Housed within the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma, the Romanoff Center for Russian Studies promotes the interdisciplinary study of the Russian Federation and its larger historical precursors, the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire. Founded in 2022, thanks to the generous bequest of Princess Janet Romanoff, the Center is dedicated to informing both the University of Oklahoma community and the broader public about the history and culture of Russia, current events involving the Russian Federation, and Russia’s actions on the world stage. It sponsors lectures, symposia, and cultural events; engages with scholars and public figures nationally and internationally; and works to support excellence in teaching and research in Russian studies.
Russian-language poet and literary scholar Dr. Polina Barskova visited OU in October 2025 as a member of the Neustadt Prize jury. Dr. Barskova participated in a poetry reading by Neustadt jurors and delivered a lecture titled "The Siege of Leningrad Narrated to Western Audiences: Harrison Salisbury and his Hidden Sources" for the Romanoff Center. Dr. Barskova is a faculty member in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at UC Berkeley and the author of Besieged Leningrad: Aesthetic Responses to Urban Disaster (2016). Barskova was a nominee for both the Debut Prize and the Andrei Bely Prize in Russia.
OU alumnus Grant Slater (BAs in Russian and Journalism, 2006) visited OU as a TW Adams Distinguished Alumni Lecturer on October 30, 20205. Grant Slater graduated from OU in spring 2006 with BAs in Russian and Journalism. He has since gone on to an illustrious and varied career in journalism. He spent a number of years in Eastern Europe and the Middle East as a free-lance reporter for the New York Times, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and NPR. After returning to the US, he began working as a documentary filmmaker and producing video and audio material for a variety of outlets.
Dr. Mikhail Tsypkin, associate professor emeritus in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Post-graduate School, will visit OU on March 31- April 1 to speak about the career of his father, noted novelist Leonid Tsypkin, and also about Jewish life in the Soviet Union. While on campus, Dr. Tsypkin will give a Just Book Luncheon presentation for the Schusterman Center for Judaic and Israel Studies (on April 1 at noon), will visit classes, and will also deliver a public lecture for the Romanoff Center on his father's biography as a means of exploring the Soviet experience at 4:30 p.m. on April 1 in the Community Room on the 9th floor of Dale Hall Tower. The Just Book Luncheon requires registration (by March 13). Register for the luncheon here. The talk is open to the public and does not require registration.
On Wednesday, April 8, 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Zarrow Hall Community Room, Dr,. Christian Ostermann, Director of the Cold War Project-- formerly at the Woodrow Wilson Center and now at the University of Maryland-- and Dr. Thomas Schwartz, Distinguished Professor of History and Political Science at Vanderbilt University, will give talks on Spies and Intelligence in the Soviet Block during the Cold War. Light refreshments will be served.
Attn: Prof. Emily Johnson
Department of Modern Languages, Literatures & Linguistics
University of Oklahoma
780 Van Vleet Oval, Room 206
Norman, OK 73019
Romanoffcenter@ou.edu
