Marco Puleri

Marco Puleri is Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of the MA Programme in East European and Eurasian Studies at the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Bologna.

His research interests include contemporary Russian and Ukrainian sociocultural developments and nation-building in the post-Soviet area. His latest book is Ukrainian, Russophone, (Other) Russian: Hybrid Identities and Narratives in Post-Soviet Culture and Politics (Peter Lang, 2020).

From 2015 to 2020, he has been among the coordinators of the international research projects: Russia and China in the Global World. State and Society between internal dynamics and external projections (2015-2017); Multiculturalism and Regionalism in Post-Maidan Ukraine (2018-2020). He was member of the steering committee of the Erasmus + Strategic Partnership “GLocalEAST – Developing a new curriculum in Global Migration, Diaspora and Border Studies in East-Central Europe” (2020-2023). 

Since 2024 he has been member of the research groups: “DIMEast – Diversity and Impacts of Migration at the EU’s Eastern Borders” (Italian Ministry of University and Research); "GEO-POWER-EU" (HORIZON EUROPE).

Current position:

Assistant professor in History of International Relations - University of Bologna (2021-ongoing).

Past positions:

• Post-doctoral Research Fellow - University of Bologna (2015-2021).
• Adjunct Professor - History of Eastern Europe - University of Bologna (2015-2021).

  Education:

• 2015: PhD, University of Florence - Comparative Languages, Literatures and Cultures (Slavic Studies) – Title of the dissertation: ‘Post-Soviet Hybrid Writings. Toward a Ukrainian Literature in Russian’. Supervisor: Professor Marcello Garzaniti.
• 2011: MA, University of Bologna, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures (Slavic Studies). Title of the dissertation: ‘Literature as Autobiographical Narcissism in Eduard Limonov’s prose’. Supervisor: Professor Gabriella Imposti.

  Research Activity (Current and Past Projects):

• Assistant Professor – Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna (6 September 2021-ongoing): History of Political and Intellectual Relations between Russia and the ‘Near Abroad’.
• Post-doctoral Research Fellow – Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna (1 July 2018 – 31 December 2020): “Multiculturalism and Regionalism in Post-Maidan Ukraine”.
• Post-doctoral Research Fellow - Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna (1 August 2016-30 June 2018 – 23 months): “The political debate in the Russian Federation. Neo- Conservatorism, Modernization and benchmark values under Putin: Between Post-Soviet and European Integrations". Member of the International Research Project: “Russia and China in the Global World. State and Society between internal dynamics and external projections”.
• Post-doctoral Research Fellow - Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna (1 February 2015-31 July 2016 – 18 months): “The political debate in the Russian Federation. Neo- Conservatorism, Modernization and benchmark values under Putin” – Member of the International Research Project: “Russia and China in the Global World. State and Society between internal dynamics and external projections”.

  Research Interests:

  - Diaspora and international relations: The case of the 'Russian diaspora' in the post-Soviet space, with particular reference to the Ukrainian context. Conceptualization, diversification and theorization of ethnic and Russian-speaking communities in the post-Soviet era.
  
  - Nation-building and state-society relations: Analysis of nation-building processes in the post-Soviet space, with particular reference to the Ukrainian and Russian cases. Study of intellectual and political relations in the internal debates of the two countries.
  
  - Foreign policy of the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet space: conceptualization and periodization of Russian policies towards the so-called "Near Abroad" between the end of the 1990s and the first decades of the 2000s.
  
  - Relations between Russia and the European Union in the post-Cold War era: conceptualization and periodization of the dynamics of the EU-led European integration process in the Eastern neighborhood vis-a-vis the evolution of the Russian-led Eurasian integration.
  
  - Migrations and territorial conflicts in the post-Cold War era: analysis of case studies pertaining to the major dynamics and crises in the Balkan and post-Soviet areas.

  International Research Networks:

• (2024-ongoing) Member of the international research group of the HORIZON EUROPE project (HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01 – Political Perspectives for the Eastern Neighborhood and the Western Balkans) “GEO-POWER-EU: Empowering the Geopolitical EU in the Eastern Neighborhood and the Western Balkans”. The three-year project is coordinated by the University of Peloponnese (Greece) and involves the articulation of the following specific objectives: a) to propose ideas for the adaptation of the EU enlargement policy in the Eastern Neighborhood and the Western Balkans; b) to evaluate the influence of other geopolitical actors (United States, Russia, China and Turkey) in the two regions; c) to provide a strategic forecast on the prospects of geopolitical competition in the two regions; d) to explore the growth of the EU's capacity to contain military threats arising from the deterioration of the geopolitical context beyond its borders.

