CEERES Blog

eBulletin March 21

2011-03-21T19:44:00.001-05:00

New eBulletin has been posted!

CEERES Friends: Department of Anthropology

2011-03-16T18:05:00.000-05:00

Department of Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago has a long and proud tradition of scholarly excellence and leadership in the discipline. This is, perhaps, an even more exciting time than usual because they have just made substantial additions of excellent young anthropologists to our faculty. They are intent on maintaining the traditional foci of the Department while developing emerging centers of theoretical interest in the discipline and beyond. Some of the areas that are currently enjoying particular attention by faculty and students in archaeology as well as linguistic and sociocultural anthropology include: semiotic approaches to culture, postcoloniality, human rights and indigenous rights, globalization, critiques of neoliberalism, the politics of gender and sexuality, the analysis of place and space, and the anthropological study of science. Each of these research areas is enhanced by the Department's longstanding commitment to training students in the history and foundations of social and cultural theory. The encouragement of free-ranging discussions with fellow students and small, hands-on research seminars and workshops contributes to the excellent training of Anthropology students.

A list of workshops affiliated with the Department of Anthropology

Anthropology of Europe Workshop is frequently visited by experts on the CEERES regio.

Sign up for news and announcements on the following listserv: anthropology graduate students

CEERES eBulletin: March 15

2011-03-15T13:44:00.002-05:00

A list of events, resources, and conference has been updated on our eBulletin.

See the March 15th version here.

CEERES Friends: Department of Linguistics

2011-03-14T21:51:00.004-05:00

Department of Linguistics

Founded in the mid-1930's, the Department of Linguistics at the University of Chicago is the oldest linguistics department in the United States. It is theory-oriented with a deep empirical interest in languages. One of its outstanding characteristics is its commitment to a wide range of approaches to the study of language. Interdisciplinary, interdepartmental study is encouraged, and students regularly work with faculty in several other departments. Students are expected to become active researchers as soon as possible after their arrival here. Many students come with strong undergraduate training in linguistics, or with a Master's degree; others come with strong training in fields such as philosophy, mathematics, or a particular language or language group. The faculty are involved in synchronic and diachronic research on languages from around the world. These varied interests are reflected in the topics of the dissertations that have been written in the Department. The undergraduate program in linguistics is designed to provide a solid, integrated introduction to the scientific study of language through coursework in the core subdisciplines of linguistics, as well as to ensure that the student has a language background sufficient to provide a complement to the theoretical parts of the program and for an understanding of the complexities of human language. This program provides students with a general expertise in the field and prepares them for productive advanced study in linguistics.

Check out events happening at the Department of Linguistics.

Related workshops.

And a Blog in LINGuistics -- BLING.

Sign up for announcements: linguistic studies, linguistic announcements, linguistic discussions, linguistic talks, linguistic department.

CEERES Friends: Department of Slavic Languages and Literature

2011-03-13T17:51:00.006-05:00

Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

This department advances research and provides instruction in the Slavic languages and literatures. The department offers a diverse array of courses in language, linguistics, and literature. Undergraduates may earn degrees with any of the following concentrations: Russian Language and Literature, Russian Linguistics, West Slavic Language & Literature, or Interdisciplinary Studies. Graduate concentrations include Russian Literature, Slavic Linguistics and Languages, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Polish and Czech Studies. The department also offers a joint B.A./M.A. degree in Slavic Languages and Literatures, strongly encourages their students to engage in study abroad opportunities, and sponsors a variety of guest lectures, seminars, and workshops throughout the year.

Check out events happening at the Slavic Department.

CEERES offers condolences to Polish community

2010-04-13T10:38:00.005-05:00

CEERES extends its deepest sympathies to the Polish community and to all those who are mourning Poland's loss.

The tragic deaths last Saturday of Poland's finest representatives, including President Lech Kaczynski and First Lady Maria Kaczynska among other dignitaries, which occurred as they were traveling to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, were felt particularly strongly in Chicago, home to the largest population of Poles outside of the Polish capital Warsaw.

Chicago residents who wish to pay their respects may do so by visiting the Consulate General in Chicago and signing a book of condolence. The Consulate General of Poland is located at 1530 N Lake Shore Drive. The book can be signed during these hours:

Saturday April 10: from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Sunday April 11 from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m.
Monday to Wednesday April 12 to April 14 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Thursday April 15 from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m.
Friday 16 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Saturday April 17 from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.

For the Love of Pljeskavica

2010-01-22T15:31:00.005-06:00

The January 20th, 2010 edition of the New York Times included a mouth-watering salute to pljeskavica, the Balkan minced meat patties that put even premium hamburgers to shame. Waves of immigrants from the former Yugoslavia brought their love of pljeskavica with them, and now in cities such as New York, this speciality of southeastern Europe is gaining a particularly American traction. For the whole story, click here!

Photo: Evan Sung for The New York Times

Chicago High School Students to Visit Russia

2009-10-29T16:57:00.002-05:00

Dear CEERES Friends,

I am sorely out of practice in blogging, but an email message that I received just the other day that resulted in a nostalgia trip back to Russia in June of 2008 when I started composing entries about our Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad, “Discovering Russia: Challenging Stereotypes and Media Myths.” Breanne Goldman, one of the educators who embarked on this adventure wrote to tell me that she will be returning to Russia in spring 2010 with a group of her students from St. Gregory the Great High School here in Chicago. This news delighted me for a number of reasons, but at the heart of the matter is the simple fact that through this teacher’s efforts, a fortunate group of young people will expand their literal and intellectual horizons by seeing and learning about Russia first-hand.

While CEERES is not directly involved with the upcoming trip to Russia, I feel as though we had a hand in making this trip happen. Being able to send teachers to Russia last summer was a tremendous accomplishment for our young Center, and I know that it is precisely because of the connections that were made during the Fulbright-Hays GPA that this student trip is on the horizon.

Professionally, this is a feather in CEERES’ proverbial cap - seeds from our outreach efforts that are bearing fruit. This spring break trip to Russia represents an outstanding way to increase knowledge of and interest in cultures of the CEERES region. It is our hope that some of these young women and men will be inspired to continue their study of Russia when they return to Chicago. Maybe some will learn Russian. Some might even make Russia or Eastern Europe the focus of their future careers. One thing is clear: all will be somehow touched by their experience in Russia. Each experience and memory is a seed which can grow into increased cultural awareness, international friendships, future visits to Russia, and directions for the future.

Personally, I am excited for Breanne and her students and am so proud of her for pursuing this opportunity, which is nothing less than a Herculean effort, and only possible thanks to support from the St. Gregory the Great community (teachers, students, parents, administrators) and our many Russian collaborators. It is no exaggeration to say that this trip would be impossible without the superb logistical and organizational talents of the staff of the American Home in Vladimir, Russia. My own memories from 2008 and current nostalgia trip assure me that these students are in for an absolute treat.

Please check out the St. Gregory the Great website (http://www.sghsrussia.org/) to learn more about this trip and extend help or best wishes to the group, as you are so inclined.

Best,
Meredith

Rock 'n' Roll

2009-05-14T11:00:00.003-05:00

I've been advertising it forever in our weekly e-bulletin, so when I spied a review for the Goodman Theatre's production of the play Rock 'n' Roll, I thought that a round-up of various reivews might be of interest to our readers here. Playing until June 7, Rock 'n' Roll takes place in Cambridge and Prague, spans a time period of 20 years, and takes its soundtrack music from The Rolling Stones, The Doors, and U2, to name a few. Sounds exciting, no?

Anyways, there are reviews of the show in the Chicago Tribune, as well as the Chicago Sun-Times. My favorite Chicago blog, Chicagoist, also has a review.

For ticket information, visit the Goodman Theater website. As I said, the play runs until June 7.

Eggs Eggs Eggs

2009-04-10T09:13:00.002-05:00

Easter season means tapping into some of the most visible, historical, and spiritual traditions from the Eastern Orthodox parts of the CEERES region. Perhaps most notable is the tradition of egg decorating. A general synopsis can be found, of course, at Wikipedia "Easter Egg."

For those of us here in Chicago, we can learn about the process, design, and significance of egg decorating first hand at the Ukrainian National Museum, located at 2249 W. Superior St. in, you guessed it, Ukrainian Village. On top of their extensive collection and knowledgeable guides, they also offer periodic classes on how to do it.

I found this video on Reuters about the egg decorating tradition of Germany's Slavic minority group, the Sorbs:

News Roundup!

2009-03-12T12:52:00.006-05:00

I hope all the U of C students are having a good reading period!

First off I have some interesting news of a type I usually don't cover: Wired magazine's blog Danger Room has an article talking about how Georgia is blaming the Russian government for a cyber attack which took place three weeks before the crisis this summer. Whether or not you believe them, it's an interesting story.

There's been a lot of news floating around recently about the 2009 Eurovison Song Contest, being hosted by Russia this year. The most interesting story, in my opinion (more Georgia and Russia, my apologies!) is how Georgia's song was deemed unacceptable due to the political connotations in the lyrics. The BBC also reports on how Russia has chosen a Ukrainian singer to represent it in the contest. They also have a more opinion-type piece on the politics behind the contest (I find it interesting to read the comments, left by people from all over, as well).

While maybe not a current event, the NYT has a good piece on bribery in the Romanian medical system. I thought the most interesting part was how patients would worry that if the doctor didn't accept their bribe, it was because they had an incurable disease. From some of our favorite news sites: Balken Insight has a good page with news about the upcoming election in Macedonia, and Transitions Online has a followup article about the closing of the American air base at Manas.

And, in things that you might not think is as exciting as I do: One of my favorite websites (The Daily Beast) did an article on stylish first ladies from around the world. Two from the CEERES region that made it are Kateryna Yushchenko, wife of the Ukrainian president, and Mehriban Aliyeva, first lady of Azerbaijan. I think two of ten is doing pretty good!

European Union Film Festival

2009-03-05T11:11:00.004-06:00

If you've got some free time, you should definitely check out the upcoming European Union Film Festival. The festival, which will take place at the Gene Siskel Film Center at the Art Institute of Chicago, will run from March 6 to April 2. According to their website, all 27 nations of the EU are represented, there will be a total of 59 films, and all of them are Chicago premieres.

Apparently, tradition has it that the film festival is opened by a film from the country which currently holds the presidency of the EU. This year, that happens to be the Czech Republic. The film, entitled I'm All Good, will be screened Friday, and will be presented by the Czech Consul General. The director will also be there for an audience discussion. There will also be an exhibit of Czech film posters from the 1960s-1970s on display in the Siskel Film Center's gallery/cafe throughout the festival.

Countries that overlap with our region and the EU which will also have films in the festival include Greece, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Poland and Lithuania, as well as a few others. For the full schedule, including what other movies, visit the Siskel Center website and click on "European Union Film Festival."

CEERES-region languages on Google Translate

2009-02-26T13:11:00.004-06:00

I just read on the Official Google Blog that they recently added seven new languages to Google Translate making the grand total of languages available now 41! The exciting thing about this is four of these new seven languages are CEERES-region languages: Albanian, Hungarian, Estonian and Turkish!

Anyways, Google Translate already has a bunch of other language spoken in our region available as well, including Russian, Ukranian, Polish, Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian, to name a few. Just thought this might be interesting to some of our blog readers!

News Roundup!

2009-02-17T14:28:00.002-06:00

Sorry, it's been a while and I've missed a bunch of news!

I think the biggest piece of news is the closing of the US air base in Kyrgyzstan. It was obviously covered in many news sources. Some more recent news though, says that the Kyrgyz Parliament is to vote on a bill to close the base this week, as opposed to in March, which is when it had been expected. The BBC has an article about the base with a helpful map of other bases in the region. There's also a few articles speculating where the US might go next, as well, from Eurasianet and Transitions Online.

I've never really profiled other media than articles, but I've dug up some interesting video. While I haven't watched all of these, they look pretty good. The BBC has video of a reporter's trip there, discussing how Georgia is still trying to rebuild after the conflict with Russia. Also, a lot longer but possibly very interesting, I dug up this video of a lecture the Foreign Policy Association held with the former Prime Minister of Italy, on Russia from a European perspective.

Also exciting is the fact that Kosovo marked it's first independence day this week. Balkan Insight has a good article on the mixed feelings that the independence caused.

In brief: The Eurasia Daily Moniter has an article on Armenia and Turkey's relations, Russia is cutting the budget for the 2014 Olympics by 15% and an interesting article on the Obama administration's views of security threats in Central Asia.

Russia and Georgia in Harmony (at least this weekend)

2009-02-04T11:31:00.002-06:00

For all of the reported bad blood between Russians and Georgians, both at the political and social levels, there are still many perfectly peaceful and complementary relationships between the two groups. Not the least of which is a shared history of rich cultures, distinct yet informing one another.

This weekend during The University of Chicago Folk Festival, Chicago residents will get a chance to see Russian and Georgian choirs perform back-to-back on Sunday, Feb. 8 (Ida Noyes Hall, West Lounge, 1212 East 59th Street Chicago).

Golosa, a Russian folk choir based at the University of Chicago, will present a program of secular songs from pre-Soviet Russia, with an emphasis on the tradition of the Semeiskie Old Believers in southern Siberia. These songs involve improvisation, close harmonies, and occasionally folk instruments and are quite unlike most of the Russian music that reaches us in the United States today. This concert/workshop will take place in the West Lounge in Ida Noyes on Saturday, 12:00-1:00 pm. Alioni, performing from 1-2:30pm, is Chicago's new Georgian folk singing ensemble directed by Clayton Parr, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at DePaul. It has recently recorded for Hal Leonard Publishing, with special guest Carl Linich.

