This Thing of Darkness: Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible in Stalin's Russia

This Thing of Darkness: Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible in Stalin's RussiaJoan Neuberger, Professor of Russian History at the University of Texas, Austin, will speak about her new book on Sergei Eisenstein’s film masterpiece Ivan the Terrible on Friday, April 12 in the Williams College Bookstore. Professor Neuberger’s book, titled This Thing of Darkness: Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible in Stalin’s Russia, explores how one of the world’s greatest filmmakers and one of the 20th century’s greatest artists observed the world around him and experimented with every element of film art to explore the psychology of political ambition, uncover the history of recurring cycles of violence, and lay bare the tragedy of absolute power.

Friday, April 12, 2019 at 4:15 pm | Williams College Bookstore

Sponsors: Williams College Bookstore, German & Russian, History, COMP, Global Studies, Political Science, CFLLC


Joan NeubergerProfessor Neuberger received a B.A. in Russian from Grinnell College and a Ph.D. in history from Stanford. Before her current post at the University of Texas, she taught at Lafayette College, the University of Houston, and the University of Iowa. She has written extensively on Russian cultural history of the early 20th century.