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Where the Volga Meets the Charles

The RRC is still a decidedly academic institution, devoted to turning out publishable scholarly works. This year affiliates of the center are researching topics ranging from aging and retirement in the Soviet Union, to Dostoevsky, Stalinism and 18th-century Russia. But perhaps the experiences of one member of the center's executive committee represent a growing trend: Richard E. Pipes, Baird Professor of History and an expert on Soviet ideology, is on leave this term. He is in Washington advising the National Security Council.

Others have also noticed the RRC's changing role. "At one point Soviet scholars didn't want to have anything to do with us--we were supposed to be associated with the CIA," Goldman says. But he adds half-jokingly. "Now they like to come because they know we make policy decisions at our coffee hours."

The members of the center are not entirely happy with this new role. "We don't want to be too dependent on the corporations, and we don't want to be too dependent on the government," Goldman says. "Right now we're a red feather in Harvard's cap--and it may be up to them to keep us there."

Some RRC Projects

The Russian Research Center (RRC) is home for a diverse group of scholars, some supported by government money, some by private funds. They come from all disciplines and from all parts of the world. Their only common ground--an interest in Russian and Soviet affairs. Below is a sample of projects currently being conducted by members of the center.

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Arms Control and International Security. Christopher D. Jones, formerly a professor at the University of Marquette, has been working at the center for two years. An expert in arms control and Soviet political affairs, he is now studying Soviet military exercises and doctrine. His thesis: The Warsaw pact is primarily concerned with internal control, not external antagonism.

The Influence of Rousseau upon Dostoevsky. Robin F. Miller, who divides her time between the RRC and a teaching position at Columbia University, just finished a critique of Dostoevsky's The Idiot. In her book, Miller examines the way the author manipulates his readers, forcing them to confront complicated moral matters. While working on the book, Miller became interested in Dostoevsky's use of confessions, a genre she argues, he adopted from Rousseau. "There are two passages in Rousseau which Dostoevsky returns to over and over in parodies and other ways. For instance, Rousseau used to wander the streets at night, then stand under bridges and expose himself. In Dostoevsky, one of the symbols of confession is indecent exposure."

Nationalism and Communism in Contemporary Poland. Tadeusz Szafar came to the RRC in 1979, four years after he emigrated from Poland. A journalist until the mid-'60s, when he was forced to stop for political reasons, Szafar is now studying the traditional conflict between nationalism and communism in his native land.

A Dictionary of Unconventional Russian: Argot, Jargon and Slang. Formerly a writer, translator and dissident in the Soviet Union, Kirill V. Uspensky first heard many of the words in his files while serving in a Russian labor camp. He has now collected nearly 20,000 words, many of which have hidden political meanings. W.L.W.

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