Tales from Home: Two Siberians on Siberia’s History, Culture, and the Environment
The idea behind the module “Tales from Home: Two Siberians on Siberia’s History, Culture, and the Environment” rests not only on the goal of providing a snapshot of Siberia and its cultural, linguistic, historical, and environmental importance but also on the deep, personal desire to tell stories of the place we call home. We aim to introduce you to diverse literary and folklore traditions, Indigenous and local cultural practices, and multilingualism against the backdrop of a long history of exile, colonial governance, industrial development, and environmental disruption. Taking Siberia as a home to many, we tell about its cultures and histories through dialogues between its residents and governmental projects. Ultimately, our goal is to bring Siberia to the spotlight in East European and Eurasian studies.
How To Use The Module
The curriculum module is organized into four lessons that can be accessed through the left sidebar:
- “What is Siberia?” This lesson serves as an introduction to Siberia and the early years of Russian colonization of the region.
- “A Land of Exile?” This lesson takes you through the difficult parts of Siberia’s history from the katorga to the GULAG and beyond.
- “A Land of Resources?” This lesson examines the colonial politics surrounding Siberian natural resources, from fur to oil and gas, to tourism, as well as Indigenous and local responses to these interventions and projects.
- “A Land of Knowledge?” This lesson presents a few well-known inventions and discoveries that were made in the region.
Each lesson begins with a task, followed by a text and practice materials and projects that can be used in the classroom. Further resources, readings, movies, and cultural artifacts are listed at the end of each lesson. To encourage your curiosity, concepts that are not directly discussed in the modules but are important and interesting are hyperlinked, so you can easily find more information about them.
About the Authors
Dima driving a reindeer sledge, Yamal, Arctic Siberia, 2018.
Dr. Dima Arzyutov is a historian and anthropologist who was born and raised in Kemerovo, a city in South Siberia. He is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures at The Ohio State University. At the age of 18, he began collaborating with Indigenous communities (Shors and Altaians) in the southern part of his home region and the neighboring Altai Republic. Since 2009, he has also worked with the Indigenous Nenets communities in the Siberian Arctic. Indigenous history, conceptualizations of the past, and relationships with the environment occupy a significant part of Dima’s intellectual life. In his recent theoretical works, he reflects on how and why local and Indigenous ideas become academic concepts and theories.
For more information https://slavic.osu.edu/people/arzyutov.1
Michelle in front of Slyudyanka train station in the town of Slyudyanka. The historical train going along Lake Baikal shore begins here.
Michelle Verbitskaya is from the city of Irkutsk, the capital of Irkutsk Oblast‘ (think “region”) in Eastern Siberia. Michelle views herself not as a “Russian” but as a “Siberyachka,” a word for a person from Siberia. For Michelle, being a Siberyachka means seeing winds, plants, rivers, mountains, and lakes as living creatures with their own stories and personalities, aching for my ancestors’ persecution and hidden family history, and being an expert in enjoying the outdoors when it is -15C/-31F degrees outside. Many say that one can leave Siberia, but Siberia will never leave you, and no other statement resonates with Michelle more.
Currently, Michelle is based in Columbus, OH where they are pursuing a Ph.D. in Slavic Linguistics with a focus on the interaction between social movements and languages, as well as features of Eastern Siberian speech.
For more information: https://slavic.osu.edu/people/verbitskaya.2
The modules are made possible through the support from the East European and Eurasian Online Curricular Module Development Grant from the Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies at OSU.