About the Lecture: Atheism was part of the official ideology of the USSR; however, scientific atheism as a discipline emerged only after 1954. How did it emerge, develop, and serve party and state structures in Soviet Ukraine? Was it an academic or ideological discipline? Can the research results of Ukrainian scientific atheists be trusted?
About the Speaker: Oleg Kyselov is an instructor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. He initially came to the university as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar, but he remained there to teach due to the war in Ukraine. He earned his PhD in Religious Studies from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 2007. Since 2015, he has been studying scientific atheism, drawing on published and archival materials as well as interviews.
This event is part of the CREECA lecture series, which is held on Thursdays at 4:00 pm. Coffee, tea, and cookies served starting at 3:45.
Co-sponsored by the Religious Studies Program