Faculty Portrait

Contact Information

Name: Aaron J. Cohen, PhD

Title: Professor

Office Location: Tahoe Hall 3092

Email: cohenaj@csus.edu

Office Phone: (916) 278-7209

Mailing Address: History Department MS 6059, California State University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-2605 USA

Office Hours: In Fall 2023, TuWeTh 1:30-2:30 p.m. or by appointment in person or via Zoom. Please use the Zoom office link.

Zoom office : https://csus.zoom.us/my/cohenofficehours (see Quick Links below)

Courses

History 51. World History from 1500 to the Present (asynchronous web online course)

History 100. Introduction to Historical Skills (50% hybrid course)

History 129a. Medieval Russia

History 129b. Imperial Russia

History 129c. Twentieth-Century Russia

History 129d. Socialist Popular Culture (entitled "A Cultural History of Russia" for Spring 2024 only)

History 130. The Fall of Communism (asynchronous web online course)

History 190/290. Clio: Editing & Publishing in History

History 200. History and Theory

Syllabi for seminars and other courses: ALS 102.

Education

PhD in History, The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), 1998

MA in History, University of Oregon (Eugene, OR), 1992
Graduate Certificate in Russian and East European Studies

BA cum laude in History, Pomona College (Claremont, CA), 1985

Papers and publications

Peer-reviewed monographs:

War Monuments, Public Patriotism, and Bereavement in Russia, 1905-2015 (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2020). Available direct or from Amazon. Paperback available in September 2021.

Find reviews in The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies 22 (2021).

 

 

 

War Monuments

 

Imagining the Unimaginable: World War, Modern Art, and the Politics of Public Culture in Russia, 1914-1917 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2008).

Find reviews in The Journal of Modern History 82, no. 3 (September 2010): 762; Cultural and Social History 7, no. 1 (March 2010): 133; Europe-Asia Studies 62, no. 1 (2010): 182; Revolutionary Russia 22, no. 2 (2009): 233; Slavic Review 68, no. 4 (Winter 2009): 982; Russian Review 68, no. 2 (April 2009): 332; Cultural Politics 5, no. 3 (2009): 391-394; The American Historical Review 114, no. 3 (June 2009): 865.

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Peer-reviewed articles:

“Why So Serious? Tragedy and Whimsy in Late Soviet and Post-Soviet Russian Monuments,” Canadian Slavonic Papers 63, nos. 1-2 (2021): 6-32. Full text.

“Museums." Co-authored with Jennifer Wellington, Anne Hertzog, and Susanne Brandt. 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. 2021. Full text.

“The Civil War after the Civil War: Conflict, Reconciliation and Locality in Russian Civil War Monuments, 1922-1941,” Revolutionary Russia 33, no. 2 (2020): 246-270. Full text.

“The Limits of Iconoclasm: The Fate of Tsarist Monuments in Revolutionary Moscow and Petrograd, 1917-1918,” CITY: Analysis of Urban Change, Theory and Action 24, no. 3-4 (2020): 1-11. Full text.

“Neither Here Nor There: War Memorial Landscape in Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Emigration, 1914–1939.” In Landscapes of the First World War, edited by Selena Daly, Martina Salvante, and Vanda Wilcox, 173-191. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

"'Our Russian Passport': First World War Monuments, Transnational Commemoration, and the Russian Emigration in Europe, 1918-39." Journal of Contemporary History 49, no. 4 (October 2014): 627-651. Full text.

"The Feast in the Time of Plague: The Russian Art World, Easel Painting, and the Experience of War and Revolution, 1914-22." In Russian Culture in War and Revolution, 1914-1922. Book 1: Popular Culture, the Arts, and Institutions, edited by Murray Frame, Boris Kolonitskii, Steven G. Marks, and Melissa K. Stockdale, 121-138. Bloomington, IN: Slavica Publishers, 2014.

"Russian Monuments to the First World War: Where Are They? Why Are They?" In Russian Culture in War and Revolution, 1914-1922. Book 2: Political Culture, Identities, Mentalities, and Memory, edited by Murray Frame, Boris Kolonitskii, Steven G. Marks, and Melissa K. Stockdale, 297-312. Bloomington, IN: Slavica Publishers, 2014.

"Commemoration, Cult of the Fallen (Russian Empire)." 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War. 2014. Full text.

"Long Ago and Far Away: War Monuments, Public Relations, and the Memory of the Russo-Japanese War in Russia, 1907-1914." Russian Review 69, no. 3 (July 2010): 388-411. Full text.

