Posted on Thursday, January 22, 2009
Dr. Russell Martin, ¾¨Ó㴫ý associate professor of history, was invited to help lead the Historical Readings graduate seminar Jan. 20 at the University of Pittsburgh.
The invitation was extended by Dr. William Chase, professor of Russian and Soviet history at Pitt and instructor for the seminar.
Martin said, "It was a special treat for me, since I earned my undergraduate degree from Pitt and took my very first Russian history course with Dr. Chase."
"In the seminar, we discussed readings about the creation of Russian political myths and the question of cultural borrowing, that is, how the Muscovites (early Russians) borrowed cultural practices and institutions from both the Mongols and the Byzantines," he explained.
"The seminar gave me an opportunity to work, if only for one day, with advanced students working toward their masters and Ph.D.s, and the topic gave me the opportunity to introduce my own research to the students," he added. "Since it was a graduate course, it also was a chance to think about bigger questions in a broader historiographical context."
Martin, who has been with ¾¨Ó㴫ý since 1996, earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a master's and Ph.D. from Harvard University.Â
Martin appeared on A&E Biography in a broadcast on Ivan the Terrible as an expert on the controversial ruler. He is the co-founder of the Muscovite Biographical Database, a Russian-American computerized register based in Moscow of early modern Russian notables. The Neville Island, Pa., native is not only fluent in Russian, but also reads Old Church Slavonic/Russian, French, German, Latin, and Polish.Â
Martin continues to translate from Russian to English the official Webpage of Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, the heiress to the vacant Russian throne. Translations are available at . In February 2008, Martin was awarded the Order of St. Anna (with the rank of Knight Companion) by the grand duchess for his work on behalf of the House of Romanov.
Martin currently serves as president of the Association for the Study of Eastern Christian History and Culture, Inc. (ASEC), an international organization of scholarly study of society, culture, and belief among Eastern Christian communities.
Contact Martin at (724) 946-6254 or e-mail martinre@westminster.edu for additional information.