• (2020-2023) Member of the Steering Committee - International Research Project Erasmus + Strategic Partnership “GLocalEAST – Developing a new curriculum in Global Migration, Diaspora and Border Studies in East-Central Europe” (2020-2023). The EU-funded project is coordinated by Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovak Republic), together with Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (Italy), University of Belgrade (Serbia), University of Zagreb (Croatia), European University Viadrina (Germany), Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas (Lithuania).
• (2020-ongoing) Member of the international research project EU/EACEA Europe for Citizens “Remember Nansen: Migration, Refugees and Humanitarian Aid” (2021). The EU-funded project is coordinated by Tallin University of Technology (Estonia), in collaboration with Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (Italy), University of Valladolid (Spain), Vigo University (Spain), University Palackeho v Olomouci (Czech Republic), Salamanca University (Spain), Latvian Institute of International Affairs (Latvia). Link: https://remembernansen.eu/it/.
• (2019-ongoing) Member of the international research group for the study of Russophone cultures in the Post-Soviet space (ZOiS – Center for East European and International Studies, Berlin).
• (2017-19) Member of the international research group - EuropeAid research project 'Support to Strengthening Teaching and Research at ADA University' (2017-2019;ENPI/2017/384-752; ID code: EuropeAid/138205/DH/SER/AZ). The EU-funded project was coordinated by GOPA Consultants (Germany), in collaboration with DAAD (Germany), Maastricht School of Management (Netherlands) and Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (Italy).
• (2015-18). Member of the international research group of the project ‘Russia and China in the Global World’ (Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze politiche e sociali, U.O.S. di Forlì).
• (2015-ongoing) Member of the research group "Centro per l'Europa centro-orientale e balcanica" in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna.

  Visiting Fellow/Lecturer:

  • January 2024. Erasmus+ Visiting Fellow (2023/2024) at the University of Helsinki (Finlandia). Teaching activity: ‘Ethnic and Gender Identities of the Caucasus Region and Ukraine’ (5 ECTS; in collaboration with Medea Badashvili e David Matsaberidze, Tbilisi State University), Master’s Programme in Russian, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies, Aleksanteri Institute: https://studies.helsinki.fi/courses/course-implementation/hy-opt-cur-2324-4c63b2e5-2fff-4b67-ad1a-03fea2d93839 .
  • 30 ottobre-5 novembre 2022. Erasmus+ Visiting Lecturer (2022/2023). Ciclo di seminari (7 giorni; 8 ore accademiche) dal titolo “The Long Road to the War in Ukraine: The Post-Soviet Transition as a Plural Experience” – Tbilisi State University (Tbilisi, Georgia).
• 2019 (September-December). Visiting Research Fellow. Institute of Advanced Studies (Köszeg, Ungheria). Research Project: ‘Russian, Russophone, Ukrainian: Hybrid Identities and Politics in the Post-Soviet Era’.
• 2019 (12–23 May) Erasmus + Visiting Lecturer (2018/19): Cycle of seminars (12 academic hours) ‘Multiculturalism and Regionalism in Post-Maidan Ukraine: Dis/Continuity in Post-Soviet and Post-Maidan Times’ – Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University (Ukraine).
• 2018 (December 18). Visiting Lecturer – Jean Monnet Programme Winter School ‘Creating Territorial Cooperation: The Impact of Intercultural Dialogue and Migration Flows in South East Europe’ (Cesenatico, 12-19 December, 2018). Lecture (2 academic hours) on ‘Europeanising Reconciliation. Europe, Identity, Diversity’.
• 2018 (June 28-30). Visiting Lecturer – 4th EU Summer School “European Union and Foreign Policy in Geopolitical Context” (ADA University, Baku – Azerbaijan). Cycle of seminars (8 academic hours) on EU-Russia relations.
• 2018 (17 May – 31 May) Erasmus + Visiting Lecturer (2017/18): Cycle of seminars (2 weeks; 16 academic hours) ‘Textualising a New Topology of National Identity: at the Crossroads Between Normative Measures and Blurred Cultural Boundaries in Post-Maidan Ukraine’ - Ivan Franko National University (L’viv – Ukraine).
• 2016 (29 August- 2 September). Visiting Lecturer – Cycle of Seminars “Mirroring Europe in Ukrainian Literature (or Textualising a New Topology of National Identity)”. Viadrinicum, Ukrainian Summer School - 10 academic hours (European University Viadrina - Frankfurt).
• 2015 (December). International Research Fellow (RANEPA - The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration - Moscow).
• 2013 (October-December). International Research Fellow (Kyiv Mohyla Academy - Kiev).
• 2012 (June-July). Visiting Lecturer – (Summer School for the study of Italian language and culture) - Ukrainian Catholic University (UKU, L’viv – Ukraine).

