Tyler Kirk
Tyler Kirk, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Arthur T. Fathauer Chair in History
Email: tckirk@alaska.edu
Phone: 907-474-5874
Office: GRUE 605B
Courses taught:
- HIST F315 Europe: 1900 - 1945
- HIST F316 Europe Since 1945
- HIST F464/ACNS F664 Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia
- HIST F466 / ACNS F466 / ACNS F666 The Russian Arctic
- ACNS F484/ ACNS F600 / HIST F600 Perspectives on the North
- HIST F497/ACNS F697 Historiography
- HIST F699 Thesis
Research interests:
Russian history, the Soviet Union, the circumpolar North, authoritarianism and memory.
2012-2019
Ph.D., Arizona State University,
School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, History.
Dissertation: “Remembering the GULAG: Community, Identity and Cultural Memory in Russia’s
Far North, 1987- 2018.�
2009-2011
M.A., The University of Chicago, MAPSS, History.
Thesis: “Toward A Settled Past and a Brighter Future: The Creation of a ‘Usable Past’
in Modern Russia, 2000-2010.�
2010, 2012
Kathryn Davis School of Russian, Middlebury College.
2009
Komi State Pedagogical Institute (KGPI), Syktyvkar, Russia, Russian.
2006-2010
B.A., The University of Maine at Farmington, International Studies (magna cum laude).
- May 2023- Chair, Department of History, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks
- May 2020-July 2023 Assistant Director of Arctic and Northern Studies, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks
- Jan. 2020- Assistant Professor of History, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks
- July 2019-Aug. 2020 Research Scholar, Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
- 2016-Aug. 2019 Faculty Associate, History Unit, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Arizona State University
- In Press: , book manuscript in press with Indiana University Press, scheduled for publication December 2023.
- In Progress: “The Environmental History of the Gulag: A Case Study of the Russian Far North,� in progress for Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History.
- In Progress: “The Legacies of Russian ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ, 1867-1949,â€� in progress for Slavic Review.
- 2023 “� Russian Review, 2023: 1- 15.
- 2020 “‘Memory of Vorkuta’: A Gulag returnee’s Attempts at Autobiography and Art,� Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 21, 1 (Winter 2020): 97-126.
- 2018 “Iskusstvo K. P. Ivanova kak vospominanie o lagernoi zhizni (The Art of K. P. Ivanov As a Memoir of Camp Life)� in Revoliutsiia 1917 goda. Memorializatsiia, interpretatsiia, otrazhenie v kul’ture i iskusstve: materialy mezhregional’noi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii (9-10 noiabria 2017 g., g. Syktyvkar) (Syktyvkar: Ministerstvo kul’tury, turizma i arkhivnogo dela Respubliki Komi, 2018).
- 2018 “Vozvrativshiesia iz GULAGa: pamiat’, istoriia, identichnost’ (Returned from the Gulag: Memory, History, and Identity).� Article co-authored with L. A. Maksimova (Syktyvkar State University), Vestnik-Humanities, 2017, Vol. 3, No. 4: 173-183.
- 2023 Alan Barenberg, Emily Johnson, eds., Rethinking the Gulag: Identities, Sources, Legacies in Canadian-American Slavic Studies 57, no. 1-2 (2023): 223-257.
- 2021 Jeffrey S. Hardy, , 1953-1964 in Canadian-American Slavic Studies 55 (2021): 101-103.
- 2019 Zuzanna Bogumił, , 2/2019: 55-59.
- 2022 Fellow at the Summer Workshop on Authoritarianism and Democratic Breakdown, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, July 5-15, 2022.
- 2022 Spotlight on Teaching, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, university-wide talk held Friday April 8, 2022.
- 2022 Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program for the University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, Applicant-Coordinator for visiting scholar Dr. Aleksandr Sergunin 2022-2023.
- 2019 Title VIII Research Scholarship, The Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
- 2019 Wallace E. Adams Memorial Award for Excellence in European History, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (SHPRS).
- 2019 Michael A. Steiner Memorial Award for Best History Thesis in British or European History, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (SHPRS).
