Bozat, Derya Marie Anne Catherine (19 April 2024). From Nigeria to New Friendships in the Soviet Union: Educational Mobility during the Cold War (1960-1991) (Unpublished). In: International friendship within and beyond the Iron Curtain. Institute of Contemporary History Ljubljana. 18.-19.04.2024.
Between 1960 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, more than 43,500 students from Sub-Saharan Africa graduated from Soviet universities, with Nigerians comprising approximately 12 percent. Their Soviet-sponsored studies constituted a crucial component of the educational "charm offensive," playing a pivotal role in Moscow’s cultural diplomacy. The overreaching goal was to establish a socialist and Soviet-friendly intelligentsia in postcolonial Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite three decades of educational mobility from the South to the East, the perspectives and agency of Nigerian students have received little attention. In particular, there exists a noticeable research gap regarding cultural encounters, such as friendships or experiences of racism. For the Workshop at the Institute of Contemporary History in Ljubljana, I will examine the developed friendships for Nigerians with Soviet and other international students. The daily lives of Nigerian students were intricately woven with interpersonal encounters, driven by housing arrangements and language barriers. Placement in student residences made contacts inevitable, and the deepening of Russian language skills was vital for living and learning behind the Iron Curtain. Consequently, international friendships have developed. To capture the personal experiences of former Nigerian students in the Soviet Union, I use conducted oral history interviews about their memories of interpersonal encounters and the dynamics of (absent) friendships. This comparative micro-level approach will offer new insights into the significance and limitations of international friendships forged behind the Iron Curtain.
Item Type: |
Conference or Workshop Item (Speech) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of History and Archaeology > Institute of History > Modern and Contemporary History > Modern, Contemporary and Eastern European History 06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of History and Archaeology > Institute of History |
UniBE Contributor: |
Bozat, Derya Marie Anne Catherine |
Subjects: |
900 History 900 History > 940 History of Europe 900 History > 960 History of Africa |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Derya Marie Anne Catherine Bozat |
Date Deposited: |
16 Aug 2024 12:42 |
Last Modified: |
16 Aug 2024 12:42 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Soviet Union, Nigeria, Oral History, African Educational Migration during the Cold War, East-South Relations during the Cold War |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/199780 |
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