8217;s was rebuilt in 1962 as the University of London chaplaincy.<\/p>\n<p>In 1964 the interior walls of the circular domed chapel were\u00a0decorated with a series of unique murals, designed and executed by the renowned Polish ceramicist,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Adam_Kossowski\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Adam Kossowski<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-247 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/07\/cropped-Logo-e1689683242419-300x47.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"447\" height=\"70\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/07\/cropped-Logo-e1689683242419-300x47.jpg 300w, https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/07\/cropped-Logo-e1689683242419.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 447px) 100vw, 447px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000080\">Shape the Conversation<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080\">To join our mailing list, participate in our programme of events, or find out how we can support your research, please contact <a href=\"mailto:hss-cerees@qmul.ac.uk\">hss-cerees@qmul.ac.uk<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #000080\"><a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"mailto:hss-cerees@qmul.ac.uk\">Pitch a new CEREES Group<\/a> \u00a0\/ \u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"mailto:hss-cerees@qmul.ac.uk\">Pitch a new CEREES Screening<\/a> \u00a0\/ \u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080\" href=\"mailto:hss-cerees@qmul.ac.uk\">Pitch a new CEREES Collaboration<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The QM Centre for\u00a0Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CEREES)\u00a0brings people together to learn about Eurasia\u2014inclusive of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, East and Central Europe, the Baltics, Central Asia, and the Caucasus\u2014and the region&#8217;s global connections. Beyond an &#8216;area studies&#8217; centre, QM-CEREES situates the study of Eurasia within a cross-section of broader cross-disciplinary and cross-specialist concerns, [&#8230;] <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/about-us\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":144,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2276,"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/2276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.history.qmul.ac.uk\/cerees\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}