Anti-communism at Duke - 4/5

There are some communist and aware progressive students and academics
at the Triangle's universities, but they are also centers for
intellectual anti-communism. For example, on Saturday there will be a
surely one-sided day long conference at Duke, "Remembering the Gulag."
The announcement below does not once mention communism, but this is
obviously an anti-communist event sponsored by Duke. They say
Stalin's socialist USSR extraordinarily repressed its citizens, and
even imply that it was worse than Nazi Germany. Even worse, a major
goal seems to be to indoctrinate middle and high school teachers, so
they can in turn try to indoctrinate their students. What else can
you call it when in a certain Durham high school class a book by an
anti-communist such as Richard Pipes (I think his name is Richard
Pipes, but there are other famous reactionary Pipes) was used as the
main source on the Russian Revolution, as if Pipes provides an
accurate view?

For a view of the pro-Stalin communist side, see the website of Grover
Furr (listed in the links on the right), said to be one of the 'most
dangerous academics in America,' the Progressive Labor Party's site
(www.plp.org, and look at the articles under The Communist and PL
Magazine tabs), which defends Stalin while having some positions that
could be called anarchistic rather than communist, and the articles on
Stalin at www.allianceml.com.

Stalin's ideas and policies should be
examined critically, but not in the way most American academics seem
to, with the purpose of attacking socialism and defending capitalism,
that perfect system. It would be good if these anti-communist
academics faced some opposition to their libel and lies against
socialism.

The Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at Duke University
is pleased to invite you to participate in a unique one-day workshop on
Saturday, April 5: REMEMBERING THE GULAG.

The GULAG—the prison camp system that arose in the Soviet Union after
1929—served primarily as a way to gain control over the entire population,
rather than punish criminal acts. The incarceration of millions of innocent
people in the GULAG system is correctly seen as one of the worst and most
shocking episodes of the twentieth century.

Millions of innocent people were incarcerated in the GULAG, serving sentences
of five to twenty years of hard labor. Prisoners in camps worked outdoors and
in mines, in arid regions and the Arctic Circle, without adequate clothing,
tools, shelter, food, or even clean water. We will never know how many
prisoners suffered from starvation, illness, violence, and cold; an immense
number of people died. More people passed through the GULAG, for a much longer
period of time, than through Nazi concentration camps; yet, the GULAG is still
not nearly as well known.

REMEMBERING THE GULAG is intended to introduce participants to this notorious
Soviet prison system and its long-lasting effects on Russian society. We will
provide middle and high school teachers who participate with the background
understanding and curricular materials to introduce their students to it as
well.

WHEN: Saturday, April 5, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
WHERE: Room 320 Languages Building, Duke West Campus, Durham, NC
COST: No registration fee. CSEEES is able to provide limited financial
assistance for participants who travel substantial distances to attend.
CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT: CSEEES will provide participating
teachers with documentation for CE credit.

The program speakers will be drawn from leading scholars and specialists at
Duke and other universities. Each talk will be followed by ample opportunity
for questions and answers. The program schedule will be:

9:00 a.m.--Welcome: Dr. Edna Andrews, Director of CSEEES, professor of Slavic &
Eurasian studies, Duke University
9:15--"Behind Barbed Wire: The Gulag and the Shaping of Soviet Society,"
Dr. Steven A. Barnes, Professor of history, George Mason University
10:15--"'It's Impossible to Express': Stories from Gulag Survivors, " Dr.
Jehanne Gheith, Professor of Slavic & Eurasian studies, Duke University
11:15--Break
11:30--Documentary film: "A Trial in Prague" (2000)
1:00 p.m.--Lunch (on your own)
2:00--"Thinking about 'A Trial in Prague': A Discussion of Political Terror
and Stalinist Rule in Eastern Europe," Dr. Chad Bryant, Professor of history,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2:45--Break
3:00--"Camps in the Classroom: Bringing Stalin's Gulag Alive for Your
Students," Dr. Pamela Kachurin, Professor of art history, Duke University

Curricular and other teaching materials will be distributed to all
participants.

If you might be interested in attending or have any questions, please contact
me at mnewcity [at] duke [dot] edu. Further information about the venue, driving
directions, parking, etc. will be distributed to those who express an interest
in attending.

PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH ANY OF YOUR COLLEAGUES WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED.

Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies
Duke University
Box 90260
303 Languages Building
Durham, NC 27708-0260
Tel: [1] (919) 660-3150
Fax: [1] (919) 660-3188

Update 4/5

I didn't go to the conference, but I did send this tongue in cheek email Thursday morning to a Slavic and Eurasian Studies adjunct professor (apparently studying Soviet copyright law, not the prison system) who has no replied.

Hello,

I live in Durham and might come to the conference on Saturday (thoughI forgot where the Languages building is, or public parking).

I helped publicize the event, but I am concerned, judging by the email I received, about scholarly objectivity. Surely there will be bias in the dominant capitalist state against the USSR's building of socialismin the 30's and 40's, but is it going to be on the level of accepting any questionable assertion that smears Stalin and the USSR? It sounds like the USSR under Stalin's leadership is going to be labelled worse than fascist Germany, and I suppose worse than occupied Iraq.

In high school here in Durham, I had a history class in which the main reading on the Russian Revolution was by a well-known American anti-communist and politically influential rightist academic, though there were a few very brief primary sources. It was similar at a local university, though in that Western Civilization class Behind the Urals was considered, in addition to the textbook. Is this the way Duke will encourage middle and high school teachers to 'educate' their students? If I'm not mistaken, historians consider it important to know the bias of their sources, and considering the author's strong opposition to the USSR, it is reasonable to expect a lot of bias, yet there was little balance. High school students are unlikely to ask for balance, especially when they have been told that European (and other) history is dusty and irrelevant. I am for criticals cholarship, but all views claiming to be scholarly should be heard and refuted or accepted as factual. There are academics in the USA with views on the left, though maybe not in the Triangle.

Also, the email did not say what The Trial in Prague is about.

Thank you for any information.

Patrick Meagher

I guess I'm not worth informing or replying to, and I am surprised if I did not strike a nerve, just for being pro-Stalin. Don't they think they can blow a Stalinist out of the water with their evidence? I think there is a lot of evidence on my side, but I still have a lot to learn in order to fully defend a Marxist-Leninist view on the USSR. I will try to be more of a thorn in the side for local academic anti-communists in the future. Eventually they will have to take notice, because there will be a growing American communist counterpoint to anti-communism from all quarters. Even a non-communist should be able to see how biased our schools are, on communism and other subjects, and I hope some students ask good questions to combat this.