- 2019 School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (SHPRS) Research Grant Spring 2019.
- 2018 School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (SHPRS) Research Grant Fall 2018.
- 2018-19 Center for Jewish Studies at Arizona State University; Great Students Fellowship.
- 2018 Arizona State University Graduate College Travel Grant.
- 2017-18 School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (SHPRS) Research Grant Fall/Winter 2017. 2017-18 Arizona State University Graduate College Completion Fellowship.
- 2016-17 Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Graduate Excellence Award.
- 2016-17 J. William Fulbright U.S. Student Research Grant.
- 2016-17 Association for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies Tucker-Cohen Dissertation Research Fellowship (selected as alternate).
- 2015 Center for Jewish Studies at Arizona State University; Morris and Julia Kertzer Scholarship, Cabot Family Scholarship.
- 2015 Zoom Grant, Arizona State University Graduate and Professional Student Association.
- 2015 Summer Research Grant, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (SHPRS), Arizona State University.
- 2015 Melikian Center: Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies at Arizona State University Doctoral Dissertation Research Development Fellowship.
- 2014 Melikian Center: Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies at Arizona State University Doctoral Dissertation Research Development Fellowship.
- 2012 Center for Jewish Studies at Arizona State University; Great Students Graduate Fellowship, Cabot Family Scholarship; Morris and Julia Kertzer Scholarship.
- 2009 Wilson Research Scholarship, the University of Maine at Farmington.
- April 2023 Op-Ed: “,� The Russia File: A Blog of the Kennan Institute, April 18, 2023.
- December 2022 “,� Cronkite News Arizona PBS, December 8, 2022,
- April 2022 “The Origins and Legacies of the Holocaust.� Invited lecture at Eielson Airforce Base, Fairbanks, AK April 28, 2022.
- March 2022 “Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Historical Considerations and International Dimensionsâ€� a panel discussion with Tyler Kirk and Brandon Boylan, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, March 3, 2022.
- March 2022 “‘.’ Talk explains how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacts ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ.â€� KUAC, March 3, 2022.
- October 2021 Indiana University Russian Studies Workshop Fall 2021 Film Series: Kolyma: Road of Bones with Introduction and (virtual) Q&A by Prof. Tyler Kirk (University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks), Oct. 14, 2021.
- March 2021 “German Soldier’s ID Found in Fairbanks Dumpster� interview for the Daily News-Miner with Linda F. Hersey, March 29, 2021.
- March 2021 “Memory and Landscape: Remembering Stalinist Repression in Russia's Far North, 1987-2020.� Invited lecture at the University of Washington, March 8, 2021.
- November 2020 “,� interview for Wilson Center NOW! with John Milewski, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2020.
- June 2020 “,� public webcast with William Pomerantz at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Washington, D.C., Jun 30, 2020. Link.
- November 2023 “Imagining the Arctic: Monumental Landscapes and the Production of Space in Gulag Returnees’ Memoirs and Art.� To be presented at the 54th Annual Conference of the Association for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), Philadelphia, PA, November 30-December 3, 2023.
- October 2023 “Decolonizing the Soviet North: Monumental Landscapes and the Production of Space in Gulag Returnees’ Autobiographies and Art.� To be presented at “Decolonizing the Global East� at the Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki Finland, October 25-27.
- November 2022 “Friendship and Survival: Gulag Returnees, Alternative Spaces, and Life on the Frontier.� Presented at the 53rd Annual Conference of the Association for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), Chicago, IL, November 10-13, 2022.
- November 2021 “The Local History of Political Repression: Gulag returnees, Kraevedy, and the Memorial Society in the Far North.� Presented at the 52nd Annual Conference of the Association for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), New Orleans, LA, November 18, 2021.
- August 2021 “Cultural Tension and Community Building in the Gulag and After Release: A Case Study.� Presented at the 10th World Congress of the International Council for Central and East European Studies at Concordia University, Montreal, CA, August 3, 2021.
- November 2019 “Rehabilitation, Reintegration, and Memory: The Apartment-Museum of Andrei Krems.� Presented at the 51st Annual Conference of the Association for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), San Francisco, CA, November 24, 2019.
