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Abstract:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early nineteenth century, as Russia extended its rule south of the Caucasus Mountains, many within tsarist society came to envision these new imperial possessions as a kind of open-air greenhouse for exotic crops suited to the needs of the metropole. From the Black Sea littoral to the Caspian shore, the region became a laboratory for acclimatization experiments with heat-loving plant species procured from across the globe. This talk examines how the Russian Empire sought to create a \u201ctropics\u201d of its own in the South Caucasus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bio:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oleksandr Polianichev earned his Ph.D. from the European University Institute in Florence in 2017. Since 2019, he has worked at S\u00f6dert\u00f6rn University in Stockholm. A historian of empire and colonialism with a focus on imperial Russia, he is currently working on the project \u201cTropics of Tsardom: Plants and Empire in the South Caucasus, 1800\u20131917,\u201d which examines the invention of Russia\u2019s own quasi-tropical realm on the Caucasus Black Sea coast. His most recent essay on this topic, \u201cDream of the Russian Tropics,\u201d was published in Aeon Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The event will take place in English via Zoom. Registration is required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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