ONU and Perm State University Students Discuss the Cold War

PSU Students

 Cold War Discussion


from a press release by ONU Communications and Marketing

ADA — Ohio Northern University students and students from Perm State University in Russia connected via Skype to discuss the Cold War on Thursday, Nov. 15, at 8 a.m.

ONU Students

Russ Crawford, associate professor of history, initiated the relationship with Perm State University when one of his graduate student friends married a Russian woman and taught English at PSU. From there, a telebridge using the Elluminate Conferencing System was created, and three years ago Crawford delivered a talk about sport and the Cold War and answered student's questions.

The program continues to grow under the direction of Professor Kate Isaeva of PSU and Crawford, and the latest overseas conversation will have Crawford’s students in his Cold War course conversing with their Russian counterparts.        

PSU Presentation

“We hope to learn from them how Americans were depicted in their popular culture: books, propaganda posters, movies, television and the like. American students, when they think of the Cold War, if they ever do, would likely see the Russians as a threat,” Crawford said. “To have Russian students tell our students that we were viewed in the same way should be a bit jarring to their preconceived notions. This course is already fairly uncommon in the diversity of views presented by faculty who have expertise in those areas. Adding the Russian view will make it even more so.”

Crawford added that Perm itself is of particular interest because it was the location of artillery and tank production, much like Lima, Ohio. Reportedly, Perm’s industry was so sensitive that Soviet maps did not even list its location.

PSU Presentation

The talk went very well, with around twenty ONU students and roughly the same number of PSU students talking with each other.  A PSU student created a fine presentation that explored how the Cole War, along with the Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis were discussed in Russian text books.  Not surprisingly, some texts blamed these events on American aggression.  One surprise was that in the old Soviet popular culture, more attention was given to depicting the triumph of socialism in that country, rather than demonizing the American enemy. 

This was quite different from American popular culture that often used the Soviets as the enemy.

ONU Students on the PSU screen

This event was a unique one for students studying the Cold War in American universities.  To actually talk to Russian students would have, during those years, been controversial, to say the least.  That Russian and American students can now freely exchange their ideas is a measure of how far our nations have come since those dark and cold days.

Photos courtesy of Matt Chaney and the PSU & ONU Facebook page that Professor Isaeva set up to keep the conversations going.