- December 2018 “Illustrating Life in the Gulag: K. P. Ivanov, Memory, and Identity in the Komi ASSR: 1983-1999.� Presented at the 50th Annual Conference of the Association for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), Boston, MA, December 8, 2018.
- November 2018 “Letters to Syktyvkar Memorial and the Making of a New Archive: ‘Who will remember if I forget?’� Presented at the Annual Conference of the Social Science History Association (SSHA), Phoenix, AZ, November 9, 2018.
- September 2018 “‘Who will remember if I forget?’: Gulag Returnees Write to Syktyvkar Memorial, 1989-2002.� Presented at “Regimes and Societies in Conflict: Eastern Europe and Russia Since 1956,� at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, September 13, 2018.
- February 2018 “Life After the Gulag: Artist K. P. Ivanov, Autobiographical Writing, Identity, and Art After the Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1983-1998.� Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Desert Russian Historian’s Workshop at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, February 24, 2018.
- November 2017 “The Art of K. P. Ivanov As a Memoir of Camp Life (Isskustvo K. P. Ivanova kak vospominanie o lagernoi zhizni).� Presented in Russian via Skype at “The 1917 Revolution: Memorialization, Interpretation, and Reflection in Culture and Art� at the National Gallery of the Komi Republic, Syktyvkar, Russia, November 9, 2017.
- March 2017 “Historical Memory of the Gulag in the Memoirs of Former Prisoners in Komi (Istoricheskaia pamiat’ o GULAGe v vospominaniiakh byvshikh zakliuchennykh v Komi).� Presented in Russian at the “All-Russian Scientific Student and Graduate Student Conference ‘Problems of the History of Material and Spiritual Culture of the Peoples of Russia and Foreign Countries,� Syktyvkar, Russia, March 24, 2017.
- January 2017 “Life After Gulag: Impressions, Questions, and Life in Syktyvkar.� Presented at “Fulbright Program in Russia Mid-Year Seminar,� Moscow, Russia, January 25, 2017.
- September 2015 “Gulag Returnees and Memory in Post-Soviet Russia.� Presented at “The Carceral Archipelago: Transnational Circulations in Global Perspective, 1415-1960,� CArchipelago Project, University of Leicester, UK, September 16, 2015.
- March 2015 “Gulag Returnees, Memory, and Regional Identity in Post-Soviet Russia: The Komi Memorial Archive.� Presented at “Centrifugal Forces: Reading Russia’s Regional Identities and Initiatives,� University of Virginia, March 28, 2015.
- Summer 2022
- Palo Alto, CA: The Hoover Institution Library and Archives at Stanford University.
- Postponed
- Komi Republic, Russia: National Archive of the Komi Republic (NARK), Fond “Pokaianie�, National Library of the Komi Republic (NBRK), National Museum of the Komi Republic, National Gallery of the Komi Republic.
- Summer 2021
- Komi Republic, Russia: Fond Pokaianie, Syktyvkar, Russia (virtual); oral history interviews (virtual).
- Summer 2020
- Washington, DC: Library of Congress, United States Holocaust Museum
- Summer-Fall 2019
- Washington, DC: Library of Congress, United States Holocaust Museum.
- Fall-Summer 2016-17
- Syktyvkar, Russia: National Archive of the Komi Republic (NARK), Fond “Pokaianie�, National Library of the Komi Republic (NBRK), National Museum of the Komi Republic, National Gallery of the Komi Republic.
- Vorkuta, Russia: Vorkuta Museum-Exhibition Center, Vorkuta Geological Museum.
- Ukhta, Russia: Local History Museum of Ukhta State Technical University, Ukhta Local History Museum, Apartment Museum of A. Ia. Krems.
- Moscow, Russia: Archive of the History of Political Repression (1918- 1956), Archive of Memoirs and Literary Works, International Memorial Society.
- Spring 2016
- Palo Alto, CA: The Hoover Institution Library and Archives at Stanford University.
- Spring 2015
- Palo Alto, CA: The Hoover Institution at Stanford University (State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF).