  Honors and Recognition:

  - Research Prize ‘Città di Firenze’ 2015 – founded by Assessorato Università e Ricerca del Comune di Firenze, together with the University of Florence and Firenze University Press (FUP). Funding for the publication of the book: “Narrazioni ibride post-sovietiche. Per una letteratura ucraina di lingua russa”, Firenze, FUP, 2016. Official book launch at the University of Verona (web: http://www.dlls.univr.it/?ent=seminario&id=4019&lang=it ) and at the European University Institute, Florence (web: https://ukrainiansubjectivities.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/for-the-brochure-click-here.pdf ).

  - Early Career Research Scholar Grant (2018) – Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) – Research Prize to the submitted paper: “The Future of ‘Russianness’ in Post-Maidan Ukraine – or reframing the role of Russian language and culture in the post-Soviet space through the lens of the Ukraine Crisis” (International Conference ‘Ukraine and the World: Culture, Politics, Society’ – 12-14/07/2018).

  Selected Scientific Publications:

• Books:

  Ukrainian, Russophone, (Other) Russian: Hybrid Identities and Narratives in Post-Soviet Culture and Politics (Vol. 8 – Book series: Postcolonial Perspectives on Eastern Europe), Peter Lang, Berlin 2020.

  - Edited issues in journals:

  (with A. Krasteva) The Balkan Migration Route Between Securitarian and Humanitarian Policies, “Southeastern Europe”, Vol. 41, Issue 3, 2017.

  - Articles in scholarly journals (double-blind peer-review):

  Russophonia as an Epistemic Challenge, “Ab Imperio. Studies of New Imperial History and Nationalism in the Post-Soviet Space”, Issue 1, 2023: 76-98.

  (with N. Vukoslavcevic) Strengthening the State-Religion Nexus in Post-Maidan Ukraine. The Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as Nation-Building Strategy after Revolution, “Cristianesimo nella Storia”, 44, 1, 2023: 215-233.

  (with A. Achilli) Beyond War: Russia, Ukraine and the State of the Field, “eSamizdat – Rivista di Culture Slave”, Vol. XV, 2022: 19-24.

  “How the Writer R. Left the City of Z for the Country U, and Along the Way He Died and Wrote a Novel”: Ukrainian Russophonia through the Lens of Vladimir Rafeenko’s Literary Experience, “Russian Literature”, 127, 2022, pp. 71-97.

  (with Marco Zoppi) The Balkan Route (and Its Afterlife): The New Normal in the European Politics of Migration, “Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies”, 2021, DOI: 10.1080/19448953.2021.2015658.

  Values for the Sake of the (Post-Soviet) Nation: Patriotism(s) and the Search for the ‘True’ Self in Ukraine, “Southeastern Europe”, Vol. 43, Issue 3, 2018: 350-375.

  Hybridity Reconsidered: Ukrainian Border Crossing After the "Crisis", “Ab Imperio. Studies of New Imperial History and Nationalism in the Post-Soviet Space”, Issue 2, 2017: 257–286.

  Ukraïns’kyi, Rosiis’komovnyi, Rosiis’kyi: Self-Identification in Post-Soviet Ukrainian Literature in Russian, “Ab Imperio. Studies of New Imperial History and Nationalism in the Post-Soviet Space”, Issue 2, 2014: 367-397.

  - Chapters in edited volumes:

  “In Search of ‘New Roots’: Towards a Situational Ideology in Putin’s Russia”, in S. Bianchini, A. Fiori (eds.), Rekindling the Strong State in Russia and China: Domestic Dynamics and Foreign Policy Projections, Brill, Leiden-Boston (MA) 2020: 17-39.

  “Engaging with European (Dis-)Integration. Russia in dialogue with Europe/s”, in S. Bianchini, A. Fiori (a cura di), Rekindling the Strong State in Russia and China: Domestic Dynamics and Foreign Policy Projections, Brill, Leiden-Boston (MA) 2020: 298-322.