"Oh, That! Myth, Memory, and World War I in the Russian Emigration and the Soviet Union." Slavic Review 62, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 69-86. Full text.

"Making Modern Art Russian: Artists, Politics, and the Tret'iakov Gallery during the First World War." Journal of the History of Collections 14, no. 2 (November 2002): 271-281. Full text.

Other articles:

 "'Гражданская война' после Гражданской войны: Конфликты, примирение и местная специфика в памятниках Гражданской войны в России (1922-1941 гг.)." In Омский научный вестник. Серия «Общество. История. Современность». Translation and commentary forthcoming.

"Открытие России в Америке: наследие Форт-Росса и Крымской войны в Северной Калифорнии (1850-1900 гг.) [The Discovery of Russia in America: The Legacy of Fort Ross and the Crimean War in Northern California (1850-1900)]." In Российская государственность и Русская православная церковь: эволюция институтов светской и духовной власти, 598-603. Ярославль: Индиго, 2018.

"Значение Калифорнии в русско-американских отношениях: Исторический обзор [The Significance of California in Russian-American Relations: A Historical Overview]." In «Во все концы достигнет россов слава»: материалы XXXIV Крашенинниковских чтений, 164-166. Петропавловск-Камчатский: ККНБ им. С. П. Крашенинникова, 2017. Full text.

"Profession and Politics: Modernism and the Rhetoric of Art Criticism in Late Imperial Russia, 1898-1917." In Critical Exchange: European Art Criticism of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, edited by Carol Adlam and Juliet Simpson, 113-125. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2009.

"The Dress Rehearsal? Russian Realism and Modernism through War and Revolution." In Rethinking the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05: A Centennial Perspective, Volume 1, edited by Rotem Kowner, 218-231. Folkstone: Global Oriental Publishers, 2007.

"Bild und Spiegelbild: Deutschland in der russischen „Russkoe slovo" (1907-1917) [Image and Reflection: Germany and the Germans in the Russian Daily Newspaper Russkoe slovo, 1907-1917]."  In Deutsche und Deutschland aus russischer Sicht 19./20.Jahrhundert: Von den Reformen Alexanders II. bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg, edited by Dagmar Hermann, 258-279. Munich: W. Fink, 2006.

"Flowers of Evil: Mass Media, Child Psychology, and the Struggle for Russia's Future during the First World War." In Children and War, edited by James Marten, 38-49. New York: NYU Press, 2002.

"Vladimir Putin: Problem or Solution?" With Alexander Petrov. Analysis of Current Events, 14, no. 1 (February 2002): 9-11.

"Revolution und Emanzipation: Bilder der russischen Frau in der deutschen Öffentlichkeit [Revolution and Emancipation: Images of Russian Women in the German Public]." In Deutschland und die russische Revolution, 1917-1924, edited by Gerd Koenen, 527-553. Munich: W. Fink, 1998.

Selected conference participation and related professional activities:

“Beyond Good and Evil: World War I Memorials as Objects in Space and Time.” Invited lecture, Heritage and Commemoration: First World War Memorials and Cemeteries conference. Krakow, Poland (June 2023).

“The Fall and Rise of Monumental Propaganda: Aesthetic Gigantism, Marx and Lenin Monuments, and Localizing Centrality in the Soviet Union, 1922-1985.” Paper, REECAS Northwest 2023 Regional Conference. Seattle, WA (April 2023).

“The Fall and Rise of Monumental Propaganda: Aesthetic Gigantism, Public Culture, and Local Power in the Soviet Union, 1922-1985.” Paper, ICCEES 2021 Congress. Virtual/Montreal, QC (2021).

“World War I and the Civil War in Putin’s Russia: Civic Reconciliation, Politics, and War Monuments after the End of the Soviet Union.” Paper, ICCEES 2021 Congress. Virtual/Montreal, QC (2021).

Winner, 2017-18 Outstanding Scholarly and Creative Activities Award in the College of Arts & Letters, California State University, Sacramento.

“From Bourgeois Militarism to Soviet Patriotism: The Transition to War Monuments in the Soviet Union, 1917-1967.” Paper, ASEEES Annual Convention. Chicago, IL (2017). 

“The Discovery of Russia in America: The Heritage of Fort Ross and the Crimean War in Northern California, 1850-1900.” Paper, Echo of Russian America: The Historical-Cultural Heritage conference. Riazan, Russia (2017). 

