A capital exchange Historians from Cardiff and Moscow to switch universities in staff exchange programme

Leading academics from Cardiff University and the Russian State University for the Humanities are to swap capitals, bringing fresh perspectives to teaching and research for scholars and students in Cardiff and Moscow.

Thanks to a grant from the European Commission as part of the Erasmus Plus International Credit Mobility scheme, historians from the Faculty of History at the State Academic University for the Humanities in Moscow and Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion will deliver lectures and lead seminars during their two week-long visits, as well as engage in a broader cultural exchange programme.

The programme aims to help to strengthen cultural connections not only between the two universities, but also between the two capitals and countries. In the first stage four Cardiff historians – Dr Deborah Barton, Dr Gavin Murray-Miller, Dr James Ryan and Dr Toby Thacker - will spend five days in Moscow in March.

Dr James Ryan, who recently joined Cardiff University in the new post of Lecturer in Modern European (Russian) History, is co-ordinating the exchange within the Welsh capital. He explained the significance of the exchange: “A first within the discipline between our institutions, this exchange will enhance the pursuit of broader Russian studies for Cardiff University students in particular. This is an interesting time in the history of relations between Britain and Russia, when greater cultural understanding can only benefit both institutions directly and international relations more broadly.”

The State Academic University for the Humanities in Moscow is formed on the basis of the humanities institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia’s foremost institution of learning.

Highly regarded for social, cultural and medical history, transnationalism, gender and historical theory, History at Cardiff University has recently seen a leap in rankings to 17^th in the latest government research assessment exercise (Research Excellence Framework 2014). This mirrors Cardiff University’s meteoric rise to fifth position for the quality of its research, illustrating its place as a world-leading university.