News Roundup

2009-01-29T09:15:00.005-06:00

At the World Economic Forum, where Putin gave the opening address, there was much blame placed on the United States for the current financial crisis. While Putin wasn't as "harsh" as he has been in the past few months, he commented on how "investment banks, the pride of Wall Street, have virtually ceased to exsist." Also in economic related news, Romania is in talks with the EU for a 6 billion Euro "rescue loan" to help the country buffer itself from the economic downturn and Siberia's currancy has lost a quarter of it's value in 4 months.

In a follow-up from the last news roundup, about a week ago, Russia started to pump gas through Ukraine again, and the New York Times has a good piece about Putin's understanding of the use of energy as a political tool. While only slightly related, the Eurasian Daily Moniter has some good commentary about border disputes and Russia, focusing on Ukraine.

In the Caucasus we have a Russian soldier who either deserted or was captured by Georgia, depending on who you ask. This piece on Azerbaijan's position between Russia and the West is also interesting, and the reports that Russia has given free arms to Armenia (denied by both countries) shows what a power Russia continues to be in the region.

On the BBC: Polish WWII hero was not murdered, and the sad reality of selling babies in Tajikistan.

More on Russia and Georgia

2009-01-23T11:34:00.004-06:00

In my feed reader this morning was this piece from the New York Times on the Human Rights Watch report on the Russian and Georgian conflict in August. The 200 page report accuses both Russia and Georgia of using unnecessary force where civilians were involved and says that it seems Ossetian militias were attempting to ethnically cleanse Georgian villages in South Ossetia.

I searched a little and found that Human Rights Watch has its own summary of the report, and the report is also available to download in English or Russian in its entirety.

News Roundup

2009-01-15T11:49:00.008-06:00

I sure hope everybody in Chicago is staying warm! I read an interesting blog post about what people in Estonia are doing to beat the winter blues. In Tallinn, the capital city, they're holding a light festival running for almost a month, where they're going to create as much natural light as possible by creating burning scupltures and seting up light displays all over the city. The website of the festival has pictures of some of the exhibits.

It would be remiss of me to not to mention the Russia and Ukraine gas conflict. Today is the apparently the tenth day of the "dispute," which is causing most of Europe to be without it's Russian gas supplies. The dispute is over the price that Ukraine is going to pay for the gas. The BBC has an interesting article spotlighting what Europeans think of the whole situation. The Eurasia Daily Moniter has a good analysis with local news reports.

Also recently, Albania completed the SAA ratification process, which is the final step in the application process to be in the EU, Belarus currancy has been devauled 20.5% against the dollar, and Turkmenistan has upped it's oil production 6% from last year.

CEERES Fall Newsletter

2008-12-17T15:25:00.000-06:00

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

2008-12-17T15:00:00.001-06:00

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.

Christmas Around the World at the MSI

2008-12-01T15:04:00.000-06:00

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.

Weekly News Roundup

2008-11-26T12:00:00.000-06:00

This weekly news roundup is heavy on conflicts in the Caucasus. Back to more varied news next week!

Monday, Armenia's foreign minister spoke, asking Turkey to re-open the Armenia/Turkey border, which has been closed since 1993 as a result of Armenia and Azerbaijan's war over the Karabagh region. Armenia and Turkey have not had diplomatic relations since Armenia became an independent country after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Georgia's and Poland's Presidents were taking a nice drive up by South Ossetia where their motorcade was shot at on Monday. Of course, Russia denied having any part in it. This comes a few days after the BBC reported Russia-Georgia peace talks were making "substantial progress."

Meanwhile, in the Russian republic of North Ossetia, the mayor of Vladikavkaz was killed on Wednesday. This is after a suicide bomber killed at least 8 people earlier this month, also in Vladikavkaz.

In another separatist region (they seem to abound in the South Caucasus!), Nagorno-Karabagh, apparently some shots were fired which led to the death of one Azeri soldier. This is in light of recent peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan (some commentary can be found here). Apparently, after the skirmish, Armenia's president also met with party leaders in Armenia to discuss the conflict, as well.

Weekly BBC Roundup: The BBC Magazine wrote a piece about children who are scared to leave their homes because of blood feuds in Albania. Check out this article about the Amnesty International report about domestic violence in Armenia. Also, Sochi's feelings about the Olympics.

Have a good Thanksgiving!

Polish Film Festival

2008-11-19T16:27:00.000-06:00

More films from the CEERES region in Chicago!

The Polish Film Festival is taking place here in Chicago until November 23. Since it started the 8th, you've missed a few films, but there are still plenty to catch this weekend, including one on Saturday and Sunday which will feature the director in attendance. The festival not only includes Polish films, but films from other places as well, including Hungary and Russia.

(An article on the Festival from the Chicago Sun Times can be found here.)

Weekly CEERES news roundup

2008-11-12T18:15:00.000-06:00

The European Union just released it's annual report on applicant countries, in which Croatia was given a timeline to put them on track to become a member state in 2011. The report also discussed Turkey and Macedonia, encouraging them to boost reform efforts. You can read the actual reports on the European Commission website.

And, it's been all over the news, so you've probably heard, but could it be possible that Putin will soon be president again? After current President's Medvedev's state of the union speech, in which he introduced reforms to change the presidential term from 4 to 6 years, rumors have run rampant.

Following up from last week, here's an article on the reaction of Armenian and Azerbaijanis on the recently signed agreement on Nagorno-Karabagh. Armenia is also in the news, due to the recent concession of President Sarkisyan to form a committee to conduct an impartial investigation on the events which took place during the Feburary election.

Summer in Armenia

2008-11-07T17:00:00.000-06:00

Since Meredith shared all of her experiences from her trip to Russia, I thought I'd write about my summer in Armenia.

This summer I was an intern in the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia. I lived in a nice apartment right down the street from the Parliment building (and even saw the president driving to work a few times!). I worked your standard 9-5 day, but there was nothing ordinary about what I did at work.

I worked in the Consular Section of the Embassy. The Consular Section is in charge of Visas and American Citizen Services. Some things I did daily were: take fingerprints of non-immigrant visa applicants, answer emails about applying for visas, and just generally help out around the office. For example, I wrote the "Ask the Consul" sections for the website for the months of July-October. I also was able to get out of Yerevan every so often. Once, I got to go to Dilijan, to give a presentation at an "American Corner" about being a college student in the US.
Me answering questions after my talk at the American Corner

One of the unexpected things that happened this summer was the war in Georgia. It definitely livened things up at the Embassy, to say the least. The Consular section was a bustle of activity as we were in charge of helping the evacuation of Americans from Georgia. We helped on our end by meeting the buses at the Armenia/Georgia border and working with passport control officials in Armenia to make sure everything went smoothly. We also ended up helping a lot of anxious Americans in the US locate their relatives who came to Armenia on the convoy. It was a thrilling time and I was lucky to get to be part of it.
Me and my coworkers at the Armenia/Georgia border

Another fun event was the Armenia vs Turkey football (or soccer as we call it here) match. This was really exciting because Armenia and Turkey aren't on the best of terms, and this was the first time they had ever played soccer against each other. Nobody really knew what to expect. Everything ended up being fine, and there were no problems, although Turkey won 2-0, which the Armenians were not happy about. It was also a historic occasion because Turkey's president came to see it, and it was the first time a Turkish head of state had ever come to Armenia.
The two teams and the crowd before the game.

All in all, my experience at the Embassy and interning for the State Department was a good one. My coworkers were wonderful, as was everybody in the Embassy, and I really gained a lot from my time in Armenia. Anybody who is even a little bit interesting in possibly going into the Foreign Service would benefit from a State Department internship and I highly recommend it.

Click on any image to see the full size, or to see all my pictures from this summer, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/kproctor.

Food culture, here and there

2008-11-06T12:16:00.000-06:00

I listened to the 11/1/08 podcast of NPR's The Splendid Table, and was happy to hear some direct reporting on food culture from the CEERES region. The link to this particular episode is here.

Two segments of the show caught my ear, and made my stomach growl just a little. The show opens with a report from a couple, Jane and Michael Stern (their site is roadfood.com), that travels around the U.S., reviewing the local food stops along the way. In this episode of the Splendid Table, they visit West, Texas (an actual town, not the region) where there happens to be a significant Czech-emigre population. Czech bakeries touting their traditional kolache abound. The couple gives a great discussion of the how the food tastes and why it's there. It's not solid reporting on the lives of immigrants by any means, but hearing about the food will make your mouth water.

Even more fascinating, and much more rigorous in its scholarship is a segment later in the episode. Unfortunately, you have to download the podcast and fast forward to get to this segment. At 25.45 minutes into the show is an audio documentary recorded in the field by Carla Seidl in Azerbaijan on Azeri food culture, including discussion of the food, social roles in preparing and serving, and interviews. I was pleasantly surprised to find this, and I think some of you might fing it interesting for your teaching, research, or just plain entertainment.

Weekly CEERES news roundup

2008-11-05T10:30:00.000-06:00

Big in the news this week was the meeting in Moscow between Armenia's President Sarkisyan and Azerbaijan's President Aliyev during which they signed a joint declaration regarding the sepratist region of Nagorno-Karabagh (BBC, Wikipedia). Reactions are mixed, as reported on EurasiaNet and the Euraisa Daily Moniter (which also includes a run-down of the declaration). From a completely different angle, on October 16th, apparently over 700 couples got married in Karabagh, in an attempt to help boost the region's small birth rate (IWPR).

Apparently Saakashvili is having a grand old time firing people. (BBC)

While not directly related to the region, the US presidential election was big news everywhere. Some pre-election feelings from the region can be found on EurasiaNet and TOL, and articles on reactions from Macedonia and Kosovo are highlighted on the homepage of BalkenInsight.

In brief, we also have the EU's effort to increase it's presence in Tajikistan, teaching diversity in Romania via some new textbooks, and Ukraine's recent dropping of Russian channels from cable.

And because I love the BBC, I'd like to point out this interesting article discussing the Ossetians' love of the movie "Braveheart."

Weekly CEERES news roundup!

2008-10-29T16:14:00.000-05:00

The New York Times did an excellent piece on Moscow's mayor Luzhkov and his propensity for creating foreign policy. They followed it up by translating many of the comments the post received on their Russian language blog and picked out some specifically to write a follow-up article talking about how Russians feel about Luzhkov.

Georgia's President Saakashvili announced he would be replacing the Prime Minister. (BBC)

Monday, the IMF said it would offer loans to both Ukraine and Hungary as the two Eastern European countries have both been hit hard by the global credit crisis. (BBC)

While not completely current, two weeks ago Azerbaijan's president Aliyev was re-elected with 89% of the vote. Many of the opposition parties boycotted this election, which caused many international observers to remark on the lack of real competition. (BBC, EurasiaNet)

This piece that the BBC did on Albania's "sworn virgins" is very interesting and offers an interesting look at a phenomenon that's dying out.

Steve LeVine at Chicago again. Russia, Georgia, and the Rest

2008-10-22T15:58:00.000-05:00

About a year ago, The University of Chicago hosted journalist Steve LeVine, now senior foreign affairs correspondent for Business Week, when his book "The Oil and the Glory" came out. That book dealt with the history of the former Soviet region through the lens of the jockeying for control of oil and natural gas. (You can view last year's presentation on the UChicago CHIASMOS website).

Steve Levine joins us again tonight to discuss the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia, the reasons for it, the consequences affecting the U.S., and some projections on the future of the region and international relations. When we first conceived of this talk with Steve, not long after the early August military conflict between Russia and Georgia, our effort was to do something timely on the conflict, and what it meant circa September 2008. We entitled the talk "Putin's Labyrinth: What Russia won in Georgia; Why the U.S. Will Continue to Lose." The gist being that the U.S.'s inattention to the region was an enabling factor for Russia to launch this sort of reprisal. In the period since then, the global climate of investment has taken a nose-dive, and the price of oil has precipitously declined, perhaps providing new economic and diplomatic avenues for the U.S. to influence and secure the region. Perhaps a better subtitle for tonight's talk would be "Why the U.S. May Continue to Lose." This of course will not be found out until a new U.S. presidential administration takes over.

If you're curious about where this discussion leads, come see Steve LeVine tonight at 6pm in the Home Room of International House at The University of Chicago.

This talk is also coming out of Steve's new book "Putin's Labyrinth: Spies, Murder, and the Dark Heart of the New Russia." This books looks at the new displined Russian power structure under Putin through the prism of shadowy murders.

44th Chicago International Film Festival

2008-10-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again, time for the International Film Festival! This year there are some great films from the CEERES region that we'd like you to be aware of.

Like last year, we've put together a list (for the full schedule visit chicagofilmfestival.org):

ABSURDISTAN (France/Azerbaijan)

Veit Helmer

It's 1968, and flower children Catherine, Yves, and Herve are dreaming of a world free from factories, the draft, and the bitter May revolts. Desperately in love and painfully idealistic, they convince several of their friends to join them in starting a commune in the countryside. Twenty years later, with communism collapsing and AIDS exploding, Catherine and Yves' children must deal with the fallout from the free love generation. WORlD CINEMA 88 min Russian with English subtitles

10/23/08 06:15:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

10/25/08 06:45:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

FOUR NIGHTS WITH ANNA / CZTERY NOCE Z ANNA (Poland)

Jerzy Skolimowski

Internationally acclaimed director Jerzy Skolimowski's (Moonlighting) first film in 17 years is an alternately zany and pitch-black portrait of Leon's madcap courtship of his neighbor, Anna. Leon's oddball behavior—like crushing sleeping pills into Anna's sugar so he can snoop through her apartment smelling things—is somehow endearing until we learn the dark secret behind his attraction. 87 Min. Polish with English subtitles.

