Join Us In Person

Join us at the President Woodrow Wilson House as we launch "Diplomat Chats" (#DipChat) with Ambassador Joel Danies. Our first fireside interview is with Dr. Naomi Collins. Dr. Collins has published a memoir, "Through Dark Days and White Nights: Four Decades Observing a Changing Russia." Her book shares her lived experience in Moscow over the course of four decades. Her story starts in the mid-1960s, as a graduate student at Moscow State University and continues to the 21st century as the wife of the American Ambassador to Russia. Dr. Collins will share excerpts from her biography that provides great insight into what daily life was like in the Soviet Union, how it changed over the years, and how the nation of Russia evolved as a result. She will be joined by her husband, Ambassador James Collins, a retired career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, who served as U.S. Diplomat to the Russian Federation from 1997 to 2001.As Russia consistently appears in the news, this conversation is a timely one that will no doubt provide great insight into the Russia of today.

Dr. Naomi F. Collins, a writer, scholar, and non-profit leader, who has served as Executive Director of the Maryland Humanities Council, an affiliate of the national Endowment for the Humanities, and as Executive Director of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, headquartered in Washington.

Ambassador Collins was the U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation from 1997 to 2001 and is an expert on the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.

Ambassador Joel Danies is a member of the Advisory Council of the Woodrow Wilson House. He was appointed on February 21, 2018 to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Gabonese Republic, and to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe. He retired from the Foreign Service in January 2020 having served since 1987.

Duration

Program is 60 minutes | Doors open at 6pm

Admission

$15 per person
Registration required - Limited seating.