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Posted: Tuesday 15 September 2009

Window on Russia

Russia When pupils and guests looked through the Window on Russia on Friday 11 September, they found a complicated, often misunderstood country - or, as Head of History Rona Gaffney quoted Sir Winston Churchill in her introduction to the history lecture, "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."

Following a whistle-stop presentation of Russia's musical history by Lev Atlas, principal viola with the Scottish Opera Orchestra, and owner of Glasgow's Cafe Cossachok, the conference, organised by Hutchesons' Grammar School and the European-Atlantic Movement, covered history, politics, women's issues and the media in modern Russia.

Lev Atlas at Window on Russia Conference

Window on Russia Lunchtime brought the opportunity to sample Russian delicacies and learn the Russian alphabet from Jenny Carr, Chair of the Edinburgh-based Scotland-Russia Forum.

Window on Russia: Victoria Hildebrandt and Sergey Krutikov The conference was attended by Sergey Krutikov, Consul General for the Russian Federation in Scotland (left, with Victoria Hildebrandt, a Russian-speaking member of staff), as well as pupils and staff from Holyrood Secondary, Shawlands Academy, Jordanhill School, Craigholme and George Watson's. The speakers were Prof Evan Mawdsley, Professor of Modern History, Prof Stephen White, James Bryce Professor of Politics, and Valentina Feklyunina, Research Assistant, all from the University of Glasgow; and Dmitry Shishkin, Managing Editor of the BBC World Service Russian Section.