Visiting Russian scholar Anna Sanina will lead a discussion on "Patriotism and Patriotic Education in Contemporary Russia" at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, in Coastal Carolina University's E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration, Room 309. The event and a reception that follows are free and open to the public.

An earlier lecture at 10:30 a.m., titled "Visual Irony in Digital Culture: Field Study of Social Media in the Age of Globalization," will be held in the James J. Johnson Auditorium and is open to all CCU and Horry Georgetown Technical College students, faculty and staff.

Sanina is an associate professor of public administration at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, Russia. She is currently a visiting Fulbright Scholar at Indiana University. In her lecture, Sanina will address two distinct currents in the development of patriotism in contemporary Russia: (1) officially sanctioned educational initiatives that appeal to the Soviet past and display a number of militaristic features; and (2) "underground" tendencies that have emerged through Internet-based means of communication and routinely challenge official political discourse.

The program is part of CCU's Arts and Humanities Global Experience Program (AHGEP), which is working in collaboration with the Office of International Programs to bring four Fulbright Scholars to campus this semester for brief visits, according to Tripthi Pillai, assistant professor of English and AHGEP coordinator.

The Wall Building is located at 119 Chanticleer Drive E. Free parking is available between the Wall Building and Brittain Hall, which can be accessed by taking Chanticleer Drive West.

For more information, contact Pillai at tpillai@coastal.edu or 843-234-3410.