“The Limits of Iconoclasm: The Fate of Tsarist Monuments in Revolutionary Russia and the Early Soviet Union, 1917-1927.” Paper, RGS-IBG Annual International Conference. London, UK (2017). 

“Значение Калифорнии и Русской Америки в российско-американских отношениях.” Paper, XXXIV Крашенинниковские чтения. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskii, Russia (2017). 

“Chinese City, French Space, Russian Monument: French Colonial Ideology, Russian Émigrés, and the Construction of the 1937 Pushkin Monument in Shanghai.” Paper, French Colonial History Society. Siem Reap, Cambodia (2014). 

“A Bitter Truth? World War I in Russian and European Art.” Invited lecture, Mead Art Museum. Amherst College, MA (2014). 

“A Bitter Truth? World War I in European Art.” Invited lecture, Sacramento Central Library, Sacramento, CA (2014). 

“Masters of the Material World: The Russian Art World, the Avant-Garde, and the Experience of World War I, 1914–7.” Paper, College Art Association of America. Chicago, IL (2014). 

“The End of Imperial Russia and the Formation of the Soviet Union.” Invited lecture, The War to End All Wars conference at the Fritt Ord Foundation. Oslo, Norway (2014). 

“The Feast in the Time of Plague: The Russian Art World, Easel Painting, and the Experience of War and Revolution, 1914–22.” Paper, American Historical Association. Washington, DC (2014). 

“Love in the Time of Cholera. The Russian Art World and the War Experience, 1914-1917.” Paper, Russian Culture during the First World War and Revolution, 1914-1922 conference. Clemson, SC (2011). 

“Representing Losers as Winners in Imperialized Space: Russian Émigré Monuments in China, 1920-1941.” Paper, World History Association. Beijing, China (2011). 

“Русские памятники Первой мировой войны. Где они? Почему они?” Paper, Российская культура в годы Мировой войны и революции (1914 -1922). St. Petersburg, Russia (2011). 

“Best Friends Forever: Memorials of the First World War in France, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia through the experience of the Russian emigration, 1918-1939.” Paper, California World History Association. Sacramento, CA (2010). 

Discussant, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies conference. Washington, DC (2006). 

Roundtable participant, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. Salt Lake City, UT (2005). 

“Teaching World History in California Secondary Schools.” First European Congress of World and Global History. Leipzig, Germany (2005). 

“Long Ago and Far Away: Remembering the Russo-Japanese War.” Paper, American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. Boston, MA (2004). 

“The Dress Rehearsal? Russian Realism and Modernism through War and Revolution.” Paper, The Russo-Japanese War and the Twentieth Century: An Assessment from a Centennial Perspective. Jerusalem and Haifa, Israel (2004). 

“Profession or politics? Interpretations of Modernism in Russian art criticism 1898-1917.” Paper, Art Criticism, 1700-1900: Emergence, Development, Interchange in Eastern and Western Europe. Exeter, UK (2003). 

“The Language of War: Exhortation, Condemnation, and Symbolism in German and Russian Public Culture During the World Wars.” Paper, Young Scholars Forum: War and Society: Germany and Europe in Comparative Perspective. German Historical Institute. Washington, DC (2002). 

“Meta-myth-making: The Memory of Russia’s First World War 1917-1939.” Paper, First European Conference in First World War Studies. Lyon, France (2001).

Book reviews:

Canadian Journal of History, Canadian Slavonic Papers (123), The English Historical Review, German Studies ReviewH-Soz-u-Kult, Jahrbücher für Geschichte OsteuropasJournal of World History, The Maryland HistorianThe Public Historian (123), Russian Review (12, 3, 4, 5, 6), Slavic Review (123, 4, 5) and Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature.

Research projects and interests

General interests:

Late imperial and revolutionary Russia, war and public culture, theory and philosophy of history, World War I

Works in progress:

"The Fall and Rise of Monumental Propaganda: Aesthetic Gigantism, Marx and Lenin Monuments, and Localizing Centrality in the Soviet Union, 1922-1985" (article).

"The Birthday of Russian Freedom: The Emancipation of the Serfs, Peasant Memorial Culture, and Local Monuments in Imperial Russia, 1911" (article).

External research grants:

American Councils for International Education Research Scholar. Moscow, Russia (2017).

Fulbright Scholar. Helsinki, Finland (2007).

IREX Individual Advanced Research Opportunity. Moscow, Russia (1995-1996).

DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). Germany (1995).

Professional associations

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

California Faculty Association