December 17, 2008

CEERES Fall Newsletter

Be sure to check out our fall newsletter! It features stories about the Russia Fulbright GPA trip, research by U of C professor Tara Zhara about displaced people in Europe, accounts of students' summer projects and internships and some news on recent and upcoming CEERES events.

To read the full newsletter, stop by the office and pick one up, or check it out online (in PDF format).

CEERES News Roundup

Apologies for the sporadic posting of news roundups.

Turkmenistan recently rewrote sections of its national anthem to remove the multiple references to the former president who died in 2006. "An official said the changes were necessary to bring the anthem into line with international standards."

Speaking of reforms, Kazakhstan is working on reforming its parliament system, in order to avoid having a one-party parliament. The reforms are in advance of Kazakhstan's 2010 chairmanship of OSCE. However, parties in the country say the reforms are not going to actually help.

Due to a border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, Slovenia is saying it will block Croatia's EU bid. Slovenian Prime Minister Pahor complained that the documents submitted by Croatia "could prejudge the common border" and Croatia worries that Slovenia will not allow the accesion talks to cont

Seems Russia is having just as many economic problems as the rest of the world, as they've devalued the ruble twice in a week. Economists blame the recent falls on the dropping oil prices.

And in the Caucasus: Russia is blocking the return of OSCE monitors to South Ossetia, Armenia is having issues with mandatory military service and the Council of Europe, and the conflict between Russia and Georgia is causing NATO to push back Georgia's entry.

December 1, 2008

Christmas Around the World at the MSI

The Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago does a Christmas Around the World and Holiday of Lights special exhibit every year, which includes Christmas trees from around the world, and performances by various different ethnic groups and choirs. 

Countries represented from the CEERES region include trees from: Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Ukraine. 

There are many different groups performing that represent the CEERES region. For example, on Sunday December the 7th, there's going to be the Latvian School of Chicago & the Latvian Girl Guides and Boy Scouts, the Knights of Lithuania Dancers and the Greek Consulate. On Sunday the 14th, there's the Iskra School of Ukranian Dance & Ukranian Children’s Choir, Cherubic Voices, Cardinal A. Stepinac Croatian School and the Orpheus Hellenic Folklore Society (Greece Folk dancing and song).  There's other groups, including Polish and Romanian groups other days. For the full schedule, click here

Also, right now, you can download a coupon for by one get one free adult admission. Click here for the details. The Museum also has a podcast called Trees & Traditions, if you're not up to leaving your apartment in the cold weather. The exhibit is open until January 4, 2009.