Religion and Revolution from Afar: American and Italian Influences on Soviet Cultural Politics

Aaron’s project contributes to his dissertation, A Revolutionary Gospel, which examines how Russian writers transformed their Christian heritage into a new socialist religion while exiled in the US and Italy between 1905 and 1917. Works of this period, such as Maxim Gorky’s Mother, became integral to Soviet atheist society while officials suppressed the religious sentiment found therein. With the help of the CGII Global Graduate Research Grant, A Revolutionary Gospel is the first study of its kind to include Russian, American, and Italian archival sources to try to mitigate Soviet censorship and highlight humanity in an inhumane and historic time.