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CORVALLIS - J. Arch Getty, a noted historian of Russian history whose research has led to a revisionist look at Stalinism, will deliver the annual George and Dorothy Carson History Lecture at Oregon State University on Jan. 26.

His lecture, "The Terror of Texts: Pursuing the Politburo Under Stalin," will begin at 7:30 p.m. in LaSells Stewart Center. It is free and open to the public.

Getty is a professor of history at the University of California and co-director of the International Center for the Study of Russia and the Soviet Union. He gained attention during the Cold War for his challenge of long-standing western perceptions of Stalinism - viewpoints that were met with skepticism by other historians and the news media, said William Husband, an associate professor of history at OSU.

Those viewpoints, however, are becoming more widely accepted, Husband added, and "have extensively shaped the research agenda for the younger generation of historians, especially since the opening of former Soviet Archives in 1991."

Getty is the author of "Origins of the Great Purges: The Soviet Communist Party Reconsidered." He is co-editor of "Stalinist Terror: New Perspectives."

Before joining the faculty at University of California, Getty was a senior research fellow at Columbia University and at the Russian Research Center of Harvard University. He also was a senior visiting scholar at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

OSU's Carson history lectures were founded in memory of the late George Carson, former head of the history department, and his wife, Dorothy.

The Stewart Center is located at 26th Street and Western Boulevard in Corvallis.