10/26/08 07:30:00 PM AMC River East 21

10/27/08 08:00:00 PM AMC River East 21

THE HOMECOMING / I EPISTROFI (Greece)

Vassilis Douvlis

Ilias and his wife Eleni have returned to Greece after many years in Germany. Ilias feels like a foreigner in his home village, and life in the country is killing Eleni's spirit. The arrival of Albanian migrant Petros is the first in a chain of events that will change their lives. With an engrossing love triangle as his foundation, Douvlis touches on the perils of identity and the shifting definition of home experienced by immigrants around the world. 98 min. Greek with English subtitles.

10/24/08 04:00:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan
10/26/08 03:30:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

10/27/08 05:50:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

KATYN (Poland)

Andrzej Wajda

In 1939, more than 12,000 Polish military officers and intelligentsia were executed by the Soviet army. Once the mass graves were discovered by the Nazis in 1943, the Soviets began an extensive campaign to cover up their involvement in the massacre. Katyn´ is a courageous film that tells the story of both the victims and those left behind: the survivors who became complicit in the cover-up, and those who refused to deny the truth. 118 min.

Polish, Russian, German with English subtitles.

10/19/08 12:45:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

10/25/08 01:15:00 PM AMC River East 21

THE MERMAID / RUSALKA (Russia)

Anna Melikyan

An Amélie-like fairy tale rich in a mesmerizing magic (literally) all its own, The Mermaid's heart is Alisa, a lonely little girl from a seaside town who takes a rebellious vow of silence at the age of five. Approaching her 18th birthday, Alisa is forced to relocate to Moscow, where a chance encounter with a free-spirited salesman of lunar real estate inspires her to speak again—and compete for his affection. 114 min. Russian with English subtitles.

10/22/08 08:20:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

10/28/08 08:15:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

NATIVE DANCER / BAKSY (Russia/Kazakhstan/France/Germany)

Gulshat Omarova

The award-winning director of Schizo returns with the absorbing story of a Kazakh baksy (shaman), Aidai, who has the power to heal people. She derives her power from the land she lives on, owned by wealthy businessman Batyr. But when the mafia and local authorities force Aidai from her home and build a motel on Batyr's land, a surprising chain of events springs from the powerful and mysterious woman. 87 min. Russian, Kazakh with English subtitles.

10/18/08 02:15:00 PM AMC River East 21

10/21/08 08:40:00 PM AMC River East 21

OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN / O RODICíCH A DETECH (Czech Republic)

Vladimír Michálek

Based on the award-winning novel by Emil Hakl, this candid and revealing relationship study unfolds during an often bittersweet and untamed conversation between a seventysomething father and his middle-aged son. The two men—who love, respect, and hate one another all at once—take to the streets of Prague for their monthly visit, moving with a gentle sweep through their humorous collective memories and careening toward newfound revelations. 112 min. Czech with English subtitles.

10/25/08 12:30:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

10/27/08 06:10:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

SNOW / SNIJEG (Bosnia-Herzegovina/Germany/France/Iran)

Aida Begic

The year is 1997, and the post-war village of Slavno is occupied by a mere handful of residents, mostly women. Some are widows. Others have had their children executed by the nearby Bosnian Serbs. Winner of the critics' week grand prize at Cannes, Snow picks up where most other war films leave off, capturing mournful, everyday lives with such attentiveness and regard that it becomes less a film of politics and more a film of touching fellowship. 99 min. Bosnian with English subtitles.

10/25/08 03:00:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

10/26/08 06:00:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

SUMMER BOOK / TATIL KITABI (Turkey)

Seyfi Teoman

Ten-year-old Ali is getting bullied at school. Older brother Veysel is looking to ditch military school for business school. Austere pop Mustafa disapproves, but uncle Hasan is all for it. Meanwhile, mom Guler is sure that her husband is having an affair. These minor family tensions come to a head one summer when Mustafa suddenly falls ill while away on a business trip. Named best Turkish film at the Istanbul Film Festival. 92 min. Turkish with English subtitles.

10/23/08 08:40:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

10/24/08 06:30:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

TRANQUILITY / NYUGALOM (Hungary)

Róbert Alföldi

Estranged from her daughter and cut off from the outside world, ex-actress Rebeka Weér lives with her deeply troubled son, Andor. Verbally abused by Rebeka since his childhood, Andor becomes a man who must learn to either live with their strained, yet sometimes tender, relationship or leave that suffocating environment behind to pursue love elsewhere. Somber, haunting, and erotic, Tranquility tells a story of self-destruction within the realm of a bizarre mother-son relationship. 108 min. Hungarian with English subtitles.

10/20/08 08:40:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

10/21/08 08:30:00 PM AMC 600 N. Michigan

THE VANISHED EMPIRE (Russia)

Karen Shakhnazaro

The 1970s marked the rise of communism and the peak of power in the Soviet Union. To teenager Sergey Narbekov, it meant friends, booze, girls, and The Rolling Stones. The Vanished Empire is an honest portrayal of four young friends transitioning from their late teens into adulthood. They live hard and love hard, giving no regard to the collapse of their country. 105 min. Russian with English subtitles.

10/19/08 12:30:00 PM ACM River East 21

10/20/08 06:10:00 PM ACM River East 21

The Late Start to Murom

2008-08-11T14:42:00.001-05:00

July 2, 2008

Today was the first day that didn't go according to schedule.

The major wrinkle in our day is not fodder for blog postings. Suffice it to say that we might possibly have a deportment situation on our hands and one of our participants might have an official invitation to return to Chicago a few days earlier than planned. For those of you who are thinking that we had a kamikaze teacher who decided to hijack a tram or who was detained for public exposure, get those images out of your heads. In fact, we learned today that if one travels on a humanitarian visa, one is not allowed to talk about politics. The American Home is working to sort out the situation, but the bottom line is that one of our young men was NOT on the bus with us to Murom and the collective morale on the bus is in the proverbial toilet. In a show of solidarity, we voted to stay in Vladimir until he was back at the American Home and we knew that he was - at least physically - OK.

We arrived in Murom as the evening was approaching and the military equipment we could see behind walls and the armored train Ilya Muromets took on a strange significance after the events of earlier in the day.

But, our gracious hosts - including Ilya Muromets himself - met us at the Murom Institute and welcomed us with bread, salt, and open arms. They held a small ceremony to introduce us to a few salient points of Muroms ancient history and sent us off to our new homes with our hosts. My host, Lena, is a teacher of English at the Murom Institute. She lives on the ninth floor of a Kruschev-era apartment building with her husband, Yura; her daughter, Lilya; and the real ruler of the roost - Persik, the cat. The view from Lena's kitchen and great room looks onto the Oka River and the enormous new suspension bridge that is being built across the river. The view from the bedroom that I occupied is over a patchwork quilt of kitchen gardens. The land used to be a communal farm and is now divided into personal plots filled with produce to sustain one's family through the long winters or to sell for a few extra rubles.

The sight from the balcomy is quite breathtaking - it's really beautiful aesthetically. The impression is bittersweet though, tinged with a sadness born from the realization that these few rows of carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers aren't about enjoying the hobby of gardening. The painstaking care of these gardens comes from the survival mechanism that is somehow ingrained in the Russian psyche in a society that has almost no middle class. One of the very obvious differences between the Russia of 1992 and 1994 and that of 2008 is that almost everything exists in Russia today, but much isn't even remotely affordable for the majority of Russians. Case in point: FOOD. At least in the supermarkets, food costs about as much as it does in the United States. I often balk at the price of groceries in Chicago on a decent salary for someone in my administrative position - I don't quite know how a teacher, who might make as little as the equivalent of $125 per month, can survive!

This has been a day in which lots of comparisons between Russia and the United States have been raised, but the final vision for me is of the same serene moon that will rise several hours from now in Chicago and I am happy to end the day with something universal and beautiful.

Scavenger Hunt and the Last Supper

2008-08-11T13:57:00.000-05:00

July 7, 2008

This was our last full day in Vladimir. The American Home staff sent us out on a scavenger hunt. It was hilarious - we ran all over town (literally), taking pictures of signs, sights, and and buying crazy souvenirs, including ingrediants for American style sandwiches for ourselves and our friends for lunch.

It was MUCH more fun than I ever would have guessed. We divided into three teams, which each left the Amercan Home in 10-minute intervals. Our team was Barbara Stout (from Arizona), Jeff Schagrin (from a suburb of Chicago), Jackie Lesh (from Baltimore) and myself. We each had a Russian chaperone, in case we got ourselves lost or in a pickle language-wise. Ours was Anya, one of the newly-graduated students of English at the pedagogical institute. One task throughout the morning was to take pictures of signs around town that were in English or were cognates of English words written in Cyrillic. Jackie was our designated photographer and snapped all sorts of images that we pointed at as we ran along. Barb was our cheerleader - who knew that this sweet woman could have such a competitive spirit - when I say that we RAN around Vladimir, I am not exaggerating. She kept us marching at a very fast clip until we accomplished all of our tasks. In addition to finding English words and Russian cognates, we also had to take snapshots of a variety of plaques, buildings, cathedrals, or other structures throughout the city. One such photograph was of a plaque dedicated to some admiral who had circumnavigated Antarctica/the South Pole. The clue on the sheet instructed us to take a picture and try to figure out what the admiral was being honored for. How I looked at the plaque and pulled the word 'circumnavigate' out of my cobwebby brain, I'll never know.

We all learned a great deal on this scavenger hunt, and I daresay we all saw places that we hadn't seen before. Jeff picked out a goofy rat souvenir at the folk art museum, and each picture after the purchase contained our buddy, the Rat. (As a side note: it is currently the Chinese Year of the Rat and there were rat-shaped images all over the place, on posters, embodied as souvenirs, etc. Jackie had asked in one of our Russian culture sessions if there were an inordinate number of rat images around because of the Year of the Rat and people laughed at her. Who knew that she was much more perceptive than the rest of us?!? But, we have the souvenir to prove her point).

One of the tasks was to purchase a souvenir that Russians would consider quite normal, but American students would find odd. We bought two things to fulfill this obligation: we bought mayonnaise made from quail eggs - which sits right in the dairy case with the other 14-19 types of mayonnaise - and a key. Some Russian keys are monstrous, old-fashioned keys that look like something out of gothic horror movies. We noticed that there was a kiosk that sold and cut keys in the mall, so I managed to explain to the guy working there that I needed a long, double-sided key to bring home as a souvenir. He smirked, but found me three good examples of such a key from which I could choose. Expensive little booger, but cool.

The proffered lunches from each team were all similar, but our team had the foresight to buy two items that the other teams did not provide: mustard and dessert.

After hunts and classes finished up for the day, I was in for another treat. Ira and Andrei made a fantastic dinner as my "last supper" in Vladimir. (My mother always used to ask what we wanted for our "last supper" before going back to college, hence the term). We exchanged presents, ate all sorts of fantastic food - including a traditional meat and potato casserole baked in individual earthenware crocks - and toasted to our new extended families. The day ended with Yaroslav and me watching "Family Guy" in Russian (called, in Russia, "The Griffins"). It was absolutely as obnoxious and hilarious as in the States and made me feel a little less sad and apprehensive about leaving what had really come to feel like home...

More Dacha Revelations

2008-08-05T15:42:00.000-05:00

July 6, 2008

After more rain overnight and most of the morning, it turned into a humid and soggy but mostly sunny day in the country. There is standing water everywhere and I'm very grateful for my non-Russian crocs, which are comfy, lightweight, and able to dry very quickly after getting wet. The rain has been very detrimental to the vegetable gardens. The tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers in particular need a lot more sun than they have been getting.

Breakfast at the dacha was a real boost to my confidence. I had been very worried about whether my rudimentary Russian would hold up with older individuals who didn't speak any English, especially given my limited vocabulary. However, the morning perhaps gave me my biggest boost of confidence. I am an early riser, especially given the Russian propensity for staying up late and sleeping in. So, I had breakfast with Lena's parents while everyone else was still asleep. Lena's father wanted to speak about American politics - not my strong suit, and I usually avoid the topic like the plague even in the United States, but I was a guest in their home... Lena's mother wanted to hear about things that were closer to my heart - and easier to describe - such as my family, our apartment, life in Chicago, gardening, cooking, etc. The breakfast conversation was really the best part of the day. The fact that I could understand their questions and responses and even formulate appropriate answers and questions of my own was very empowering. And I've learned that even when I don't know a word, I can use my minimal vocabulary (and a whole lot of arm gestures) to talk around the words I don't know and get my point across.

The food was as incredible as the day before and I tasted several foods that were new to me: homemade tvorog (Russians call it cottage cheese, but it's much more like a ricotta or mascarpone); goat milk from goats living down the street; chicory instead of coffee; compote made from kalinka (need to look this up - little berries that I'm not certain have an American equivalent); preserves made from apples, orange zest, and peach juice.

We walked around the neighborhood when everyone had finally emerged from their respective cocoons and there was a lull between rain showers. The neighborhood has a lovely pond where people swim and wash clothes and a monument in honor of the people from the area who died in World War II. We passed any number of free-range chickens and ducks along the way, and heard goats and cows bleating behind fences. I gather that the neighborhood used to be a huge communal farm with lots more animals and year-round inhabitants. Now, the nearest school is 3 kilometers away and that would be as far as the moon during the winters. Very few roads are paved and none seem to have any local maintenance. Busing would be a huge issue and it's just easier to move back to Moscow or Vladimir during the winter months. Lena's parents stay in the country from May-October and claim that most of their neighbors are on similar schedules.

