International Center for German-Russian Studies Collection

Germans from Russia represented a substantial ethnic population of immigrants to Colorado from the 1880s through the 1920s, whose presence contributed to the growth of Colorado's agricultural economy through the 20th century. Colorado State University's prior interest in the Colorado community of Germans from Russia led to the funding of the "Germans from Russia in Colorado Study Project" of the 1970s and 1980s. This historical and ethnographical research project resulted in a number of publications on German-Russians in Colorado, with research materials from the project ultimately deposited in the University's Archives and Special Collections.

During exploratory discussions in 2006 and 2007 regarding an international academic partnership between Colorado State University (CSU) and Saratov State University (SSU), the idea of a joint international study program dedicated to researching the history and culture of Germans from Russia found support among administrators and faculty members of both institutions. As a result, the CSU-SSU strategic partnership began with the formation, in 2008, of the International Center for German-Russian Studies (ICGRS), with Alex Kuraev appointed as the Center's director. At its formation, CSU's ICGRS was envisioned to serve as a complement to SSU's Research Center for the History and Culture of Russian Germans, uniting efforts of academic researchers from the U.S. and Russian Federation in the study of the unique history of the community of Germans from Russia. Key among the original proposed goals of the Center was to hold lectures and events to highlight special facets of international German-Russian research. Another major goal of the Center was to provide global access to primary source materials on German-Russian history through digitization of materials from various Russian and American sources.

The Center's first major activity was in September 2008 when Louis Swanson (Vice President for Outreach and Engagement), Lee Sommers (Interim Dean of the College of Agriculture/Agricultural Experiment Station Director), Kenneth Rock (History Professor Emeritus), and Janet Bishop (Coordinator for Archives and Special Collections) traveled to the Russian Federation as members of a CSU-based fact-finding delegation. While Swanson and Sommers focused on joint agricultural research and educational initiatives, Rock and Bishop toured regional libraries and archival repositories to investigate their holdings, as well as to gauge the feasibility of proposed digitization projects. All four members of the delegation visited former German Russian village settlements along the Volga River and met with scholars in Saratov and Moscow to discuss respective research interests.

Subsequent to this visit, in 2009 the Center sponsored an Inaugural Conference on German-Russian Studies ("From the Russian Steppes to the American Plains") with CSU President Tony Frank and SSU Rector Leonid Kossovich formally opening the event. Presenters for the conference's academic symposium and public forum included academic faculty, scholars and archivists, from CSU, SSU, North Dakota State University, Dnepropetrovsk National University (Ukraine), and GASO (the State Archives of Saratov Province).

Other activities sponsored by the Center between 2010 and 2012 included a collaboration between archivists at GASO and CSU, which resulted in the creation of a digital collection website highlighting a sampling of materials from GASO's extensive holdings. In 2013 ICGRS members represented CSU on the host planning committee for the 44th Annual International Convention of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR). The Center arranged for Russian scholars to participate in this convention, which drew more than 650 attendees from the U.S., Canada, Germany, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine to Fort Collins.

By 2014 the adverse political climate fostered by Vladimir Putin towards international collaborations, and "foreign agents", prompted the Center to refocus its activities towards U.S.-based educational outreach and archival projects, including work with regional donors on building manuscript collections related to the German Russian experience. Although preservation of historic materials and contemporary research related to Germans from Russia continues through CSU's Archives and Special Collections, the International Center for German Russian Studies ceased formal activities in 2016.