Mercer Provost Wallace Daniel traveled to Russia last month to deliver a paper in Moscow at the All-Russia Sociological Conference, sponsored by the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Daniel presented a paper at conference, which ran from Oct. 18-25.
Dr. Daniel, an expert in Russian history and civil society, has studied the country throughout his academic career and will deliver a paper titled “The Contribution of Church Parishes to Russian Civil Society.” The paper draws from his research into Russian Orthodox Church parishes and the role they play in developing Russian civil society.
“It’s an excellent opportunity for me to continue to develop my research in this area of civil society in Russia,” Dr. Daniel said before he departed. “By presenting a paper at the conference, getting reaction to it and engaging in conversation with experts in the field who are deeply related to the evolution of this country’s future, will strengthen my own research and study.”
Prior to his appointment as Mercer’s provost, Dr. Daniel was the Ralph L. and Bessie Mae Lynn Professor of History and editor of the Journal of Church and State at Baylor University. He previously served from 1996-2005 as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Baylor’s largest academic unit. Dr. Daniel also served as founding director of Baylor’s Slavic Studies Program from 1986 to 1996, chair of the history department from 1992 to 1996 and director of the Honors Program from 1991 to 2003.
Dr. Daniel’s publications include Grigorii Teplov: A Statesman at the Court of Catherine the Great (1990) and The Orthodox Church and Civil Society in Russia (2006). Dr. Daniel was also editor, with Peter L. Berger and Christopher Marsh, of the book, Perspectives on Church-State Relations in Russia (2008). His articles on intellectual and social history, as well as on church and state issues, are published in Russian Review, The Slavonic and East European Review, Canadian-American Slavic Studies, Russian Review (in Russian), Religion, State and Society, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, and Journal of Church and State. Currently, he is working on a new project, an intellectual biography of Fr Aleksandr Men’.
An honors graduate in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Daniel received his Ph.D. from the same institution, specializing in Russia. He twice has been awarded IREX fellowships and on three occasions has received Fulbright-Hays Fellowships to Russia and the former Soviet Union.
