Richard Wortman reviews his personal academic history, including ties with Leopold Haimson which drew him to the then-Russian Institute. Wortman describes the 1990s as a time of "efflorescence" at the Harriman Institute, especially in the field of Russian history, and discusses the internal structure of the Institute at that time. Wortman specifically references two instances of tension between gro ups at Harriman: between PhD students and non-PhD students, and between Political Science faculty/scholars and humanities-focused faculty/scholars. Wortman notes Harriman's influence on the rise of nationality studies and discusses his conflicted view on the place of human rights studies within the Institute
College teachers; Human rights--Study and teaching; Russia (Federation) Study and teaching; Soviet Union Study and teaching; Wortman, Richard; Haimson, Leopold H; Harriman Institute
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2016
Physical Description
31 pages
Note (Biographical)
Richard Wortman is the Bryce Professor Emeritus of European Legal History at Columbia University. He received his B.A. from Cornell University and his PhD from the University of Chicago. He taught at the University of Chicago from 1963 to 1977, and Pr inceton University from 1977 to 1988, before coming to the Harriman Institute. Wortman's research focuses primarily on representation and political culture in imperial Russia
Note
Interviewed by William McAllister on November 4, 2016
Note (Provenance)
Richard Wortman, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2018