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Interview with William Hopkins, 2021-09-06

 Item

Scope and Contents

Mr. Hopkins talks at length about the way he became immersed in the Russian studies, his education, and career. He well remembers the settings and arrangements of interviewing the Soviet citizens who allegedly had mental disorders, his expectations and apprehensions about the upcoming 1989 mission, the types of questions asked of the Soviet interviewees, and the peculiarities of his task as an interpreter during this unique venture. He also mentions the debrief that the entire American team had in Washington, D.C. after the visit was over.

Olena Protsenko, a Post-doctoral Research Associate in Psychiatry and Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, conducted this interview remotely over the Zoom application.

Dates

  • Creation: 2021-09-06

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

William Hopkins did not request any additional restrictions on access to this interview beyond those that the University of Virginia has made for all the oral histories from the Soviet Psychiatry Oral History Project (2021-2022).

Biographical / Historical

Mr. William Hopkins is a retired U.S. State Department staff interpreter. During the 1989 U.S. psychiatric mission to the USSR, he interpreted for team # 2 under the leadership of Dr. William Carpenter.

Extent

From the Series: 138.5775 Gigabytes

From the Series: .25 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

From the Series: English

From the Series: Russian

Repository Details

Part of the Arthur J. Morris Law Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Arthur J. Morris Law Library
580 Massie Road
University of Virginia
Charlottesville Virginia 22903 United States