It was hard to say good-bye at the end of the day. Lena and the girls stayed on for a week's rest and Misha and I headed back to Vladimir. I returned to the city with a bag of radishes, dill, and parsley, which made for a great dinner with a few slices of bread and butter. Because Andrei and Ira were out when I got "home", I had to brave the Russian washing machine by myself. I was sure that I had done something terribly wrong as it ran FOREVER. Seriously, after 1.5 hours I started to wonder if the downstairs neighbors would be coming up to inform me that I had flooded their flat or something. But, it seemed to do the trick - eventually - so that all of my clothes were clean for the trip to Murom on Tuesday. I just hope that the breeze does its job and the rain stays to a minimum so that they will be DRY as well. But that's another story.

The Dacha

2008-08-04T08:15:00.000-05:00

July 5, 2008

The weekend was free from presentations and excursions and was to be spent with host families.

My Saturday started out with a call from my husband - we're officially at the halfway point of the trip, and though the trip has been an excellent adventure, I do miss Dean, the girls, the cats, cooking, etc.

Andrei cooked breakfast and lunch today - what a nice break for Ira, who prefers to sleep in, but has been up getting me ready to leave the house every day. I had a different type of kasha - more like oatmeal than the semolina variety or the buckwheat type. Lunch was soup with pel'meni and really good sausages that were quite like bratwurst.

A note about Russian condiments: the dispensing mechanisms for both mayonnaise and mustard are terrific. Mayo comes in foil pouches which have spouts and a lot of mustard comes in toothpaste-type tubes - I guess we have some squeeze bottles, but at the very least, they are bigger and waste more space in the fridge. Anyhow, these streamlined containers and precision spouts allow condiments to be used as the ultimate garnishing tools. In the same way that pastry chefs decorate cakes with icing designs, Russians decorate salads with mayonnaise designs, or squeeze mayo onto fish or meat before baking. I was also surprised to see that there are no less than fifteen types of mayo to choose from in the supermarket, from "plain" varieties to those made from quail eggs or with additions of lemon juice or hot pepper or olive oil. Astonishing. In short, Russians take their condiments very seriously, especially their mayonnaise.

After lunch, Ira, Ksyusha and I ran around town souvenir shopping and scoping out bookstores for good books on Russian culture. I found a good one on Russian traditional dress and about a hundred others I would have loved to own, but already my luggage was pushing the weight limits.

After the shopping spree, we returned home so that Ksenia and I could pack for a short jaunt to the country.

I may have already mentioned that I had the luxury of having an "extended" host family. In addition to the nuclear family (Andrei, Irina, Yaroslav and Ksenia), I was "adopted" by the family of Ira's best friend (Lena, Misha, and Dasha). The ladies sort of shared me, which maximized my adventure and made the babysitting of the crazy American not so arduous for any one family. We also did lots of things together - Ira, Lena, me and the young ladies - while the men were working.

At any rate, Lena and Misha picked us up at about 4:00 p.m. to head to the country home where Lena's parents spend the months from May through October. We first stopped at a large "Spar" supermarket on the outskirts of Vladimir to stock up on food and booze for the weekend and then we headed west out of the city. Misha would fit in perfectly on the roads of Chicago - he's a very aggressive driver. Either that, or he was REALLY excited about getting to the dacha and drove as quickly as possible to get there - upon arrival, this seemed very likely.

I immediately fell in love with the country - the air was fresh, the dacha was a masterpiece of samizdat construction, having obviously been expanded several times as the family grew and building materials became available, and the gardens were absolutely amazing. The dacha's facade is green with decorative blue trim, with the traditional fancy carved designs around the windows and along the eaves and the inside was a maze of rooms for preparing food, resting, sleeping, and - of course - sitting and enjoying food and good company. The look and feel of the place reminded me of our own family campground in Springwater, New York where everyone congregates during the summers and contributes to the upkeep of the property, pond, trails, and then gets to reap the rewards of the FUN and EATING that take place when all the aunts, uncles, and cousins get together.

I actually stayed in a second structure - the "domik" or little house - behind the main house and vegetable gardens. It was perhaps the first structure on the property - a main room with a table and benches, one bedroom downstairs, and an upstairs "loft" with several couches and beds that also serves as a sitting room. The view from the balcony off this loft showed the back of the main house and all of the raised beds, fruit trees and shrubs.

Lena's parents are - not surprisingly - wonderfully kind and generous people. Baba Lusya was more than happy to show me around the yard and we talked about growing vegetables and flowers and she could describe having a veritable orchard at her disposal. The raised beds were filled with carrots, onions, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, garlic, dill, parsley, lettuces, radishes, beets, and an entire field of potatoes. They also have apple and pear trees, at least one cherry tree, and berry bushes galore. I had the experience of eating several types of currants right off the bush and tasted some berries whose names I promptly forgot but have never seen in the U.S.

And, as you might expect, there was a plethora of delicious prepared food as well. When we arrived, we sat down to borscht, fresh vegetables, and several shots of vodka. After exploring the yard, the men started the fire in the fire pit and we snacked on beer and dried fish as the shashlik was marinating and the coals were getting prepared to grill our supper. The big supermarkets have actual kegs of beer and people can dispense a liter or two and have "fresh" beer rather than bottled. After we had enjoyed the fire for a while and the coals were ready, Misha grilled chicken shashlik and we had a feast before bed.

Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my new friend Dusya, the guinea pig. She's very sweet and I knew that I must be growing on Dasha when she brought Dusya to me to hold.

After shashlik and a few more toasts to US-Russian relations, I sloshed out the to the domik in a full-fledged food coma.

Independence Day

2008-08-01T12:23:00.000-05:00

July 4, 2008

July 4th is also the anniversary of the dedication of the American Home. Happy 16th anniversary, American Home!

Nadya and Lena (one of the young ladies who help with our Russian language and culture lessons) led an excursion to Gus' Khrustal'niy. This is a town where they make glass and crystal. We first visited a glass/crystal museum which was in a building that had been a church before the October Revolution. Walking into the museum was like being inside a kaleidoscope - flashes of brilliant colors everywhere. After being struck by the rainbow of colors, you start to notice the shapes of the objects. Common glass items such as vases and bottles stand next to the most intricate glass figurines you have ever seen. There are also large glass sculptures outside of the display cases and displays of table settings and sitting rooms from various periods of history, all filled with glass and crystal from the town or from other historic glass-making countries. All of this ornate and colorful glass cannot detract from the frescoes on the walls and ceilings which had been covered in whitewash during Soviet times and which have recently been restored. As stunning as the artistry was, I couldn't help but cringe at the gruesome depiction of 'The Last Judgement,' with its anguished souls, piles of bones, and parades of people condemned to hell. Part of me might have preferred a whitewashed wall...

Next we visited the factory where the glass and crystal are produced. It was a definite contrast to the new construction and hygienic standards of the Kraft factory. It was dark, dank, HOT with fiery ovens throughout - kind of like being swallowed by a dragon. Still, the artists in the belly of the dragon were amazing. We watched a man create a bird from a glowing mass of molten glass in about 12 minutes. Phenomenal.

The crystal workers were etching designs into some large vases. It was striking to me that most workers were not wearing even the most basic safety gear - no goggles, masks, respirators - and crystal is between 18-24% lead! I'm no scientist, but even I know that lead is NOT good for you to ingest. Kind of took an interesting moment and gave it a very somber spin.

After gleaning insight into the process of glass-making, we went to buy some local fruits of their dangerous labors. Even at the time, it seemed ridiculous to buy fragile souvenirs, but we were RIGHT THERE where they were made and a number of ladies in the family like those sorts of knick-knacks.

A second store, called "The Experimental Glass Store" had really elaborate, tiny glass figurines, masks, paperweights and other pretty but completely useless items.

After lunch, we headed back to Vladimir and attended the oddest orchestral concert ever. It was mostly a concert celebrating families of the region in honor of a saint's day dedicated to happy families, so it was a free-flowing propagandized parade of Russian families and their testimonial stories interspersed with songs performed by a talented wind ensemble. The culmination for me was when the ensemble performed the song "Tequila." It was a hoot and an excellent suggestion which prompted me to head back to the American Home.

The Independence Day party was terrific - the backyard of the American Home was transformed into a patriotic party land. Lots of good food, drink, and live music. The young jazz singer that Ron had repeatedly raved about was as incredible as her description. There was another young woman with a lovely voice who sang a couple songs with her mother, a singing DJ, and a traditional Russian folk ensemble who led some clumsy but spirited dancing.

We laughed and danced until the skies opened up. Again, it POURED. Alexei had been tracking the forecast and knew that rain was predicted, so he had rigged up plastic tarps over all the tables. We had just enough time for a quick toast to the wise Alexei Altonen before we switched gears to damage control and dumping the standing water off the plastic tarps where it was pooling into heavy puddles. Russians are amazingly resilient and just keep on partying - why let a little water and mud slow you down, right? Besides, puddle-stomping is therapeutic...

The Dentist and Thanksgiving Dinner

2008-08-01T11:49:00.000-05:00

July 3, 2008

The morning felt so "normal." The group left on their excursion to an appliance factory, a blimp factory, and a kids camp, while I sat in front of a computer catching up on email and *finally* posting a few blog entries. The quiet did have an edge of anticipation - much like the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach as you approach the crest of the first hill on a roller coaster: hoping everything will be fun once the real ride begins, but always having a bit of fear that the car might careen off the tracks and you will free-fall to your death. OK, I'm being melodramatic, but I hate going to the dentist in Chicago - I was NOT looking forward to my adventure with a Russian dentist.

Ron decided to go with me as he feared that he had lost a filling some days earlier (and he was gleefully looking forward to the opportunity for a photo shoot of the petrified American in the dentist's chair). We also had Zhenya, one of the American Home teachers, with us. I could tell the dentist what happened, but my dental terminology is sorely lacking. Zhenya would - thankfully - be able to translate 'root canal' and 'big drill' and 'knock my ass out if you need to do any serious work on my mouth.'

I'm not sure if it was a good omen or not when the skies opened up just as the taxi pulled into the driveway of the American Home. It POURED cat and dog sized raindrops. I guess it was a good distraction - not only did I have NO IDEA where we were headed, but it seemed possible that we wouldn't make it to the dentist's office, what with the potential to hydroplane and crash before we arrived at our destination.

Alas, we made it. The dentists were on break, but the receptionist took my information. She was relieved that I could write my name and birthdate in Russian and I was relieved (and surprised) that this was all the information she needed from me.

Then we waited. We waited long enough for the cleaning woman to mop the floor of the reception area and for my anxiety to be transformed into full-fledged DREAD.

When I was finally called back into the room, I climbed into a normal dental chair in a very clean, airy room. Problem was, aside from the chair, all of the tools laid out on the tables and trays looked ENORMOUS and about 50 years old! Everything was clean and sterile, but it was obvious that this was not brand-new, state-of-the-art equipment. I will say that everything was arranged beautifully like a museum exhibit. Those are my only impressions before Ron asked if it was OK to take some pictures of me in the chair. The dentist was a kind, young woman who listened to my story, looked in my mouth and sent me down the hall for an x-ray.

To clarify: there are no x-ray machines in the examination room as there are in the United States. I was asked to sit on a chair in a very small, dark room. The technician positioned the heavy shield over my torso and instructed me to take my arm out of its safe position under the shield to hold the x-ray film in the necessary spot. Then, she pressed a button and RAN out of the room, slamming the door behind her. CLICK. X-ray taken. Technician returns to rescue me, and I'm soon back in the dentist's chair.

The verdict: the tooth is indeed broken (it was where I had a root canal and it wasn't my "real" tooth anyway) and would need to be completely rebuilt. Did I want her to do it right then? Uh, no. But, we asked several more questions to ascertain that everything would be OK until we got back to the States - no chance of it becoming infected or the entire tooth crumbling or falling out. Then, I was able to say very definitively, "NYET, spasibo." Phew. I will add that as relieved as I was, I was chided by Alexei, who said that I should have had the procedure done in Russia where the problem would have been immediately resolved without several office visits, daunting co-payments, etc. But, at least I can tell my dentist to knock me out before she attacks the tooth and know that she understood my request.

When we had accomplished Operation Dental Visit, I went back "home" and Ira and Ksenia took me shopping for ingredients to cook dinner for the family. Andrei likes turkey, so I made a Russified version of a simple, American Thanksgiving meal. Baked turkey cutlets in white wine and lemon sauce, boiled new potatoes, served with butter and greens [dill, parsley, spring onions], and salad. It felt great to actually do something for my family and everyone laughed at my dental office drama. And I even had all of my teeth in order to chew...

Dasha's Birthday

2008-07-08T05:56:00.000-05:00

2 July 2008

The first indication that this would be an interesting day happened when I broke a tooth at lunch. We were eating Central Asian plov when I bit into a rock masquerading as a grain of rice. So, the adventure will continue with a visit to a Russian dentist tomorrow.

This afternoon we visited a monastery which had previously served as KGB headquarters. Apparently when they were remodeling the monastery, they found at least one mass grave. Father Innokenti, the eparch secretary, gave us a lecture on the status of Orthodoxy in Russia today. We then visited a convent, arguably the oldest convent in Russia, dating from 1200. There we saw the stunning icon The Holy Mother of Bogolyubovo. The story of how she came to be in Vladimir is a wonderful story which I will elaborate on at a later date, but she is said to have accomplished many miracles.

