Cruise-ing in Russia from Tolstoy to Trotters

Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies Edwina Cruise traces her love of horses back to a childhood infatuation with Roy Rogers's Trigger. Equally enamored of Russian culture and literature as she grew up, Cruise found it a natural evolution to center her scholarly research on the horse in Russian culture. For ten years she has done just that, recognizing that her understanding of horses has made her sensitive to meanings surrounding their portrayal in literature. During a conference Cruise attended in Russia during her fall leave, she shared her research with scholars from around the globe.

For four days in October, Cruise and other Tolstoyan scholars attended the Tolstoy and World Literature Conference at the home of author Yasnaya Polyana, three hours outside Moscow. Delivering a paper (in Russian) at the invited conference was the capstone of Cruise's research and represented the first time she had made a presentation at an international conference. Although the topic was considered unusual, Cruise was excited about the positive response to her work.

After the presentation, a Russian expert on Tolstoy who is directing an extensive project to publish a new edition of Tolstoy's complete works urged Cruise to complete her research so it can be included in a commentary section on Anna Karenina. "I was honored, particularly as a foreigner, to be offered this opportunity," Cruise said. It seems that Tolstoy, a knowledgeable horseman who even wrote one story, "Yardstick: The Story of a Horse," that is told in the first person by a horse, would have been pleased with Cruise's efforts, as well.

Following the conference, Cruise spent five weeks meeting with specialists on Russian horses and compiling information for a Web site on horse breeds being developed by the Kentucky Horse Park of Lexington, Kentucky. Cruise visited the park last summer and found the site's sections on the Orlov Trotter and Akhal-teke (Russian horse breeds) unsatisfactory. She wrote to park officials to express her disappointment, and they invited her to write new entries. While in Russia, Cruise worked with leading specialists on these breeds and visited breeding farms. She will soon begin writing new entries for the site.

Cruise wasn't the only Mount Holyoke presence in Russia. Juniors Erin Baker, Laura Creswell, Elise Scott, Hilja Terry, and Jesse Young are studying there this year. Cruise noted that this is the largest number of MHC students studying in Russia during a single year. "The MHC Russian and Eurasian program is in a wonderful position to educate women to make significant contributions towards helping to get this part of the world back on its feet," she said. "The countries of the former Soviet Union need to stabilize and find a future; foreigners bring skills and can make a difference." Elise Scott '00, for example, is designing a Web site for a nonprofit organization in Moscow.

Now back in South Hadley, Cruise is spending the final days of her fall leave reflecting on her experiences in Russia and doing research, not to mention spending time with her Palomino quarter horse, who bears a striking resemblance to Trigger.