Putin's Russia: A Historian's Perspective

press release: The first of five lectures in the library's year-long "Scholar'd for Life" series!  See the entire schedule here.

"Putin's Russia" offers a historian's perspective on Russia's recent turn to an assertive foreign policy and more authoritarian rule at home. The talk offers several perspectives on this behavior and the challenges it presents to  West, to Putin's own government, and to citizens of the Russian Federation.

David McDonald is the Alice D. Mortenson/Petrovich Professor of History at UW-Madison.  A graduate of the University of Toronto and the recipient of a doctorate at Columbia University, McDonald teaches and conducts research in the history of the Russian Empire. In addition to teaching classes in his specialty, McDonald has served as Special Assistant for Athletics and has chaired UW-Madison's Department of History. He also chaired the search thatyielded Rebecca Blank, current chancellor of UW-Madison.

Registration is appreciated for this event:  Online here or by email at info@midlibrary.org.

Scholar'd for Life is a lecture series presented by the Middleton Public Library in partnership with the UW Madison Speaker's Bureau.  Taking the "Wisconsin Idea" as its starting point, this series aims to promote lifelong learning, intellectual curiosity, and engagement between academics and the community as a whole.