From Agrarian Studies to Zoos: Professor Tracy McDonald Speaks about Her Interests
Tracy McDonald is a professor of Russian and Soviet History at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. In 2011, her first book, Face to the Village: The Riazan Countryside Under Soviet Rule was published by the University of Toronto Press in 2011. Currently she is conducting research for a book titled Behind the Iron Bars: A History of Soviet Zoos. She presented a lecture ‘Saving Beauty: Moscow and Leningrad Zoos during the Second World War’ in the HSE, Moscow and kindly agreed to answer a few questions for the HSE news service.
— Professor McDonald, your areas of interest include social and cultural history, micro-history, film, agrarian studies, violence, and animal studies. And the majority of your work is about Russia and the Soviet Union. How did you become involved in Russian history? What inspired you?
— I had always been interested in history in general, and also, specifically in Russian history, from even before I started university. Initially, as an undergraduate, because I had studied Spanish, I was drawn to Latin American history but later became very interested in the history of Early-Modern Europe. After reading about Early-Modern European history and taking a lot of history courses on Russia and the Soviet Union, I became interested in applying some of the methodology used by the historians of Early-Modern Europe to the study of Russia.
— How do you choose items for your studies?
— I think I initially was drawn to agrarian studies because of the influence of Robert Johnson and Lynne Viola at the University of Toronto but also because the methodologies of Early-Modern history that intrigued me drew me toward the countryside. In particular I was interested in the use of sources generated by the legal system to better understand historical actors who otherwise rarely left a written record. Peter Solomon, at the University of Toronto, also played a role in my interest in the legal system and is always an excellent interlocutor.
The most influential course that I took as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto was a course on silent Soviet cinema. More than any other course, that course sustained my interest in the early Soviet period and probably led me to focus on the 1920s for my dissertation and first book. That course also led me to develop my own course on the history of the Soviet Union through film. These interests led naturally into my working on documentary films as part of a company which I co-founded called Chemodan Films.
As an historian interested in social history and the 'history of the voiceless,' human-animal studies seemed like a logical progression.
— You've been talking about the history of Soviet zoos while you’ve been at the HSE Moscow. What do you find most appealing about the history of Soviet zoos?
— I think what is most productive about a history of Soviet zoos is that such a focus changes the prism through which we ask historical questions. It adds another dimension to our study of history, that is often ignored, and that is the massive part non-human animals play in our history. Moreover, Soviet zoos were also massive cultural-scientific institutions that needed to lobby for state resources and to respond to state pressure and campaigns over time. Studying such things allows the historian to look at these campaigns and pressures within new boundaries. A history of Soviet zoos allows the historian to engage simultaneously in economic history, intellectual history, history of science, institutional history, social history, cultural history, diplomatic history, and human-nonhuman animal studies.
— What are your impressions of your visit to Moscow HSE?
— I have been very impressed with the HSE in Moscow. I thought it was a lively, professional, intellectual institution operating at a very high level. I was impressed by the level of commitment and the amount of time and energy that students, professors, and staff devote to the HSE. I attended the HSE’s World War One conference and I thought it was one of the most well-organized and stimulating conferences that I have ever attended.
— Do you have any particular plans for further cooperation with the HSE?
— I very much hope to work with the HSE in the future. I am in the very early stages of trying to build a 'research bridge' between HSE and my university in Canada. I’m still trying to work out the details, however.
I would just like to thank HSE for their research support and assistance in Moscow. The HSE made my trip much more productive and enjoyable. Thank you to everyone I met at HSE and to everyone who helped me, talked with me and/or attended my talk.
