Pussy Riot phenomenon hits universities

By Jan Petter Myklebust. Thousands will rally in support of female punk band Pussy Riot in 100 cities across the world on 1 October, when a Moscow court is due to hear an appeal by three members – two of them students – against a two-year prison sentence for performing a ‘punk prayer’ in a Russian Orthodox church.
The Pussy Riot ‘phenomenon’ is turning up as a focus of university conferences and research programmes, as well as in curricula ranging from gender studies, politics and cultural studies to media and new technologies. The Moscow three – Maria Alyokhina (24), a student at the Institute of Journalism and Creative Writing; Nadezhda Tolonnikova (22), a philosophy student at Moscow State University; and Yekatarina Samutsevich (30), a computer programmer and graduate of the Rodchenko School of Photography and Multimedia – were arrested in March this year. When they were found guilty of hooliganism and sentenced on 17 August to two years in prison, the verdict caused a worldwide storm of media reports, responses and protests, as well as postings on YouTube and numerous blog pages.