Joshua First
Croft Associate Professor of History
Phone Number: (662)915-6946
Email: jfirst@olemiss.edu
http://www.croft.olemiss.edu/people/joshua-first

Key Words: Russia; Soviet Union; Ukraine; Eastern Europe; the welfare state; cinema; nationalism; memory

Research Description: Joshua First is Croft Associate Professor of History and International Studies and specializes in the history of Russia and Ukraine during the 20th and 21st centuries. Professor First came to Mississippi in 2010 after receiving his Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan. His teaching interests include modern Russia and the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, visual culture, nationalism, the European welfare state and comparative health care systems. Professor First has published articles on Ukrainian cinema, Soviet film sociology, and the politics of melodrama. His book, Ukrainian Cinema: Belonging and Identity during the Soviet Thaw (I.B. Taurus) appeared in December 2014 and a follow-up volume on the Ukrainian film, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Sergei Paradjanov, 1964) appeared in late 2016. Dr. First's next project concerns the origins and development of universal health care in the Soviet Union.

Honors Theses:

McDonald, David Brian (2022) Popular Protests and Democratization in Post-Soviet Countries: An Analysis of Why Some Democracy Movements Failed and Others Succeeded (full text)

Littleton, Gillian Grace (2022) Russia's Agenda For Ukraine: An Examination Of Putin's Media Propaganda Narratives (full text)

Myers, Olivia (2021) A Historical and Contextual Analysis of Soviet and Russian "Active Measures": How Russian Political Warfare Efforts in Foreign Presidential Elections Have Transformed in the Information Age (full text)

Simmons, Bobby G. (2021) Hand over fist: russia's use of military aggression to affect regional policy (full text)

Torp, Jeanne (2021) Going Green: A comparative analysis of green urbanism in Paris and Shanghai (full text)

Schmid, Eleanor (2021) From Ideological Resource to Financial Asset: The Evolving Relationship Between Youth and the State in Putin's Russia (full text)

Ketrow, Ragan (2020) Cooperating for Charity: The Effect of Decentralization on French Associations (full text)

Vice, Jillian (2020) The Collapse of a Communist Giant: A Study of Party Unity in the Soviet Union (full text)

Molpus, Chandler (2020) A Crisis of Masculinity: The Rise of the AfD and the East German Man (full text)

Caraway, Summer (2020) Socializing Caregiving: Social Services, Women's Employment, and Overall Economic Success (full text)

Sullivan, Claire (2020) Social Housing and the Affordability Crisis: A Study of the Effectiveness of French and American Social Housing Systems in Meeting the Increasing Demand for Affordable Housing (full text)

Hayes, Patrick (2020) Screening Revolution: Cinema as an Alternative Public Space during the Years of Lead (1969 - 1994) (full text)

Bickert, Madison B. (2019) How Non-Centrist Parties Gain Electoral Success in German Politics: An Analysis of the Alternative für Deutschland's Success in the 2017 Federal Election (full text)

DeGrafft, Megan (2019) German Regional Identity and Soccer: Comparison of Soccer's Impact on Cultural and Political Identities in Munich and Dortmund, Germany (full text)

Holland, Mary Frances (2019) Institutional Divides: How Democracy Affects Economic Complexity In The Transition Economies Of Eastern Europe And Central Asia (full text)

Mayfield, McRae E (2019) Conflict or Cooperation: How Climate Change is Transforming Geopolitics in the Arctic (full text)

Trummer, India (2018) The New Mafia: Vladimir Putin's Inner Circle and Russian Organized Crime (full text)

Turner, Cassandra (2018) "We Never Said We're Independent": Natural Resources, Nationalism, and the Fight for Political Autonomy in Russia's Regions (full text)

Adam, Gage (2017) Evaluating the Success of Russian Hybrid Warfare in Ukraine. (full text)

Albert, Annelise (2016) Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Where the Government Went Wrong. (full text)

Stovall, Shelbi (2016) Auteurs of Revolution: The Work of Godard, Pasolini, and Antonioni and the Student Protests of 1968. (full text)

Gordon, Brad (2014) Nostalgia and the Myth of "Old Russia": Russian Emigres in Interwar Paris and their Legacy in Contemporary Russia. (full text)

Stewart, Sylvia M. (2014) New Propaganda: Remnants of Soviet Mass Media in Pro-Kremlin Popular Culture. (full text)

Lichlyter, Isaac Alan (2013) Millions of Owners, not Hundreds of Millionaires: An Analysis of the Middle Class as a Requisite Condition for Democracy in Contemporary Russia

Pocase, Rebecca Elizabeth (2013) "Divided We Stand? The Effects of Identity Crisis on Democratic Institutionalization in Ukraine"

Ray, Timothy Sean (2013) "The Eurasian Union Project: An Analysis of Regional Integration in Post-Soviet Space"

Varenita, Anastasia Artiom (2013) "The Effect of the Economic Crisis of 2008 on the Basque and Catalan Nationalist Movements in Spain"

Johnson, Kara Eileen (2012) "German National Identity and Sports"

Stovall, Kaitlyn Melissa (2012)

Younger, Elizabeth Quinn (2012) "Organized Crime in Post-Soviet Russia: A Comprehensive Threat Analysis"