Keston Center Fall Panel Unveils "Secrets, Surprises, and Stories" in the Archives

Researchers who have uncovered surprising stories of faith, resistance, diplomacy, and dissent in the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society will share their discoveries during a panel presentation and conversation, “Secrets, Surprises, and Stories: Unveiling the Unexpected in the Keston Archives and Beyond,” at 3:30 p.m. Monday, November 9, 2026. The panel features Dr. Liana Kirillova, Lecturer in History; Linda Moldovan, a third-year doctoral student in Religion; and Dr. Željko Oset, a Visiting Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Julie deGraffenried, Associate Professor and Department Chair of History, will moderate the session, which will be held in the Treasure Room of the Armstrong Browning Library and will also be available virtually via Zoom Webinar.

“The Keston archives contain multitudes of stories, secrets, and surprises for Baylor students, faculty, and researchers from across the world to discover,” said Kathy Hillman, Associate Professor, Director of the Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society, and Director of Baptist Collections and Library Advancement. “Whether accounts of dissident artists, church leaders who persisted in the face of persecution, or writers and publishers of illegal samizdat, the collection inspires historians, theologians, political scientists, and researchers from a variety of fields.”

Liana Kirillova, a two-time Keston Summer Teaching Fellow, specializes in Modern Europe, the Soviet Union, the Cultural Cold War, and the Global Sixties. She holds a master’s and Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University and a bachelor’s from Udmurt State University in Izhevsk, Russia. She will present alongside several of her students who are actively researching in the Keston archives.

Religion Ph.D. student Linda Moldovan holds a master’s from Portland Seminary and a bachelor’s from Vision International University. She is a 2026 Keston summer intern and Conyers Scholar who also works as an editorial assistant in the Institute for Oral History. A Romanian heritage speaker, Ms. Moldovan's research focuses on the intersection of migration, religion, and gender, specifically exploring the diverse landscape of Romanian Pentecostal diaspora groups in the United States.

Dr. Oset holds a Ph.D. from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. He has twice conducted research at Baylor’s Keston Center and returns as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar from October 2026 to April 2027. His extensive academic background includes serving as an assistant professor at the University of Nova Gorica in Rožna Dolina, Slovenia, director of the Museum of Slovenian Independence, and a research associate with the ERC project SOVEREIGNTY. During his Fulbright year, Dr. Oset's research will focus on “Bridging Worlds: Stella Alexander and Religious Diplomacy in Cold War Yugoslavia.”

The panel will be moderated by Dr. Julie deGraffenried, Associate Professor and Department Chair of History at Baylor University, whose research focuses on modern Russia, Soviet history, and the history of childhood and religion. Among her publications are “Sacrificing Childhood: Children of the Soviet State in the Great Patriotic War” and “Freedom of Conscience in (Post)Soviet Space: Legacies of Michael Bourdeaux and the Keston Archive.”

This event is free, open to the public, and will provide an opportunity to hear remarkable stories uncovered from the Keston Center collections that document religious persecution, Cold War dissent, underground publishing networks, and oft-overlooked historical figures. Participants will enjoy refreshments and additional conversation in the Garden of Contentment outside the Armstrong Browning Library following the lecture.

The Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society seeks to be a “voice of the voiceless” through lectures and special events and by promoting research, teaching, and understanding of religion and religious persecution as the Center preserves, expands, and makes available the Keston Archives and Library, the world’s most comprehensive artificially assembled collection of materials on religious persecution under communism and other totalitarian regimes.

For more information, visit library.web.baylor.edu/kestonevents.