My home in Vladimir is very close to the convent and so Ira and Ksenia met me at the gates and we headed to Mak King for a birthday party. Lena's daughter Dasha turned 8 today. Mak King is like a McDonald's. Burger King, Wendy's, and Pizza Hut all in one, with the menu addition of warm beer served in plastic cups. There is a pretty extensive play area for kids and after some free-range romping, a woman dressed as a clown(?), jester(?), or maybe Pippi Longstocking entertained the girls for more than an hour. They played games, had their faces painted, sang, danced, batted ballons around and then ate pizza, fruit, and cake. It was really fun and makes me wonder what I'll be doing in August on the birthday of someone else I know who is turning 8...

Chocolate, Cows, and Ode to Blini

2008-07-06T23:29:00.000-05:00

As we walked into the Kraft factory in Kirzhach, Jeff Schagrin started singing "I've got a golden ticket" a la Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was definitely like a visit to Willy Wonka's factory without the benefit of Oompa Loompas. The Kraft factory produces lots of products, but a majority of them involve CHOCOLATE! The guards took our passports at the door, but we hardly cared if they ever gave them back after they led us into a small room with a table heaped with candy bars, all produced right there in the factory. Fifteen minutes later, with sugar highs and endorphins enveloping us, we consented to leave nirvana for a tour of the plant.

We all had to wear shower-type caps, plastic covers on our shoes, and surgical-type gowns. We must have looked like something out of a Monty Python movie (or Oompa Loompa wannabes). It was hilarious.

We were literally shown the entire process of making candy bars and fancy filled candies (which Russians call 'pralines') starting from the warehouse which stores the basic ingredients (sugar, powdered milk, cocoa powder, etc.). Next we saw the tanks where these ingredients are dumped and mixed and then the room where they melt the cocoa butter and distill the chocolate liquor (RULE #1: DON'T EVER BOIL CHOCOLATE). The melting zones are called the Africa zones because they are the hottest rooms in the plant.

We saw enormous vats of fillings for candy bars and pralines (amaretto, strawberry, cognac, Irish Cream, fruits and nuts - YUM!). There are special machines to mix chocolate with fruits and nuts or to incorporate extra air into the chocolate for a special "whipped" chocolate bar that is very light and tasty.

Then onto the line where the bars and pralines are molded; filled (optional); jostled to release extra air and evenly distribute ingredients; chilled; unmolded; packed; and prepared for shipping.

Having worked in factories, it was interesting to see which tasks were automated (machine) and which were done by hand.

And have I mentioned the ever-present smell of chocolate in the air.

After lunch in the factory's canteen, we drove through the Russian countryside to a dairy farm, owned by an Englishman and run by two Americans (with a lot of Russian and Central Asian help). We saw cows being milked - quite a production - and learned the American farmers' perspectives on farming in Russia, bureaucracy, veterinary care (and medical care for humans), Russian winters, etc. It was all udderly fascinating...

Before we left the farm, we were treated to blini with homemade sour cream and jam. Not only were the blinis the best I had ever eaten, but the homemade sour cream tasted like whipped butter and of the three jams (apricot, cherry, raspberry), which were all excellent, the cherry was to die for. If I had any poetic genes in my body, I would have written an ode to blini on the spot.

As we boarded the bus, Galya - who had meant to say "Let's count the chickens" to make sure we were all accounted for, instead said "Let's count the little pigs." We all died laughing. The sweet lady turned ten shades of red, but it was a pretty appropriate word to have popped out of her mouth since that's what we all felt like having been stuffed to the gills with good food!

We raced back to Vladimir for a soccer game at their stadium. The Vladimir Torpedoes played the Moscow Torpedoes. Everyone expected the Moscow team to win - they were in a higher league than Vladimir, but we beat them 4-0! It was a lot of fun - Russians are VERY serious about their soccer and the spirit was contagious. Vladimir, Vladimir - davai, davai!

The Voice of History

2008-07-06T23:13:00.000-05:00

June 30, 2008
Monday

A number of our group are under the weather with digestive difficulties. It would be hard to identify one culprit that may not have agreed with people since we continue to eat our body weights in food each day!

The highlight of today was the lecture on Russian history and politics by a gentleman named Percy Gurvitch. He is Vladimir's version of The University of Chicago's Eric Hamp (whom I respect immensely and adore as a person as well). Professor Gurvitch is almost 90 years old - born in 1919 - and has lived through eleven governments. Coming from a long line of Social Democrats, he has weathered various administrations with many personal stories of how people really lived and spilled the beans on a lot of "secrets of the rich and famous", as it were. Today he covered the period from the Revolution of 1917 to Kruschev. We'll be graced with his presence twice more before we leave Vladimir.

I want to note that Gurvitch is a polyglot, but he speaks English only once a year, and his command of English is superb. I'm serious - he dusts off his English specifically to address the Fulbright groups at the American Home. It was truly amazing.

Currently, Percy Gurvitch is still running one of the departments at Vladimir's Pedagogical Institute and is clearly revered among the faculty and students, both for his intellect and his integrity as a leader.

We are scheming to do an oral history project that involves videotaping Professor Gurvitch and posting the lectures to our own University website, CHIASMOS. Details to come at a later date...

A Day of Rest

2008-07-03T03:41:00.000-05:00

29 June 2008

Our first free day is upon us.

The morning started with a culinary treat - blinchiki (little crepes/thin pancakes) topped with sweetened condensed milk. There's actually a special flour you can buy and mix with milk and voila (for the non-spatula-challenged), blinchiki!

We visited a park behind the American Home where schoolchildren regularly work - it's truly a majestic sight. Vladimir is built on rolling hills, so the gardens are terraced. There were apple and cherry trees, all sorts of berry bushes, a huge vegetable and herb garden, and flowers galore: irises, roses, fragrant jasmine, begonias, pansies, petunias, cactus, and a pervasive groundcover of pink-tinged sedum with tiny white flowers (and many others that I can't name or can't remember).

Ira and I visited the Old Vladimir Museum in what used to be a water tower behind the American Home. There were a great many compact exhibits devoted to life in Vladimir before the Revolution in 1917, but the real miracle of this museum was the view from the observation deck on the top floor. Beautiful, even with a fair amount of fog.

We ate at a cafe for lunch which specializes in traditional Russian fare, where I was stuffed like the proverbial American Thanksgiving turkey.

In the afternoon, Andrei and I took Ksenia to a kiddie park with carnival games, rides - bumper cars, motorized boats, carousel, inflatable slides/bouncy rooms, and trampolines with harnesses so that no one falls off. The safety feature was slightly marred by the fact that the bungee cord system was pretty frayed.

But, it was fun and the nightcap was a look through every photo album in the house.

Not a bad way to spend a lazy, hazy Sunday...

Lunch on a Farm

2008-07-03T01:59:00.000-05:00

Lunch on a farm just outside Suzdal' was so phenomenal it deserves its own entry. The family lives on what appears to be a more or less self-sustaining farm with fields of potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers (which Suzdal' is famous for), herbs, beets, onions and a few animals: pigs, cows, chickens, and a pen with about 20 of the cutest ducklings in Russia.

The family had set up a long table in the yard and everything they gave us (with the exception of some of the beverages) was homemade, with many of the ingredients coming from their own gardens. We feasted on tomatoes, radishes, cukes, pickles; homemade cheese - it was DELICIOUS; all sorts of buns stuffed with different fillings; little quiches that had Russian cottage cheese (more like our cream cheese); tiny boiled new potatoes with dill; blini with homemade sour cream; carrot and cabbage slaw; and free-flowing beverages, including homemade honey moonshine, factory-produced mead, whisky, some sort of special baked milk that I was scared to try, and tea. Everything was scrumptious.

We made up a new song as we boarded the bus to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus" - the people on the bus go EAT and DRINK... Eat, eat, eat definitely seems to be our motto!

Still, we survived walking around an open air museum with some stunning traditional wooden architecture. Did you know that aspen wood, as it ages, resembles silver? This is why so many Russian structures - the "gingerbread" trim on houses, windows, and even churches is made from aspen wood. Visitors who wonder where Russians found so much silver need only look to the aspen stands in the forests. The staff were all in traditional dress and it was much like the village at Old Salem in North Carolina or New Salem near Springfield, IL.

One funny tidbit for my girls: there was a big yellow balloon/blimp floating around that looked like the Beatles Yellow Submarine! I tried to get a picture and we all sang "Yellow Submarine" in honor of Emma...

Suzdal' and Bogolyubovo

2008-07-03T01:41:00.000-05:00

I finally had a full 8 hours of sleep and the elves washed a few of the cobwebs out of my brain...

After some rousing renditions of three Russian folk songs (not bad for 9:00 on a Saturday morning), we boarded a bus to Suzdal' with Natalia, our trusty guide for all historical museum adventures.

Our first stop was a monastery that is now a living museum. The gardens are GORGEOUS - beds for flowers, medicinal herbs, and likely vegetables somewhere not along the walking paths. We heard a bell concerto when the clock stuck 11:00 a.m. I don't know how the one man played 11 bells - must have looked like a marionette with strings tied to every limb and digit - but it was terrific. A male a capella quartet sang in one of the small cathedrals. I'm rapidly running out of Kleenex - the tenor's voice was pure and clean and goosebumps and tears were rampant. The beautiful voices and acoustics made for a sound that was reverent, palpable, and ethereal.

The we went to the town's Kremlin (most of you likely know that the word 'kremlin' means fortress), where we saw another old limestone church with beautiful blue cupolas. The clock was interesting - it had letters instead of numerals. I didn't know that if you put two dots over a letter, it signifies that it represents a number.

There was an accordion player on the path to the Kremlin and he burst out in a rendition of "Milenkii ty moi" as we passed. I wonder if it was a coincidence or if Andrei had a hand in it, as this was a song that we had learned earlier in the day. Andrei has a very good voice and sang along with the musician, passing his hat for the effort.

Bogolyubovo had a convent, where we saw some very old artifacts, including a piece of sidewalk preserved from the 12th century. The real treat was walking to an old limestone church, which stands in the middle of a huge meadow. It reminded me of the fen near Elgin, IL with its narrow paths and explosion of wildflowers. Apparently, this church is a popular place to pray on the big holidays, but is not heavily populated - except for tourism - the rest of the year.

After the "work day" had concluded, Ira, Andrei and I went to an Armenian cafe - Shesh Besh - for dinner. Our shashlik was peppered with some pretty serious conversations about buying houses and cars in our respective countries, horoscopes, and how we met our spouses. My Russian must be getting better as I can now converse with Ksenia without much facilitation from Ira. It's easy to understand the adults if they speak slowly and enunciate, but the speech patterns of 7 year old girls is both rapid fire and skips from one topic to another, leaving me in the dust. Still, the sweet girl tries to talk to me and holds my hand when we're crossing the street, so all is right in the world.

Law Enforcement

2008-07-03T01:21:00.000-05:00

27 June 2008

Today we visited the Juridical Institute, which is like a Police Academy and Law School combined. The cadets come from all over Russia and gave presentations on the various regions of Russia. This was really important for us to hear, as most Americans don't realize how BIG Russia is and how many languages, ethnicities, and cultures are represented in the Russian Federation. After the presentations, we had a brief discussion. There were many questions directed at the Cadets from Chechnya and Dagestan about the political situation in the Caucasus and ethnic/religious tensions throughout Russia. It was apparent that the cadets had more they WANTED to say, but did not dare. Answers were carefully constructed, but telling nonetheless. Still, it was good for our teachers to hear about the diversity of Russian peoples - excellent food for thought and a revelation for many of us.

The Institute houses a high security prison and there were many questions about how the prisoners live, what they eat, etc. Interesting.

We had a guided tour of the Dimitrius Cathedral and the Assumption Cathedral. The Dimitrius Cathedral is made of white stone, with gorgeous, intricate carvings on the outside walls. It was a wonderful, slightly ironic mix of mythological creatures and saints and simply a visual feast for the eyes. The Assumption Cathedral is one of the oldest 12th-century cathedrals and is graced with frescoes by Andrei Rublov. His scene of the Last Judgement is stunning - it is obvious that Rublov was a gentle spirit himself, who did not believe in an angry or vengeful God. His depiction shows none of the fear, fire or brimstone of other such scenes and is peaceful and serene. There is one angel that is so beautiful as to bring tears to your eyes.

We also had a panel discussion which hit on a few practical problems in education. The guests of honor were three recent graduates (as in they graduated YESTERDAY) of the Pedagogical Institute, all students of English. The most interesting part of the discussion was on cheating - strategies and methods described by the young ladies and countered by the experiences of our American teachers.

Finally, we had a pot-luck dinner at the American Home. Good food, a vodka tasting, and many toasts to our new families and to budding international friendships. Scott and Bruce did some special toast with arms linked and now they're special drinking brothers, so you can see that we are becoming a real family!

Seriously, though, I feel very honored to be with this group of teachers. We are an excellent mix of youthful enthusiasm and years of experience. These teachers are smart, savvy, and really dedicated to learning as this is the path toward better teaching. Kudos to these bright men and women from the University of Chicago interloper.

Young Children

2008-07-03T00:47:00.001-05:00

26 June 2008
Day 4

Today we talked about food (before and after eating way too much, as usual) and then hopped on a bus to visit a Detskii Sad. The word is often translated as "kindergarten," but it's really a pre-school for kids from 2-7. It's comprehensive care that extends way beyond daycare and education - the kids eat 4 times a day and even get immunizations at the Detskii Sad. As is traditional, some of the younger kids performed a few songs for us. We reciprocated with "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider."

Then onto an orphanage. It was both very good to see the conditions in the orphanage and extremely difficult to experience this. The children performed for us and our group did an encore of "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider" and followed it up with "Where is Thumbkin?" All was well until we got to the "Where is Tall Man?" verse and realized that we were giving the finger (on both hands!) to a bunch of parentless Russian children and their teachers. And I'm sure we have it on tape. Sigh.

