Dima Arzytuov in the Yamal Peninsula, Siberian Arctic, in 2018. Credit: Photo Courtesy of Dima Arzyutov. Graphic: Lily Pace | Managing Campus Editor
For the past two years, Dima Arzyutov has been sharing his knowledge about the Siberian region with students at Ohio State.
An assistant professor in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, Arzyutov has spent his career researching the indigenous groups in the Northern and Southern parts of the Siberian region — specifically, how indigenous community ideas have been distorted and erased over time.
Before joining Ohio State in 2023, Arzyutov studied in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he earned his Ph.D. in history and anthropology. He continued with his education in Stockholm, Sweden, receiving another Ph.D. in history of science, technology and environment from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
With Arzyutov’s large interest in museums and archives, he has also done extensive work at institutions from across the world including Taipei and New York.
Growing up in the Siberian region, Arzyutov heard many stories from his family and experienced the country’s lifestyle and culture. His interests in the region’s indigenous communities grew as Aryutov continued his education.
Dima Arzyutov in the Altai Republic in South Siberia in 2009. Credit: Courtesy of Dima Arzyutov
He said that how much of Western research conceptualizes the environment comes from indigenous roots. For example, he explains that the word “tundra” to describe Arctic environments originated from indigenous cultures.
The basic research and understanding of the Mammoth was history passed down through the indigenous communities. His research aims to uncover those pieces of information that were a part of indigenous culture but lost and assimilated through time.
“We need to find the third path where we are building common grounds between different ways. Through this we can understand better both parties: for indigenous cultures’ better understanding [of] western knowledge and for western people better understanding the different indigenous cultures in parts of the world,” Arzyuotov said.
To further his research, in 2027, Arzyutov has a visiting professorship at Tohoku University in Japan. Through the fellowship, he hopes to further his research about the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, a group of islands in Northern Russia, which held significant indigenous culture until it became a nuclear testing site during World War II.
This semester, Arzyutov is teaching “RUSSIAN 3750 – [Alter]Native Russia: Indigenous Histories, Cultures, and Politics in Siberia and the North,” a course he helped design. To Arzyutov, the feedback he receives from his students is the most valuable part of the learning and teaching process.
“I maybe have more knowledge in some fields, but students have fantastic questions and without their questions, my knowledge is not that important,” Arzyotov said.
Despite his research being focused on indigenous cultures, Arzyutov said that teaching Russian classes that aren’t directly related to his research has given him a large amount of insight, allowing him the chance to explore more Russian literature and history.
For any student looking to pursue a research career, Arzyutov recommends that they follow their heart, but be open to new ideas.“It’s essential for your psychological health because it may help you to not get exhausted, not get completely low,” Arzyuotov said. “Apart from that, also to write and develop research, which is really precious and really important for [a] better understanding [of] humanity and [the] social world.”
