The 2019 ASEEES Annual Convention

Our New Age project team is delighted to announce its participation at the 51st ASEEES Annual Convention, which will take place from 23 to 26 November 2019 in San Francisco, California. The ASEEES Annual Convention is doubtless one of the most anticipated events for the academic society that helps to maintain the intellectual vitality of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. This year the convention is dedicated to the topic of “Belief” with a focus on its wide range of expressions and practices, from social movements to spiritual life and wars.

The study of Russian New Age addresses a number of questions related to the genesis and evolution of diverse belief systems in contemporary Russia. The research field includes late and post-Soviet subcultures, dissident movements and underground groups, ecstatic experiments, and alternative healing practices, etc. Belief and consciousness are therefore key elements of all these phenomena.

Both young and more experienced scholars of our group intend to present their research projects on two panels in San Francisco, which will cover the following diverse topics :

The New Age in Russia I: Sat, November 23, 4:00 to 5:45 pm, San Francisco Marriott Marquis, Floor: LB2, Salon

  • Human Potential Movement Goes to Russia: The Diplomatic Role of the Esalen Institute in Ending the Cold War – Birgit Menzel, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
  • Between Science and Belief: (Post-)Soviet Astrologers on Their Practices – Anna Tessmann, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
  • Esoteric Energy in Daily Life of the Russian New Age – Julia Andreeva, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography
  • Mystical Anarchism in 20th-Century Russia: Outlines of a Belief System – Romina Heim, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz

    Discussant: Prof Andrei Znamenski (University of Memphis)

    Chair: Alexander Panchenko (Institute of Russian Literature, RAS)

The New Age in Russia II: Tue, November 26, 12:00 to 1:45pm, San Francisco Marriott Marquis, Floor: 5, Sierra K

  • Invisible Partners: Channeling in the Soviet and Post-Soviet New Age – Alexander Panchenko, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), RAS
  • Ritual Feat and Transpersonal Experience: Ossetian Religion Traditionalists in Search of Legitimization of Their Revivalist Projects – Sergei Shtyrkov, European University at St Petersburg/ The Centre for East European and International Studies, Berlin (Germany)
  • Channeling in New Age Pilgrimage: Narratives, Materiality and Social Control – Andrei Tiukhtiaev, European University at St Petersburg
  • ‘VseyaSvetnayaGramota’: Post-Soviet Exercise in Russian Kabbalah – Svetlana Tambovtseva, European University at St Petersburg

    Chair & discussant: Dr Marina Alexandrova (University of Texas at Austin)

Our German-Russian project team looks forward to presentations and discussions on a wide range of topics, approaches, and arguments. We hope to exchange experience with other attendees and facilitate further research on New Age in the fields of anthropology as well as religious, cultural, and translation studies.


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