The University of Delaware will hold a daylong symposium, including a public lecture and an exhibition of revolutionary posters, marking the centennial of the Russian Revolution on Thursday, Nov. 2.

The events, all free and open to the public, will be held at various locations on UD’s Newark campus. The symposium, featuring scholarly papers and discussions, will focus on the influence of the 1917 revolution in different parts of the world and will be academic in nature.

The lecture in the evening is specifically designed for a broad public audience and will address the lessons of the revolution in the context of the 20th century. The speaker will be Ronald Grigor Suny, a renowned scholar, lecturer and commentator for major media outlets who has written extensively on Soviet history.

During the symposium and lecture, 21 Russian Revolutionary posters will be on display in an exhibit titled “Visualizing the Russian Revolution: Political Posters from the Early Years of the Soviet Union.” The posters, reproductions from the Swarthmore College collection, are also now on view, through Nov. 2, in the Reading Room of UD’s Morris Library.

The full-day symposium, “1917: The Russian Revolutionary Moment in Global Context,” will take place in the Gallery Room of Perkins Student Center, beginning with coffee and welcoming remarks at 8:30 a.m.

Papers will be presented from 9-11:30 a.m. and from 2-5 p.m., on topics that explore the influence of the Russian Revolution in such areas of the world as Mexico and Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Suny will take part in the symposium discussions and provide summary comments.

His public lecture, “Lessons of October: The Fate of Democracy and Socialism in the Age of Revolution and Counter-Revolution,” will be presented from 7:30-9 p.m. in 115 Purnell Hall, followed by a reception.

Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan, professor emeritus of political science and history at the University of Chicago and senior researcher at the National Research University-Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Two of his most recent books are “They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else”: A History of the Armenian Genocide and Russia’s Empires, written with Valerie A. Kivelson.

Suny has held National Endowment for the Humanities and Guggenheim fellowships as well as leadership positions in such professional organizations as the Society for Armenian Studies and the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.

The symposium programs are sponsored by the departments of History, Political Science and International Relations, and Women and Gender Studies; Center for Global and Area Studies; College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office; Faculty Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events; Institute for Global Studies; Jewish Studies Program; Morris Library; and Office of the Provost, all at UD. They are also sponsored by the Delaware Humanities Forum and, at Swarthmore College, the college’s Library Peace Collection and the Provost’s Office.

The reception after Suny’s lecture is hosted by the UD Fulbright Society.

More information about the Nov. 2 events is available at this website.

About Global Month

The Russian Revolution centennial events mark the beginning of Global Month at UD. Throughout November, students, faculty, staff and the greater UD community are invited to explore the world.

Sponsored by the Institute for Global Studies in collaboration with over a dozen campus partners, Global Month features more than 40 films, lectures, festivals, concerts and events designed to highlight the cultures, politics, food and environments of countries across the globe. In addition, it serves as a time to celebrate the more than 5,000 international students, scholars and their family members who call UD “home.”

An annual event, Global Month coincides with International Education Week (IEW), a joint collaboration between the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education. This year, IEW will take place from Nov. 13-17 across the United States.

To learn more about UD Global Month, visit the IGS website or contact Amy Greenwald Foley. Follow along and engage @UDGlobal on Instagram and Twitter and by using the hashtag #UDGlobalMonth.