Anna Chernyakhovskaya, specially for the HSE news service
See also:
‘We Cannot Understand the Modern Ideological Confrontation without the Accusations that Emerged during the Lausanne Process’
Rainer Matos Franco, from Mexico, defended his PhD thesis with honours at HSE University this June. In his dissertation, Rainer Matos Franco examines the history of anticommunism in Europe during the 1920s. The HSE News Service spoke with Rainer and his academic supervisor, Tatiana Borisova, about the significance of the Lausanne Process for the Cold War and contemporary history, the opportunities provided by HSE University for international PhD candidates, and the challenges of working with a vast database of historical sources.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Ten: 'Number, Please?'
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The final episode of the series recounts how men were unable to cope with telephone operator jobs and were replaced by tall and polite young women. However, as telephone networks expanded, the role of the intermediary became unproductive, eventually rendering the switchboard operator profession obsolete due to automation—not the first nor the last time such a thing has happened. As for Alexander Graham Bell, he used the earnings from inventing the telephone to promote science, educate people about the world around us, and pursue new inventions.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Nine: Big Connections
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The ninth episode of the series explores the development of the first long-distance, interstate, and transatlantic telephone lines, which suddenly made people thousands of kilometres away feel as close as if they were in the same room together.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Eight: The Russian Field of Experiments
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The eighth episode of the series recounts how Russia first adapted the telephone for military and logistical purposes, created a shell company headed by a nominal executive for reselling the rights to Western competitors, and intensively developed communication infrastructure in the country's two capitals, making such progress that Vladimir Lenin insisted on capturing and maintaining control of telephone exchanges at all costs.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Seven: German Efficiency
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The seventh episode in the series recounts the story of German bureaucrats, who proved to be the most astute in Europe by ensuring effective telephony first for themselves and subsequently for all major cities in Germany. However, even there, the government's dominant role over the free market slowed down the adoption of the new technology.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Six: The Telephone's Misadventures in France
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The sixth episode of the series recounts events in France when the private owner of the telephone network was compelled to sell it to the government at a knockdown price, and the impact it had on the development of communications in the country. Spoiler alert: the impact, naturally, was detrimental.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Five: From the US Free Market to Conservative Britain
In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The fifth episode of the series chronicles the early experiences of the telegraph and telephone in Great Britain, shedding light on the challenges they faced, and explores the adverse impact of excessive government regulation and nationalisation on the evolution of telecommunications.
Peacocks, Pepper, and Petrol: The Early History of Imports from Asia
Petroleum for equine care, wood oil for lighting, sandalwood for Easter celebrations, and lemons and olives for entertaining unexpected guests. Russian monasteries often used these and other eastern goods in the period leading up to and during the reign of Peter the Great. Analysing their account books leads to a revision of the traditional assumptions about the primary consumers of oriental goods in Russia. These consumers, in addition to the royal and aristocratic circles, included monastery estates, as discussed in the paper ‘“Three altyns worth of petroleum…”: Oriental goods in Russia at the second half of the 17th and early 18th century’ by historian Arthur Mustafin of HSE University. Based on his paper, IQ.HSE explores the types of goods that were shipped from the East to Russia in the latter half of the 17th to the early 18th century, including the routes and purposes of these shipments.
How the Telephone Conquered the World. Episode Four: David the Start-up Versus the Corporate Goliath
The history of the invention of telephony reads like a captivating detective novel, but even more intriguing are the events that contributed to the worldwide adoption of this technology. In this series of columns on IQ.HSE, Anton Basov, HSE Faculty of Computer Science editor, discusses how telephones have become an integral part of our everyday life. The fourth episode of the series recounts the story of the fledgling start-up's confrontation with hordes of patent trolls and its subsequent victory in a full-blown corporate war against the largest telecommunications company of the late 19th century.
‘In Search of the Key to the Past’: Students of HSE Art and Design School in Nizhny Novgorod Develop Collection of Souvenirs
The HSE Art and Design School in Nizhny Novgorod, together with the ‘Protected Quarters’ project to revive Nizhny Novgorod’s historical territories, have carried out the ‘Timeless’ creative project, which included a design laboratory and an educational programme. As a result of the creative workshop, students made concepts for souvenir products based on the local identity.