The children are very well cared for at this particular orphanage and seem happy and well-adjusted. It was a shock to learn that only one of the 23 kids was truly an orphan. Most of the kids have at least one parent who is unable to take care of them: they are alcoholics, or don't have enough money, or are in prison, or have given the child up because of health reasons (either the parent or the child might be sick), etc. We were touched to learn that the kids call each of the teachers/caretakers "Mama". The teachers - as is the case everywhere we've visited - are attentive and wonderful with the children. You can tell that they really care about the children and love their jobs in spite of the abysmally low salaries.

We brought lots of things for the kids, a few that we distributed right away - bags with juice boxes and apples, as well as the matchbox cars I brought. One of the little boys glommed onto a few of us and it was a real treat for us to have a tour of the facility given by our knowledgeable guide Sashenka. He showed us the big room with rows of little beds; the wardrobes filled with clothes of various sizes (shared by the kids); the playroom that also serves as a dining room. It was so hard to leave - I cried and cried, but it has burned a lasting impression in my mind. Poka, Sashenka - vsego khoroshego!

Girls Night Out

2008-07-03T00:06:00.000-05:00

25 June 2008
Day 3

There will be no time for homesickness here. It is simply impossible (OK, not impossible, but we certainly don't have time to pine for our loved ones as we're frantically scribbling notes during lectures and panel discussions). Information is coming at us fast and furious and we are all wearing our catchers' mitts. This is a wonderful program, but VERY intense - kind of like a downpour when you really need a gentle rain.

This morning we went to the Vladimir Museum Complex and toured the Children's Museum. It was not as much an interactive "play" museum like in Pittsburgh or Chicago, but rather a brilliantly devised museum devoted to the history of the region, presented in a way that will lure children into wanting to know more. My favorite thing was the wall painting in the prehistoric room, textured with some sort of furry material, with a real mammoth tusk incorporated into it. Quite amazing and very creative.

We heard lectures on Russian names and greetings and on the process of adopting Russian children (strategically placed the day before our visit to a Russian orphanage) and visited the Palace for Children's Creative Learning, which does indeed resemble a huge concrete castle. It's essentially the central operations for every type of extra-curricular activity that kids in Vladimir can participate in: sports (including a rock-climbing wall built by the American Home); fine arts; crafts; music; they even have an enormous indoor winter garden. The garden was particularly fun - like a miniature version of the Garfield Park Conservatory - and there were several birds in residence, including a large, green parrot. Apparently, one of the students received the parrot as a Christmas gift and found out she was allergic to him, so he now lives in the Palace garden and she can visit him regularly. He didn't react to any of our group when we said hello with our highly accented Russian greetings, but Olga Piekarski - one of the few in our group who is fluent in Russian - held a veritable conversation with him!

Some of the kids performed for us - the Director of Music is very successful in training the students of voice. There was a version of Ave Maria - a choir with a young female soloist - which gave me goosebumps and had me quickly pulling out my Kleenex. Not only did the kids sing like angels, but they were very confident and poised (Stephen Dunn's choice of words, which captured the essence perfectly). After the performance, we had tea with the kids. It was very fun, but made me very homesick. Any of you that know my children know that Sophia has the voice of an angel. Emma still needs a small bucket in which to carry her tune, but I do miss her belting out "Yellow Submarine" on the 171 bus...

The evening was a real treat. Once a month, Ira and three of her friends from school have a girls' night out dinner at one of their houses. This one was at Lena's. Lena's family had recently vacationed in Crete, so the theme was Greek cuisine. It was delicious, washed down with red wine and grapefruit infused vodka. But the best part was listening to the ladies sing. After dinner, they head into the living room, light candles on the piano and sing Russian folk songs and ballads until the tea pot lures them back into the kitchen. They have a set repertoire of tunes they've perfected with intimate harmonies - it's wonderful. Lena even did a solo arrangement of "Yesterday" for my benefit.

I am extremely grateful to have been invited and propose a toast to friendship... Cheers!

The Russian Education System, part 1

2008-07-02T00:11:00.001-05:00

Day 2
24 June 2008

My day started with a real family moment: Yaroslav, the 14 year old son in my family, came to the breakfast table grumbling about having to eat his kasha. He took forever to tie his shoes and complained about getting ready to leave. Ah, a normal day - hooray!

It was a long day - we had a lecture on the Russian education system and excursions to three places: School #3 - an award-winning gymnasium; the local Teacher Training Institute; and I went to a private day-care center (most of the group went to a Youth Health Center).

The visit to school #3 was orchestrated, but enjoyable nonetheless. We were greeted by a young girl in a traditional Russian dress with the most elaborately decorated loaf of bread I've ever seen and a tiny bowl of salt. I've never actually experienced this Russian tradition of welcoming people with bread and salt and was delighted to break off a piece of the bread and dip it in salt and then taste the warm welcome of our hosts. We saw the library and the cafeteria before settling into the music classroom, where two of the students performed for us. A young lady sang the Pushkin poem "Ya Vas lyubil" to accompaniment that she herself played, and a little boy played a tune on the clarinet with his mother accompanying him on piano. We saw some of the older students perform a skit and presented the teachers with a few things we had brought for the school. We also saw the Director's office and watched a DVD prepared by some of the students of English on Vladimir. For me, one of the most amazing things was to walk through the halls where the students' art was displayed. We saw paintings and a lot of needle-work (quilts, handbags, pillows), many incorporating folk themes, that were absolutely stunning.

The school building was, from the outside, quite shabby, but it was immaculate inside and the dedication of the teachers to their student, the pride and affection for the pupils was palpable.

The Teacher Training Institute is devoted to professional development for the teachers in the region. Several teachers did a show-and-tell of their students' (and their own) work, but there was also a panel discussion and an interactive playing of games that the teachers taught us. One of the young teachers had just finished a dissertation on educational games and the importance for children to learn through playing.

The teachers made a presentation of a book and a gorgeous crystal owl (the symbol of wisdom and knowledge) to the group.

My last stop was a private daycare center - the owner was a woman of never-ending enthusiasm and energy and this was a VERY fun experience. The goal of the center is for children and parents to learn together and they teach and care for kids from 18 months to 14 years. There are programs for English language instruction, reading, dance, other physical activities, and even exam preparation. Our small group was fixated on the methods for teaching the small children how to read - we were shown some really remarkable charts and visual aids - loved the phonics blocks - and heard some catchy tunes to help children learn the alphabet and phonics. We watched part of a dance class (2-3 year olds) and then caught a bus back to the American Home.

Ira, Lena and Ksenia - the 7 year old daughter in my family - took me on a private walking tour of the city. The churches were all closed, but we saw the outside of the Dimitri Cathedral and the Assumption Cathedral and walked through the park to an overlook where you could see the Klyazma River and the miles of forests on the other side. The view was really stunning and it gave me a better perspective of how the city is laid out. After a brief jaunt to the playground for Ksenia, we returned home for supper and two email messages from my family.

Ksenia and I have really bonded and so we watched the video from her preschool/kindergarten graduation. I fell asleep with images of twirling, dancing, singing children in my head...

The American Home

2008-07-01T23:47:00.000-05:00

23 June 2008
Day 1

After breakfast, Andrei - my host "Dad" - drove me to the American Home for Day 1 of stuffing our brains with valuable information about Russia, past and present. The American Home, conceived and built in 1992 by our Co-Director Ron Pope (ISU) - with help from some other designers and contractors, of course - is like many of the cookie cutter houses that grace the suburbs of America, but it is truly a novelty in Russia. It's really wonderful to have a home base that FEELS like a home away from home.

I should take a minute to mention the central figures in the implementation of the in-country seminar. None of this would be possible without Ron and his right and left hands - Alexei Altonen and his wife, Galya - they are the forces behind the in-country itinerary and they are truly amazing. I know, from my experience at my previous job and here at U of C, how much work goes into shepherding 15 people around for even a couple of days, much less the four weeks of the Fulbright program. There are not enough kudos in the world to thank them for their attention to detail, their efforts to create a diverse, educational program, and their warmth and kindness.

One thing that we will all need to get used to is the media attention that our group has inspired. A young reporter interviewed me for his (hopefully radio, not television) show on why this Fulbright program is important and necessary. At least these are questions that I can answer...

After lunch, we had a walking tour of Bol'shaya Moskovskaya Street - the main drag in Vladimir - with a guided tour of the history museum and Golden Gates. I will post a picture of the Golden Gates, considered the symbol of Vladimir, when I can get the pictures downloaded (uploaded?) from my camera. The museums were quite amazing. The history museum had archaeological artifacts (I'd never seen a real mammoth tusk or tooth before) and exhibits through to present Vladimir. The Golden Gates contains a stunning diorama of the city in 1258, when the Mongols were attacking (and subsequently burning) the entire city. It was like being in the movie "Night at the Museum." The rest of the exhibits were devoted to the military history of the region - an entire corridor of portraits of war heroes and odes to technological and scientific achievements.

After the "official" day concluded, Ira and Lena - my host "Mom" and her best friend - took me to see "Sex and the City" at a beautiful, new movie theatre in town. It was a great movie to see for a couple of reasons. (1) I could handle most of the dialogue even with my pathetic Russian skills (and there were visual aids to intuit the plot when I couldn't understand a few words); and (2) it was worth it even if I couldn't have understood a thing to hear the voice-overs. Most of the voices were COMPLETELY wrong for the characters and it had me laughing for the entire 2 hours. (I'm sure the beer Ira bought me at the concession stand and the jet lag helped).

But, it was a very enjoyable day.

2008-07-01T23:32:00.000-05:00

The Long Road to Vladimir
Arrival in Russia, 22 June 2008

After months of planning, days of orientation, and hours on shuttles, airplanes, and buses, our Fulbright group is finally here in Vladmir, Russia. The direct, non-stop flight from Chicago to Moscow was LONG, but uneventful. Ok, I guess there was one special event, namely the barf-bag puppet theatre created by our own Scott Read to entertain the masses - inspired by sleep deprivation and adrenaline. So, we've identified our comic relief in case anyone needs a laugh in the next month.

Immediately upon walking through the green corridor through Customs, I noticed a radical difference from my airport experiences in 1992 and 1994. About 70 per cent of the automobiles are European or American, as opposed to the glut of Ladas from the 90s. The bus followed a highway that went around the southern part of Moscow - our first glimpses of Russia included a mosaic of old and new: thick stands of gorgeous white birch trees along the highway, peppered with dachas (and some of the dachas were bigger and fancier than any home I've ever lived in!); gas stations; car dealerships (Volvo, Ford, Audi, Renault); garden and home centers; lumber/building material yards; a tree farm (to replenish the garden centers, no doubt); and shopping centers, including an enormous IKEA.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant just inside the Vladimir region, "Skazka". It was like a diorama of the best of Russian fairy tales. The wood carvings of fairy tale characters were amazingly intricate and impressive. If I was more familiar with Russian fairy tales I could name the characters whose wooden likenesses graced the building and grounds, but in my state of exhaustion, it seemed like a magical land. Lunch was amazing and enormous (round one of the continuing saga of "death by food," which one experiences thanks to gracious, hospitable Russians).

Our host families were waiting for us at the American Home in Vladimir and they quickly took us "home". After more food and a multi-cultural game of 20 questions, I finally rolled into bed to rest up for more adventures.

Fulbright Trip to Russia

2008-06-19T19:55:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many entries about an exciting CEERES project that is finally coming to fruition. CEERES was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) grant to take a group of K-12 educators to Russia this summer. The purpose of this long journey is to help the educators learn about this vast country and to bring back discoveries about Russian culture and history to share with their students. CEERES will be collecting the pedagogical materials that come out of this trip and will disseminate them as far and wide as possible - they will all be free and open to the public.

The group gathered for the first time at The University of Chicago for a two-day orientation before we hop on a plane at O'Hare on Saturday and fly to Moscow. In the coming days, I hope to share our adventures with the world as I talk about our month-long journey. I hope that a few people will be inspired to follow along with this blog and - if you are educators yourselves - maybe you can use some of our discoveries in your own classrooms.

You are very welcome to be part of our journey.

With best wishes,
Meredith Clason
Associate Director
CEERES

FALLING OUT OF TIME: New Documentaries from the Former Soviet Europe

2008-04-03T12:58:00.000-05:00

This Thursday, April 3, the documentary program at the Art Institute of Chicago's Gene Siskel Film Center features Ukrainian director Igor Strembitsky's film Wayfarers (Podorozhni), a 10 minute black and white documentary filmed in a state clinic for the mentally ill. Wayfarers was awarded the Palme d'Or for best short documentary at Cannes in 2005.

=================================================================

FALLING OUT OF TIME: New Documentaries from the Former Soviet Europe
Curators Oona Mosna and Jeremy Rigsby in person

Thursday, April 3, 6 pm
Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State / 312-846-2600)

Curated by Oona Mosna and Jeremy Rigsby, directors of Windsor's annual film and video art festival, Media City, the program includes Ukrainian Igor Strembitsky's 2005 Cannes-winning Wayfarers; acclaimed Russian director Sergei Loznitsa's haunting Halt (2000); Victor Asliuk's The Mine (2004, Belarus); and Oksana Buraja's Mother (2001, Lithuania), among others.

