One goal of our oral history project is to provide scholars, journalists, and other researchers with analytical tools for understanding the evolution of Russian and Eurasian studies—the relationship between academics and policymakers over time; how the academy shaped fields like nationalities studies and human rights; and the sustainability of area studies as a means for training future experts. There is a lot to learn from oral narratives and, to further our mission, we have started an ongoing list of similar projects from like-minded institutions.
- The University Consortium Interview Series — an ongoing inter-generational, inter-regional interview project that engages young interviewees (graduate students participating in the University Consortium) to interview older generations of academics, foreign policy experts, and other practitioners about their experiences in the field of U.S.-Russia relations (including former Harriman Institute director Robert Legvold, a narrator in our own oral history project).
- Post-Soviet States: People, Power, and Assets Oral History Project from the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas, Austin – an oral history project that aims to fill in the knowledge gaps about the 1990s in post-Soviet states; to go beyond the stereotype of the “wild ‘90s” to figure out what relationships and dynamics were actually like. The first eight interviews are with lawyers, business people, pharmaceutical industry workers and other U.S. citizens who went to the post-Soviet region during the 1990s.
- Carnegie Corporation Oral History Project — an ongoing project that tracks the evolution of the Carnegie Corporation’s philanthropic activities. The interviews examine social and cultural developments in the U.S. and abroad, including the former Soviet Union and post-Soviet space. Carnegie Corporation has been a longtime funder of research on Russia and the post-Soviet space and is currently funding the Harriman Institute and many other like-minded institutions.
- Council on Foreign Relations Oral History Project — an oral history that captures the evolution of CFR and its role in international affairs over time through interviews with former leaders, members, employees, and actors who have shaped U.S. Foreign Policy, including policy toward the former Soviet Union.
- The Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training Oral History Collection — An ongoing project spanning 80 years and containing more than 2,500 oral histories with former participants in the U.S. foreign affairs process. The project aims to capture the evolution of U.S. foreign policy and illuminate how U.S. foreign policy is formulated and implemented. There is a special section devoted to U.S. and USSR relations containing interview excerpts with diplomats who served in the former USSR.
- The Oral History of Independent Ukraine – 1988 – 1991, Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv – a collection oral histories with figures ranging from former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, former Polish President Lech Walesa, and former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. The project examines the rise of nationalist movements and citizen groups in Ukraine; the 1991 All Union Treaty; the 1991 coup attempt in Moscow; and the recognition of Ukraine as an independent state.
Please also refer to Professor Kimberly Marten's project, "Conversations with Diplomats," from our Program on U.S.-Russia Relations. Marten conducted video interviews with former diplomats currently teaching at the Harriman Institute.