Ruth Wurl

In the past year Ruth Wurl studied in Belarus and Russia. Her current academic work addresses the development of radical thought in the Russian Empire in the mid to late 19th century. She is currently focusing on Nikolai Chernyshevsky, who popularized materialism in this period. In addition to focusing on the Russian intelligentsia of this period, Ruth is also examining how these ideas diffused into the intelligentsias of national minorities of the Russian Empire (especially Jews). Her next project examines the relationship with Russian radical intellectuals with Jewish radical intellectuals in creating new secular-universal identities by examining their shared experiences in religious (Orthodox Christian and Jewish, respectively) primary and secondary schools.