NORMAN –Emily Johnson, associate professor of Russian at the University of Oklahoma, is the recipient of a $40,000 National Research Competition grant from the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research.  The money will go toward funding her project, “Private Correspondence from the Soviet GULAG: Intimate Communication and Family Relationships in a Time of Terror,” which will focus on the GULAG forced labor camps, which were started in 1919 and continuing until the democratization of Russia.  Johnson will travel to Russia for eight months to collect material studying the GULAG mail system and the private correspondence of labor camp inmates during the Stalin Period of the Soviet Union.    

Following her research, a detailed book about the subject will be released to be given to U.S. policy makers.

“I am just thrilled to have been chosen for this prestigious program,” says Johnson.  “Getting the letter was a really nice surprise.”

Johnson teaches Russian and Russian history in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences at OU.  She recently was awarded the Irene Rothbaum Outstanding Assistant Professor Award, along with the Arts and Sciences Dean’s Outstanding Adviser Award.  She received her doctoral degree in Russian literature from Columbia University. She also holds a Harriman Certificate in Russian Area Studies. Before coming to Oklahoma she taught at Columbia University, Hofstra University, Drew University and Williams College.

The National Council for Eurasian and East European Research was created in 1978 to develop and sustain long-term, high-quality programs for post-doctoral research on the social, political, economic, environmental and historical development of Eurasia and Southeast Europe. From broad, cross-cultural analyses to more focused studies of particular problems, NCEEER supports research projects that facilitate a mutually beneficial exchange of information between scholars and policy-makers.  NCEEER’s programs provide insight and a clearer understanding of current trends in this region for U.S. government representatives, while promoting academic growth and opportunity.  NCEEER’s National Research Competition is made possible by federal funds under the Program of Research and Training for Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII), which is administered by the Department of State.  For more information, visit their Web site at www.nceer.org.