Phillip Svehla
International Program Coordinator
Chicago Sister Cities International Program
78 E. Washington St. 4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60602
www.ChicagoSisterCities.com
312-744-8074
Phillip.Svehla@cityofchicago.org

Nauryz, Spring in Central Asia, Roksonaki in Chicago

2008-03-17T17:07:00.000-05:00

CEERES is co-sponsoring an upcoming concert by the Kazakh band Roksonaki. Details on their performances are below. Their tour coincides with the Persian celebration of spring, Nowruz, or Nauryz. This celebration has various expressions among the various peoples of the region. I heard a fascinating article about Nauryz on NPR Weekend Edition Sunday (March 16), and you can find it here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88156775

Roksonaki will be playing their unique blend of traditional and contemporary Central Asian music on The University of Chicago campus (Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E 59th St) on Monday, March 31 at 7pm. Check here for more info!

Getting news in/from the Balkans

2008-03-17T16:17:00.000-05:00

Back on March 6, we treated to vary insightful and provocative discussion about the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia, its closing, and the realities and processes for continued justice-seeking in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. One of those panelists, Gordana Igric, founder the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), sat down with Jerome McDonnell for an interview on WBEZ Chicago's Worldview - http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV.aspx?episode=19529.

BIRN has a great on-line journal of reporting from the region - BalkanInsight.com

Pretty soon the March 6 on the ICTY will be podcast on CHIASMOS.

Abkhazia asks for recognition of its independece

2008-03-11T15:39:00.000-05:00

Citing the recent break of Kosovo from Serbia as precedent, the breakaway region of Abkhazia in Georgia recently passed a resolution asking the international community to recognize its independence. This move came right after Russia lifted sanctions on the region. Russia says this is not related to Kosovo, whose independence Russia does not recognize.

Some news:
BBC: Abkhazia in independence appeal
International Herald Tribune: US, Georgia caution Russia against backing militants in breakaway Abkhazia
Reuters: U.S. says it regrets Russia's moves on Abkhazia

Ponomarev on Worldview today

2008-02-25T15:00:00.000-06:00

Following up on my earlier post. Lev Ponomarev's interview on WBEX Chicago's Worldview program (taped when he was in Chicago) aired today, following news that he was indicted for criminal slandering of the head of the Russian prison system. Catch the podcast here.

Ponomarev since Chicago: Another activist criminalized

2008-02-25T12:39:00.000-06:00

Since Lev Ponomarev visited CEERES at The University of Chicago, he has generated a lot of press, as well as ire back home. Unfortunately, this ire has led to Putin's government bringing criminal charges against him. It saddens me to have to reprint the text of the announcement I received this morning:

Russian authorities today brought criminal charges against Lev Ponomarev, head of the All Russian Movement for Human Rights, accusing him of slandering General Yuri Kalinin, head of the Russian prison system. The charges result from accusations made by Mr. Ponomarev that Russia's prison system is inhumane and that, in some prisons, prisoners are routinely tortured and otherwise severely abused. In addition to the criminal charges, Mr. Ponomarev's travel documents were revoked and he was told he would be arrested if he attempted to leave the country.

It appears that today's charges and the travel restriction are reprisals for his recent trip to the United States, where he was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer and gave public lectures on prison conditions and human rights in Russia at Harvard, Columbia, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago and Boston University. While in the United States, Mr. Ponomarev also had a number of other meetings with foundations, academics, human rights groups as well as the Department of State and NSC in Washington. He returned to Moscow a week ago, 15 February.

In addition, I'm posting here other articles related to his visit in the U.S. and return to Russia:

"Holding Medvedev to his words", Washington Post, 2/25

Announcement of charges against Mr. Ponomarev [in Russian]:
http://www.zashita-zk.org/alert/1203686463.html

"Putin's Political Prisoners" in Wall Street Journal, 2/19, Opinion by Bret Stephens

Roma Rights in Macedonia

2008-02-21T16:37:00.000-06:00

University of Chicago's Shayna Plaut is Amnesty International USA’s Macedonia country specialist. Amnesty recently released a report on discrimination against Romani women and girls in Macedonia. Shayna gave an overview of Macedonia’s ethnic landscape on Chicago Public Radio's Worldview.
http://chicagopublicradio.org/content.aspx?audioID=17713

Kosovo’s neighbor to the south is Macedonia. Macedonia has hosted a
substantial number of refugees from Kosovo. Today there are still more
than a thousand refugees in Macedonia. Some 95 percent of these are from
the Roma ethnic community.

Like most Balkan countries, Macedonia already had a considerable Roma
population. Roma are commonly called Gypsies. They have a history of
discrimination and marginalization throughout Europe.

Roma communities tend to be among the poorest, with low rates of education,
employment, and access to social services. Romani women and girls often
face discrimination based on ethnicity and gender. And some 70% report
experiencing some form of domestic violence.

Ripples of Kosovo

2008-02-18T13:49:00.000-06:00

In the last blog, I listed a bunch of stories about Kosovo's declaration of independence. This is a major event for the people of Kosovo and the surroundings countries. This also raises the specter of independence-seeking by many groups around the world. Thus, large countries facing breakaway republics, e.g. Russia, China, and Spain, do not approve, whereas countries like Taiwan are supportive. Indeed, Russia faces both issues - for example, it has supported the breakaway republic of Abkhazia in Georgia, but has waged a vicious war in Chechnya to hold on to that republic. Here's a couple more news stories that discuss this point:

In Asian Reaction to Kosovo Declaration, Fears of Secession

Russia links Kosovo with Georgia

Kosovo Declares Independence

2008-02-18T10:17:00.000-06:00

In an expected but contested move, Kosovo has finally declared sovereignty from Serbia, with whom they fought a bloody war for independence in the 90's as Yugoslavia dissolved. Following below is a wealth of media news stories from many different sources. In short, Kosovo's Albanians are elated, Serbia and Russia are not (Russia is worried about the status of numerous other breakaway republics), and the International community is warily encouraging of peace and non-violence.

Before that, I'm happy to point out that we at CEERES are welcoming an expert scholar of the region tomorrow for a Public Lecture. Steven Burg, Adlai Stevenson Professor of International Politics at Brandeis University, will present a talk entitled "Is Spain the next Yugoslavia? Ethnoregionalism, Devolution, and Democratization" [5pm, Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008, The University of Chicago, Weiboldt Hall 408 1050 E 59th St, Chicago] No doubt, questions about Kosovo's declaration are inevitable.

Now for news coverage of Kosovo:

Kosovo vow as independence looms
Kosovo's prime minister vows to protect minority rights as Serbia's province prepares to declare independence.
<>

Kosovo Status on BalkanInsight.com
[This is from BIRN, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, of which the founder and regional director Gordana Igric will be on hand at UC on March 6 for a very special and distinguished World Beyond the Headlines panel on the closing of the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia]

Kosovo Grows as an EU Problem (David Cronin)

EuroNews video of angry protests in Belgrade Serbia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWPpns9irM8

The Economist: Kosovo: Independence Day
BBC: Kosovo MPs Declare Independence
RIA Novosti: Georgia has no plans to recognize Kosovo
Itar-Tass [ru]: http://www.itar-tass.com/level2.html?NewsID=12382868
AP: Serb police deserting Kosovo force
Reuters: Kosovo awaits recognition, and Serb challenge

And interesting story from Itar-Tass that I didn't see much in the English language media yet. It didn't make headlines, but if you search Kosovo and protest it does come up on English media as well
[ru] http://www.itar-tass.com/level2.html?NewsID=12382855&PageNum=0
[eng] http://www.reuters.com/article/europeCrisis/idUSL1788584
http://news.google.com/news?ned=us&hl=en&ned=us&q=Kosovo&btnG=Search+News

[Thank you Shayna Plaut and Sasha Belyi for rounding up so much of this coverage]

PONOMAREV: Today's visitor in today's news

2008-02-12T10:16:00.000-06:00

In preparation for our visit with Lev Ponomarev this afternoon, I found this article in the Wall Street Journal about him this morning: "Putin's Torture Colonies".

Here's a picture of him in action - link.

The Lion of Russian Human Rights Defenders: LEV PONOMAREV

2008-02-11T14:01:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow we're hosting a remarkable human rights activist in the CEERES office - Lev Ponomarev. He's on a visiting tour of the US, and has agreed to stop by the CEERES office for an informal chat with us about the current state of democracy and human rights in Russia. I can promise that it will be interesting, if bleak... Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 3:30 PM. in the CEERES suite, Judd Hall 319-323, 5835 S. Kimbark Ave.

Briefly,Lev Ponomarev is the founder and executive director of the All Russian Movement for Human Rights, which receives support from the MacArthur Foundation, George Soros and NED. Lev is also a political activist, declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty in 2006 when he was arrested for organizing what the Kremlin viewed as an anti-government Beslan memorial event. While in the U.S., Lev will discuss the general state of human rights in Russia, prison conditions, political prisoners, the recent Duma elections and upcoming Presidential election in Russia. Robert Amsterdam, who appeared at CEERES last September (audio), calls Ponomarev "the lion of Russian human rights defenders."

On Wednesday, Feb. 13, Lev will be interviewed on WBEZ Chicago Public Radio's Worldview program. I'm not sure whether the interview will actually be broadcast Wednesday, but when it is, I'll be sure to post a link. Here's link to Worldview - http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV.aspx.

For more information on Pononmarev, here's a couple links:
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Ponomarev
Transcript of appearance at Harvard in 2001: here

Roma recyclers in Kosovo?

2008-02-07T16:43:00.000-06:00

If you're not interested in metal scrap, I assure you that you will be if you read down and check out these sources.

Here at the U of C, I have a colleague Brian Ashby who's been producing a documentary on local scavengers of scrap metal. They have a website - http://www.scrappersmovie.com/.

This apparently feeds into a growing and formalizing global metal recycling industry. I read a great article about it in The New Yorker by Jonathan Seabrook, "American Scrap", 1/14/08 http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/01/14/080114fa_fact_seabrook

What does this have to do with the CEERES region? Brian sent me this fascinating documentary about a culture of Roma recyclers in Kosovo.

It's called "Pretty Dyana - A Gypsy recycling saga"
by Boris Mitic

An intimate look at Gypsy refugees in a Belgrade suburb who make a living by transforming Citroen's classic 2cv and Dyana cars into Mad Max-like recycling vehicles, with which they collect cardboard, bottles and scrap metal. These modern horses are much more efficient than the cart-pushing competition, but more important - they also mean freedom, hope and style for their crafty owners. Even the car batteries are used as power generators in order to get some light, watch tv and recharge mobiles! Almost an alchemist's dream come true! But the police doesn't always find these strange vehicles funny...

The whole movie (45min) is posted on google video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2181669920911563723

A Week of Russian Folk Concerts at UChicago

2008-02-01T14:24:00.000-06:00

Sadly, the snowy weather has ruined our plans at CEERES to host an academic workshop on Islam, Modernity, Eurasia. As this clears up, our community still has a shot at experiencing some great Russian folk music over the next week.

This Sunday, February 3, at 6pm in Ida Noyes Hall Theatre (1212 East 59th Street, Chicago IL), a talented and prolific trio named Zolotoj Plyos will perform. Zolotoi Plyos consists of 3 musicians (Alexander Solovov, Elena Sadina, Sergeui Gratchev) who met at the conservatory in Saratov and who now are students of the Royal Carillon Academy in Mechelen, Belgium. They perform authentic Russian folk music, from the villages, in costume, both a capella and with instrumental accompaniment on over 20 authentic folk instruments (dutki, treshchetki, lozhki, balalaiki, garmoshki, etc.). The name of the group refers to a stretch on the Volga River. This concert is free.

On the following weekend, The University of Chicago will hold its annual Folk Festival. Golosa, the University of Chicago Russian Choir, will perform at 3:00 pm on Saturday, February 9, in the third floor theater of Ida Noyes Hall, located at the corner of Woodlawn Ave. and 59th street on the U of C campus. Admission to the Golosa workshop, and all of the daytime workshops, is free.

More information about the Folk Festival can be found at:

http://www.uofcfolk.org/2008/home.html

Golosa will also be joining forces with the Rockefeller Chapel Choir for an evening
of sacred Russian works by Chesnokov, Kalinnikov, Grechaninov, and Rachmaninov.

The concert will be the February installment of the Chapel's new and very
popular evensong series, and will take place at 5:00 on the evening of Sunday,
February 10. There is no charge for admisssion.

More information about the Rockefeller Chapel performance can be found at:

https://events.uchicago.edu/campusevents/eventdetail.phtml?eventid=58154&Month=1

A map of Hyde Park is here:
(exit 53rd or 57th street from Lake Shore Drive)

http://maps.uchicago.edu/hydepark.shtml

A map with the location of Ida Noyes Hall is here:

http://maps.uchicago.edu/eastquad/idanoyes.html

A map with the location Rockefeller Chapel is here:

http://maps.uchicago.edu/eastquad/rockefel.html

We hope to see you there!

Cinema Croatia

2008-01-28T09:40:00.000-06:00

Another treat for Chicagoans in winter is the upcoming Croatian cinema series at the Gene Siskel Film Center. 6 Croatian features from 1970 to 2007 will be playing from February 3 to March 6. There aren't many places in this country with the means and will to put on these series, so let's hear it for the Siskel. You can find a full run-down of the month of Croatian films at the Siskel website - http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/ - you'll have to navigate to upcoming February shows.

Here's a list of the titles and directors"
ALL FOR FREE
(SVE DZABA)
2006, Antonio Nuic

ARMIN
2007, Ognjen Svilicic

HERE
(TU)
2003, Zrinko Ogresta

HOW THE WAR STARTED ON MY ISLAND
(KAKO JE PACEO RAT NA MOM OTOKU)
1996, Vinko Bresan

Light Drawings: The Zagreb School of Animation
1958-78, Various directors

ONE SONG A DAY TAKES MISCHIEF AWAY
(TKO PJEVA ZLO NE MISLI)
1970, Kresimir Golik

A VILLAGE PERFORMANCE OF HAMLET
(PREDSTAVA HAMLETA U MRDUSI DONJOJ)
1973, Krsto Papic

It's cold. Stay home and watch a film. From Romania.

