Society of Scholars
The Society of Scholars is an intellectual community of humanists of diverse generations, academic ranks, and departmental affiliations who contribute to and learn from one another’s work. Each year, approximately eight faculty and three dissertation research fellowships support members of the Society of Scholars. Scholars in year-long residence at the University of Washington may be invited to participate as well. The group meets biweekly throughout the year to discuss their research in progress.
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2024 - 2025 Society of Scholars
2022 - 2023 Society of Scholars Fellow
Brendan McElmeel (he/him/his)
Comrades in Love: Intimacy and Morality in Soviet Institutions and Everyday Life
“Comrades in Love” is a study of intimacy and morality at various levels of Soviet society—official ideology, professional discourse, everyday practice, and the spaces in between. Using published professional sources, Komsomol (Communist Youth League) and popular media, archival materials, and oral interviews, I examine the terms of debate around intimacy in the postwar decades, including what was sayable (or not) in professional and state discourse, and how people engaged with or repurposed authoritative norms.