Alumni Events
A list of our upcoming and past alumni events at SSEES.
The SSEES Alumni Association organises events based at SSEES, usually a talk followed by a reception. We also organise less formal events to exhibitions, film screenings, opera and other various East European and Russian-related happenings in and around London. The less formal London events tend to be advertised on our Facebook page.
The pandemic curtailed our activities, and it was barely over before the world was hit by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We reacted in two ways: we held an event with our Ukraine expert, Professor Andrew Wilson, on the situation in Russia which had led to the invasion; and when the National Ballet of Ukraine came to London, we organised a visit to see The Firebird.
Since then, we’ve held a number of meetings on the current state of our region, on illiberalism in Central Europe, on the perspectives for Moldova in Europe, on technology in Eastern Europe and, to mark the centenary of Lenin’s death, on the attitude towards him in Russia today. Nor have we neglected our cultural and historical roots, with meetings on Dostoevskii and on the German exiles of East-Central Europe.
Please make sure your details are up-to-date to keep receiving updates from us.
- SSEES Alumni Evening with Dr Philip Barker 'A Stake in the Enlightenment: Vampires, Witch Hunts, and the Birth of a Modern Monster' (30 October 2025)
- SSEES Alumni evening with Dr Tom Lorman: The Donauschwaben: The Tragedy of Hungary's Lost Rural German Community (03 July 2025)
- SSEES Alumni evening with Professor Dennis Deletant, OBE: Moldova today between West and East (06 February 2025)
- SSEES Alumni evening with Prof Robert Service: Does Lenin Still Live in Russia? (20 June 2024)
- SSEES Alumni evening with Dr Sarah Young (23 November 2023)
- SSEES Alumni evening: The Prague Spring, 1968 (27 September 2023)
- SSEES Alumni evening with Dr Tom Lorman (22 June 2023)
- SSEES Alumni evening with Professor Slavo Radošević (17 November 2022)
- SSEES Alumni evening with Prof Andrew Wilson: The War against Ukraine (5 July 2022)
- SSEES Alumni Online Quiz! (July 2021)
- Why bother studying the Russian Federal Assembly? (March 2019)
- An East European Food and Drink Evening (October 2018)
- Putin Back in Power? with Prof Robert Service (March 2018)
- Marking 100 years since the October Revolution (October 2017)
- An East European Food and Drink Evening (March 2017)
- Russia's New Rich: From Robber Barons to Gentlemen (Nov 2016)
- Alumni dinners at Tamada Restaurant (September 2016)
- Russia and the internet: a love-hate thing with Keir Giles (March 2016)
- Grand Alumni Dinner at Ognisko Restaurant (June 2015)
- Interpreting Putin's Ukraine Policy with Dr Pete Duncan (March 2015)
- East European Food and Drink Event (December 2014)
- Dr Clare Griffin, ‘Cinnamon vodka and powdered unicorn horn’ (April 2014)
- An Eastern European Food and Drink Evening (Oct 2013)
- Dr Philip Cavendish on the film 'Russian Ark' (March 2013)
- Professor Wendy Bracewell, ‘Where to go in Eastern Europe’ (October 2012)
- Professor Geoffrey Hosking on Russia today in the light of history (March 2012)
- Dr Seth Graham, ‘The Irony Curtain. Popular Humour in Soviet Russia’ (October 2011)
- Professor George Kolankiewicz, ‘From Polish Peasant in America to Polish Plumber in Britain’ (March 2011)
- Dr Rebecca Haynes with Clare Griffin on vampires in Eastern Europe (October 2010)
- Dr Chris Gerry, ‘Drinking Practices in Eastern Europe’ (March 2010)
UCL SSEES needs you
We want to make sure that our students have the best possible educational experience and are eager to maintain and enhance our reputation for research excellence. We have expert staff delivering world-leading teaching and conducting cutting edge research and we need to ensure our students have the best resources available to them.
You can help to provide this by making a gift to us. Your generosity will provide us with a source of income which can be used to respond to needs and opportunities as and when they arise. From supporting student scholarships to investing in new facilities, 100% of your gift will be directed to areas of the greatest importance within the department.