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Alison K. Smith

Alison K. Smith

@profaks.bsky.social

950 followers 150 following 180 posts

(Russian) history prof at the University of Toronto and (very) occasional blogger at russianhistoryblog.org. Mostly posts things from research and teaching. She/her.

Political science 49%

Economics 12%

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Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · May 12

Whew, Belinsky when he realizes he can't actually find rationality in the world around him is too relatable:

"I am weary, cold, and empty. I have no hope of any personal happiness. Woe! Woe! Life is exposed."

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · 7d

One of Catherine the Great’s grandsons, when aged about nine, asked this about someone: “Is he a real genuine Briton? Does he appear frightened when he enters a room where there is any company? Is he at a loss where to put his hat, when he is so polite as to take it off?” (Reported by Swinton.)

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Aug 27

Great postdoc opportunity at University of Toronto! (It's super competitive but possible!) www.artsci.utoronto.ca/faculty-staf...

Get the latest information about external and internal funding opportunities to support your research program, including funds that support the recruitment of research trainees. Internal Funding Oppor...

www.artsci.utoronto.ca

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Aug 18

Now available (open access!): the article I might not have written had I not been department chair, on eighteenth century Russian rulers trying to stop people asking them for things. (Also on how autocracy works, should that be of current interest SIGH.)
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

“To Each Their Grievance Is Bitter and Unbearable”: Petitions, Autocracy, and the Rule of Law in Eighteenth-Century Russia | Law and History Review | Cambridge Core

“To Each Their Grievance Is Bitter and Unbearable”: Petitions, Autocracy, and the Rule of Law in Eighteenth-Century Russia

www.cambridge.org

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jun 27

My music group commissioned a piece by Beverley McKiver; she was inspired by the lost rivers of Toronto and wrote us a truly lovely piece: youtu.be/FcAnjaFS9Us?...

YouTube video by Wychwood Clarinet Choir

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · May 15

Excellent description of Cyrillic from a 19th century American traveler: "the letters are all drunk and run the wrong way, like lopsided crabs."

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · May 9

There is still an awful lot of awful out there, but gosh I have enjoyed Chicago Pope day.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Mar 5

Amazing.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Mar 5

Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice

Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice

Photographer captures 20-minute clash between birds emblematic of Canada and US amid high political tensions For the second time in weeks, a Canadian icon has emerged as the unlikely victor in an existential battle on the ice. Mervyn Sequeira, an…

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Alison K. Smith, Rafael Candido‐Ribeiro

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Mar 5

Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice

Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice

Photographer captures 20-minute clash between birds emblematic of Canada and US amid high political tensions For the second time in weeks, a Canadian icon has emerged as the unlikely victor in an existential battle on the ice. Mervyn Sequeira, an…

www.theguardian.com

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Feb 28

He then later shared the news report that Lavrov’s gift to the new president was going to be a lap dog.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Feb 28

Once again, I am reminded of the archive security guard who, in fall 2016, asked me who I was going to vote for. Before I could answer, he said “you’re probably going to say Clinton, but Trump would be better for Russia.”

Reposted by Alison K. Smith

Susie Colbourn @susancolbourn.net · Feb 28

I need a good shorthand to describe the now regular feeling of being not at all surprised by what happens, yet still horrified and repulsed when it does happen.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Feb 28

Also I honestly did not realize how much of a problem wolves were in nineteenth-century Russia.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Feb 28

I wish I could say that surprised me but it totally doesn't -- it really was!

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Feb 28

I'm reading through 19th century mortality reports and holy shit we are so lucky to live in a world of modern public health. Why the hell would anyone want to go back to that? It is infuriating.

Reposted by Alison K. Smith

Ruth Deyermond @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social · Feb 27

Boris Nemtsov was assassinated 10 years ago today. The street outside the Russian embassy in Washington D.C. was renamed in his memory - a move instigated by a senator determined to hold the Kremlin accountable for its crimes. I wonder how he thinks that's going. www.voanews.com/a/us-bill-wo...

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 16

I knew Arcimboldo painted fruit/vegetable portraits but a BOOK portrait?? Amazing. I could not love this more.

Source: samlingar.shm.se/object/465F6...

Portrait of a man made out of books! Several small books make up his face, with ribbons indicating his ear. A splayed open book is his hair/hat. A large red book makes up one upper arm, with a white and cream book with ribbons hanging out the end serving as lower arm and fingers. A blue/gray drapery behind serves as a cape.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 16

Today I stumbled on this stunning piece of... embroidery? I think that's the best word for this kind of needle art? ... made by Maria Christina Frosterus in Uleåborg/Oulu Finland, 1820, in the collections of The National Museum of Finland. I love it.

Photograph of a piece white on white embroidery in the shape of a star with flowers and vines around the edges; the star is divided into many smaller triangles each with its own stitch pattern.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 13

It is a bonkers take. Making music with other people is the best.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 3

Honestly the thing that might turn me into a diplomatic historian is all the snark.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 3

The British ambassador to St. Petersburg in 1859 on his French counterpart: "...a kind hearted and conciliatory man, but troubled occassionally with that susceptibility which not uncommonly renders a Frenchman more intent upon trifles than upon matters of serious import.."

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 2

A powder commonly in use among Russians to prevent cholera, taken “with such good results” by the British ambassador that he is sending the information on to the foreign office! NA FO 65/424/252

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 2

It is also fascinating and troubling to read the dispatches by the British ambassador in early 1853, passing on reports of increased Russian military presence in the south, and then following them up with what amounts to "but Nicholas can't possibly intend there to be war, Russia can't afford it."

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 2

Furthermore, Nicholas I and the Russian government did not "recognize the validity of the numeral III as adopted by the Emperor of the French."

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 2

TIL that in the run-up to the Crimean War, one issue was that Nicholas I did not want to call Louis Napoleon, recently declared emperor in France, "mon frère" and was OUTRAGED that the Austrian and Prussian emperors were willing to do so.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Jan 2

TIL that in the run-up to the Crimean War, one issue was that Nicholas I did not want to call Louis Napoleon, recently declared emperor in France, "mon frère" and was OUTRAGED that the Austrian and Prussian emperors were willing to do so.

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Dec 31

Yes, it works well!

Reposted by Alison K. Smith

Donna @naglalakk.bsky.social · Dec 3

Heiða var að kynna mig fyrir Korktappadansinum sem var sýndur eitthvað svona einu sinni í Finnlandi en hefur verið sýndur hver einustu áramót síðan hjá RÚV og ég hef bara aldrei séð þetta

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6KA...

Korktappadansinn

YouTube video by María Sól

www.youtube.com

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Dec 31

Suddenly I understand why my 8th grade social studies teacher (in Oak Park, just west of Chicago, in 1984-5) told us we were lucky because we’d be immediately dead if there were a nuclear war.

Alex Wellerstein @wellerstein.bsky.social · Dec 28

A new post on Doomsday Machines for your post-holiday light reading, on the wild nuclear maps of "Wild" William Bunge.
open.substack.com/pub/doomsday...

"The battlefield is everywhere"

The nuclear maps of "Wild" William Bunge (1988)

open.substack.com

Alison K. Smith @profaks.bsky.social · Dec 30

I have been waiting for this day.

Wordle 1,290 1/6*

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Reposted by Alison K. Smith

Alex Wellerstein @wellerstein.bsky.social · Dec 28

A new post on Doomsday Machines for your post-holiday light reading, on the wild nuclear maps of "Wild" William Bunge.
open.substack.com/pub/doomsday...

"The battlefield is everywhere"

The nuclear maps of "Wild" William Bunge (1988)

open.substack.com