- June 2013
- Syktyvkar, Russia: National Archive of the Komi Republic (NARK), National Library of the Komi Republic (NBRK), Fond “Pokaianie.�
- Moscow, Russia: State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF), International Memorial Society.
Courses taught
Spring 2024
- HIST F 466/ACNS F666: The Russian Arctic, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, hybrid.
- HIST F316: Europe Since 1945, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
Fall 2023
- HIST F315: Europe, 1900-1945, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
- ACNS F484/600: Perspectives on the North, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online and face-to-face.
Summer 2023
- HIST F102: Western Civilization II, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
- HIST F464/ACNS F664 UX1: Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
Spring 2023
- HIST F464/ACNS F664 UX1: Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks in-person and online.
- HIST F316 UX1: Europe Since 1945, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
Fall 2022
- ACNS F484/600: Perspectives on the North, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, hybrid.
- HIST F315: Europe, 1900-1945, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
Summer 2022
- HIST F464/ACNS F664 UX1: Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks online.
Spring 2022
- HIST F434: Special Topics in History: The Russian Arctic, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, hybrid.
- HIST F404/ACNS 604: Modern Scandinavia, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
Fall 2021
- HIST F316: Europe Since 1945, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
- ACNS F484/600: Perspectives on the North, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, hybrid.
Spring 2021
- HIST F464/ACNS 664: Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
- HIST F315: Europe, 1900-1945, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, online.
Fall 2020
- ACNS F484/600: Perspectives on the North, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, hybrid.
- HIST F434: Conquest of the Russian North, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks, hybrid.
Spring 2020
- HIST F102: Western Civilization II, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- HIST F316: Europe Since 1945, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- HIST F464/ACNS 664: Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
Summer 2019
- HST 101: Global History Since 1500 Arizona State University, Online.
- HST 100: Global History to 1500, Arizona State University, Online.
Fall 2018
- HST 436: The Soviet Experiment, Arizona State University.
Spring 2016
- HST 304: A Survey of Soviet History, Arizona State University.
Fall 2015
- HST 101: Global History Since 1500, Arizona State University.
Summer 2015
- HST 304: A Survey of Soviet History, Arizona State University, Online.
Spring 2015
- HST 101/SGS 111: Global History Since 1500, Arizona State University.
- 2023- Chair, Department of History, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- 2023-2024 Faculty Mentor, Association for Slavic, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) Mentoring Program.
- 2022-2023 Curriculum Advisory Committee, Faculty Senate, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- Spring 2022 Faculty Initiative Fund Review Committee, Faculty Senate, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- Summer 2022 Re-Envisioning CLA Summit, College of Liberal Arts, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- July 20-22, 2021 Re-Envisioning CLA Summit, College of Liberal Arts, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- 2021-2023 Alternate Senator for Social Sciences, Faculty Senate, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- 2020-2023 Assistant Director of Arctic and Northern Studies, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- 2020- Honors Faculty Advisory Committee.
- 2020- History Curriculum Advisory Committee, University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks.
- 2020- Judge for Fairbanks History Day.
- 2018 Referee for journal article in Aspasia, a yearbook of women's and gender history of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE).
- 2018 History Honors Contract Advisor (HST 436: The Soviet Experiment), Arizona State University.
- 2016 History Honors Contract Advisor (HST 304: A Survey of Soviet History), Arizona State University.
- 2015-2016 Vice President, History Graduate Student Association, Arizona State University.
- Heather Nice, INDS Ph.D., Co-Chair
- Leanna Prax-Williams, INDS Ph.D. in Arctic and Northern Studies, Member
- Kristine Swain, INDS Ph.D. in Arctic and Northern Studies, Member
- Mollie Messick, INDS Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Arctic and Northern Studies, Member
- Cameron Kovarek, M.A. in Arctic and Northern Studies, Chair
- Samantha Teixeira, M.A. in Arctic and Northern Studies, Chair
- Elizabeth Williams, M.A. in Arctic and Northern Studies, Member
- Brooke Barton, M.A. in Linguistic Anthropology, Member