  Member of the Editorial Board in Scientific Journals:

• Associate Editor. Member of the Editorial Board of the journal ‘Southeastern Europe’, edited by Brill (ISSN: 0094-4467). From issue n. 39.1 (2015-ongoing)
• Member of the Editorial Board (2020-ongoing) - ‘eSamizdat. Rivista di culture slave’ (ISSN: 1723-4042).
• Associate Editor. Member of the Editorial Board of the Book Series ‘Central and Eastern European Studies’ (Nomos Verlag, Germany).

  Language Proficiency:

  Italian (Native), English (Expert), Russian (Expert), Spanish (Intermediate), Ukrainian (Beginner).

  Recent papers at international conferences and seminars (as for 2023-21):

• 1 December 2023: ASEEES (Association for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies) Convention, Philadelphia (PA, USA). Roundtable “Historical Epistemology of Central and East European Studies”. With Riccardo Nicolosi (University of Munich), Marina B. Mogilner (University of Illinois at Chicago), Jan Jakub Surman (Masaryk Institute in Prague) and Amanda Zadorian (Oberlin College).
• 30 November 2023: ASEEES (Association for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies) Convention, Philadelphia (PA, USA). Roundtable “Provincializing Russian in Post-2022 Ukraine”. With Vitaly Chernetsky (University of Kansas), Miriam Finkelstein (University of Vienna) and Tamara Hundorova (Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences).
• 20 October 2023: International Workshop “Historical Epistemology of Central, East and Southeast European Studies”, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich (19-20 October, 2023; web: https://www.slavistik.uni-muenchen.de/aktuelles/ws_historical_epistemology/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3PzDn71a6Uy6HGynDMe-GBrUh5KmhpYzLbcrxILzcwDjvX0FBpGHfXA88 ). Talk: “Russophonia as an Epistemic Challenge: Reflections on the Studies of Russian-language Writing in the Post-Soviet Era”.
• 20-21 January 2023: International Conference ‘Provincialising Russian’ – Justus Liebig University of Giessen (Germany). Talk: “On Marginal, Minor and Internal Languages: The Ukrainian Intellectual Community and the Shapes of Russian-Language Culture in Post-Soviet Times” (link: https://www.uni-giessen.de/en/faculties/f05/slavistics/department/professors/slavic-literature/prof-dr-dirk-uffelmann/pr-program.pdf ).
• 16 September 2022: International Conference ‘Contesting Borders/Shifting Orders: Russia’s War of Aggression on Ukraine and Its Impact on Border-Making and Migration’ – European University Viadrina, Frankfurt Oder. Talk: “Identity Dynamics and the Making of New/Old ‘Language Borders’ in Ukraine: insights into internal political and intellectual debates”.
• 16 December 2021 – International Conference ‘The End of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union at its 30^thAnniversary: Trajectories, Projections and Legacies’ (Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche e Sociali). Talk: ‘Remapping the Post-Soviet Space: Politics, Culture and National Identities after the Collapse of the USSR’.
• 3 December 2021 – ASEEES (Association for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies) Virtual Convention, USA. Roundtable “‘Russophone Voices’: Institutionalizing, Researching, and Teaching Russophone Culture”. With Alex Averbuch (U. of Toronto), Yelena Furman (UCLA), Hilah Kohen (U. of Pennsylvania), Ilya Kukulin (Higher School of Economics, Moscow).
• 1 December 2021 – ASEEES (Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies) Virtual Convention, USA. Panel ‘Literature, Language(s) and the Nation: Neoromantic Cultural Myths in Contemporary Ukraine and Belarus’. Talk: ‘(Post-)National Identities in the Making: Literary Encounters with the National Language in Vladimir Rafeenko’s Mondegrin and Viktar Martsinovich’s Mova’.
• 4 August 2021 – ICCEES (International Council for Central and East European Studies) 10^th World Congress – “Bridging National and Global Perspectives” (Montreal, Canada) – Virtual Convention. Paper: ‘Ukrainian (Literary) Russophonia: Between Local and Global Cultural Developments’. With Maryna Romanets (University of Northern British Columbia), Tamara Hundorova (National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine), Maria Rewakowicz (University of Washington), Maxim Tarnawsky (University of Toronto).
• 19 March 2021 – 2^nd Taras Shevchenko Conference at Indiana University (Bloomington, USA) Virtual Convention. Roundtable ‘Ukrainian Studies in the Global Context’. With Vitaly Chernetsky (University of Kansas, USA), Olesya Khromeychuk (King’s College London, UK), Myroslav Shkandrij (University of Manitoba, Canada), Oleh Kotsyuba (Harvard University, USA).