2008-01-22T21:43:00.000-06:00

It's officially cold now in Chicago. The city that is full of cultural festivals and life on the streets in the summer is keeping warm indoors. There is, of course, always a vibrant film life in the theaters. But if it gets even a bit too cold to go out at all, there's plenty of films to find for yourself.

I just saw an interesting multimedia showcase of the current crop of outstanding Romanian films, on the New York Times website, by A.O. Scott. The review is a great introduction to some of the better international films being produced. Check it out here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/01/18/magazine/20080120_ROMANIAN_FEATURE.html#

Kosovo to be recognized

2008-01-11T14:52:00.000-06:00

Here's a couple interesting articles to update my post about Kosovo from last month.

This is an "interactive feature" of the New York Times, which is a pretty neat use of multi-media on the internet. It combines a slide show of images, audio narration, and a history of the Kosovo conflict and current political stand-off dating back to the initial war.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/12/08/world/europe/20071209_KOSOVO_FEATURE.html

Now, the NYTimes is reporting that once Kosovo declares independence, the U.S. and Germany plan to recognize it as an independent nation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/europe/11kosovo.html

Georgia Election

2008-01-08T11:36:00.000-06:00

The recent election in Georgia seems to satisfy all but the opposition parties and Russia. Mikheil Saakashvili was re-elected on January 5 in an election which was monitored by several hundred international observers who say it was a significant step for democracy, even though there are some problems which need to be corrected. The opposition parties, however, are saying the election results were falsified.

One of the articles brought up an interesting point as well. In the Iraq war, Georgia is an ally of the United States, providing 2,000 troops, which is more than any country other than the United States and Britain.

Here are some articles to check out:

International Herald Tribune: US Says Georgian Election Largely in Step With International Standards
Transitions Online: 'A Triumphant Step'
New York Times: Pro-Western President Re-elected in Georgia
BBC: Georgian President 'Re-elected'

Deadline: Kosovo

2007-12-10T10:36:00.000-06:00

Kosovo declared that it would declare independence from Serbia as of today, December 10. Whether or not this happens, it has far-reaching ramifications for relations among Southeast European countries, their ethnic groups, and internationally. Here's a round-up of recent news:

The Economist: "Awaiting Independence"
NY Times/Reuters: "EU Close to Unity on Kosovo"
Time: "At an Impasse Over Kosovo"
CNN: "Kosovo defiant as U.N. talks fail"

This is an interesting article on other geo-political ramifications - this time between Russia and Georgia- of the Kosovo debate:
From The Economist: "If Kosovo goes free"

Glimpse into Russia's future?

2007-12-10T10:25:00.000-06:00

The media is reporting on Russian President Vladimir Putin's endorsement of a candidate to succeed him in the upcoming presidential elections in March. It's Dmitri A. Medvedev, currently the First Deputy Prime Minister. See the news:

NY Times: "Putin Supports First Deputy as Successor"
"Excerpts From an Interview With Dmitri A. Medvedev"

Radio Free Europe: "Putin Declares Medvedev His Preferred Successor"

Russian election news

2007-12-03T13:18:00.000-06:00

The dominating news story coming out of Russia this Monday morning is coverage of the parliamentary elections. Amidst allegations of electoral trouble-making, and oppressive control of media and unequal coverage for all candidates, Putin's party United Russia appears very strong and popular.

Check out these links various sources for coverage:

NPR: "Russia's Putin Helps Party to Landslide Victory" and "Election Monitors Question Putin's Victory"

New York Times: "Russia Vote Criticized; Putin’s Plans Still Unclear"
"Voices From Russia: a Sampling of Voters’ Views"

International Herald Tribue: "Landslide election ushers in questions for Russia"

BBC: "Monitors denounce Russia election"

Transitions Online (this is a great source of news from East Europe and former Soviet Union, and you can subscribe to a e-news bulletin):
"The Easy Way Out"

Midwest Russian Poets

2007-12-03T13:10:00.000-06:00

A group of Russian poets who have settled in the Midwest - Gennady Sergienko, Olga Shenfeld, and Lia Chernyakova - made their way to Hyde Park last week. Our friend Sasha Belyi, a student at UC, and DJ at WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago, interviewed them on the radio. I got my hands on the audio file for the show and posted it here: http://ceeres.uchicago.edu/Russianpoets_WHPK.mp3

Enjoy!

Fulbright to Russia, website update

2007-11-30T10:26:00.000-06:00

If you were checking out my last post about CEERES's call for applications for the Fulbright-Hays Summer 2008 Group Project Abroad to Russia, I want to point you to the website on our page where we're posting all of the necessary information.

http://ceeres.uchicago.edu/gpa/

I keep updating it, so keep checking back. And do not hesitate to contact me with questions.

Fulbright to Russia opportunity for K-12 Educators

2007-11-19T21:01:00.000-06:00

CEERES is pleased to announce a call for applications K-12 educators to travel to Russia and develop innovative materials to bring back to school districts and classrooms.

2008 Fulbright-Hays GPA Short-Term Seminar in Russia
“Discovering Russia: Challenging Stereotypes and Media Myths”

Download application [MSWord] [PDF]
Download flyer [PDF]
*A full website is forthcoming.

June 19- July 23, 2008 [Tentative Program Dates]:
June 19–23 Pre-departure workshop at The University of Chicago
June 24–July 21 Seminar in Russia

CEERES, in conjunction with faculty at Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal, has submitted a grant application for a Fulbright–Hays Group Project Abroad (GPA) to lead a short-term seminar in Russia on “Discovering Russia: Challenging Stereotypes and Media Myths” for educators. The seminar will take place mainly in the historic cultural city of Vladimir, Russia, followed by trips to Murom, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. The seminar will be preceded by a curriculum development workshop/predeparture orientation to be held at The University of Chicago campus.

For some helpful background information, you check the website of previous similar programs held through University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign here: http://www.reec.uiuc.edu/outreach/fulbright.htm

Although the Fulbright-Hays GPA grant for this program is still pending (expected notification date: March 2008), we are proceeding with the participant application for the seminar to Russia. Please be aware that the proposed seminar is contingent on the grant funding approval.

Application Deadline: February 22, 2008 (postmarked)

For more information, please contact 773-702-0866, email ceeres@uchicago.edu.

Mail application to:
CEERES
attn Fulbright GPA
5835 S. Kimbark Ave., Rm 323
Chicago, IL 60637

Teaching Science, vis a vis Georgia

2007-11-19T16:58:00.000-06:00

I ran into a fascinating article in the Chicago Tribune yesterday, Sunday, Nov 18. It's called "In Georgia, a missing link?", and can be found here.

It's about recent discoveries of pre-historic human and human-like remains in the fertile region below the Caucasus mountains.

I thought this might be of special interest to middle school and high school science teachers looking to bring a bit of international areas into their teaching. But it's also interesting in terms of the economics and state of research in the region.

Spotlight: Worldview

2007-11-14T12:26:00.000-06:00

Chicago's excellent National Public Radio station WBEZ 91.5 FM produces a valuable and unique show on international issues, current, hot, and historic. In case you don't know about it, it's called Worldview. They cover all world regions, and put out a great show every day of the week. Here: http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV.aspx.

All of their shows are archived and downloadable, which means you can listen whenever it's convenient for you, wherever it's convenient. And, I think that makes for a very dynamic resource for teachers to use in the classroom.

I just want to highlight a few of their recent programs on the CEERES region. You can see the topics are pretty diverse:

The current crisis in Sakashvilli's Georgia, 11/8/07: http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV.aspx?episode=14954

Steve LeVine on Central Asian pipeline politics and his book The Oil and the Glory [mentioned here numerous times!], 11/1/07: http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV.aspx?episode=14405

The Perils of Gay Activism in Russia, 10/3/07: http://www.wbez.org/Program_WV.aspx?episode=13750

new media @ CEERES

2007-11-12T13:34:00.000-06:00

As CEERES grows and defines itself as a resource on The University of Chicago campus, and a resource for teachers everywhere, as well as for the general community, we're developing new programs and offerings. Part of the tactic is to put out materials on the web, and this blog is one of those means of conveyance of resources and information.

Today, I'd like to use the blog to highlight a couple of new items that we just posted on-line. We just finished our Bi-annual newsletter CEERES News. It's at press now, but you can get your advance copy in PDF form on our website at http://ceeres.uchicago.edu/news.shtml.

We also contribute to CHIASMOS at the UC. CHIASMOS is an archive of video and audio of many of the public international and area studies events that our partner centers and we put on. It's at http://chiasmos.uchicago.edu/. A few recent events that took place here this fall that are now available for viewing on CHIASMOS are: the talk by Robert Amsterdam, the legal counsel for Mikhail Khodorkovsky, entitled "Preparing for the Post-Putin Period", and the opening talk the photography exhibit "Time and the Sacred" delivered by the artist Pance Velkov. Soon to appear will be Steve LeVine's discussion of his new book "The Oil and the Glory."

I think I've also managed to stream a couple of radio interviews off of our website. One is an interview with Pance Velkov. The other is an interview with Heather Roberson, the writer of "Macedonia: What does it take to stop a war?", which she did with Harvey Pekar. [N.B. the beginning of each interview recording includes the end of the previous radio show, you get a special treat of music. Thank you to Martha Nicholas and Sasha Belyi for doing these interviews and providing the files). If you try to listen to these interviews and they give you trouble, please let me know.

In house, we're developing quite an eclectic collection of research materials on the various countries of our region, mainly through acquiring faculty collections over time. We're working on building a database of these materials right now, and at that the public will be able to search through what we have.

Cinema times

2007-11-05T08:52:00.000-06:00

As I've noted often before, the CEERES region is well-represented in Chicago. Not just in its well-known ethnic populations and neighborhoods, but also in its constant cultural offerings. So much so, that I just can't keep up with the events before they've even begun.

Such is the case with the Greek immigrant film festival, concluding now at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown. It began in mid-October and is concluding tomorrow. But, there's another shot to catch a full run of films from our region at the Siskel. This Friday (Nov. 9 through Nov.15) the Lithuahian film week begins. Check it out.

It's time for Polish films

2007-10-30T14:32:00.000-05:00

The Polish Film Festival in America is starting this week in Chicago, on Saturday Nov. 3, and continues through the month until November 18. Check it out here - http://www.pffamerica.com/schedule.htm

Kasparov's Day

2007-10-29T08:22:00.000-05:00

Once again, here is a short post to report that this Monday morning's interview on NPR's Fresh Air will be with Gary Kasparov, the long-time chess grand champion, and now head of Other Russia (Drugaya Rossiya), an out-spoken opposition party campaigning against Putin's Kremlin. I recently posted a link to an interesting profile of Kasparov, his career and his political aims, in a recent issue of The New Yorker.

I think there is something very special about a country that celebrates a chess champion such that his fame would propel (and hopefully protect) him in a political career.

Steve LeVine on Fresh Air: "Parsing Petro-Politics in the Caspian Sea"

2007-10-25T10:25:00.001-05:00

In my last post about Russia, I mentioned that journalist and blogger Steve Levine (http://oilandglory.com) will be joining us at The University of Chicago to discuss his new book The Oil and the Glory next Thursday, November 1 at 6pm at International House. I just heard that he is going to be interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air this morning, Oct. 25. The show is called "Parsing Petro-Politics in the Caspian Sea." Fresh Air episodes are available as podcasts, so if you miss or want to listen to it often, look it up at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15625253.

Russia Risen

2007-10-18T14:36:00.000-05:00

It's not news today that Russia has risen to be a dominant political and economic power, both in its region and globally, since President Vladimir Putin has taken control of the country. Partly due to the dramatic rise in the cost of natural gas and oil resources, for which Russia is the number 1 and number 2 producer in the world respectively (oil went from $25 to over $80 per barrel in this period, and that price seems to be sustainable), Russia was able to pay back its multi-billion dollars in aid loans that were used bolster it after the collapse of the USSR, and Moscow now boasts as many resident billionaires as does New York City.

Some of the above information comes from a fascinating article in The New Yorker last week by David Remnick, author of "Lenin's Tomb" among many other non-Russian volumes by him, entitled "The Tsar's Opponent".

This renewed economic importance is soon to be felt here in Chicago. As if a direct symbol of renewal, American Airlines has just announced a non-stop flight from Moscow to Chicago to begin in June 2008. A conference on Russian business was held about a year ago here in the city. And the Moscow-Chicago sister city partnership is also being re-articulated. The International Sister Cities program, once an expression of good-will and cultural appreciation in the face of the cold war and the guarantee of mutually-assured destruction, seemed to lose traction and direction overall for its projects of diplomacy since 1992. Now a new focus may give the organization a realm for activity: the Chicago-Moscow committee has recently convened a Russian Business Forum. I received an email from the group just today, announcing a panel discussion entitled "Real Estate Development and Investing in Russia", on Tuesday, Oct. 30. [The cost to attend is $50. FOr more info, call 312.742.8497 or email g37boxoffice@cityofchicago.org]

Russian economic prosperity is only half the story. Under Putin, a former KGB spy, the state has re-centralized vast energy and media resources, degraded the heretofore fledgling democratic structures and developing civil society in Russia, and a new virulent strain of nationalism has taken the nation [and propelled Putin to remarkable approval ratings, up around 80%]. The Chechen war continues without regard for basic human rights, while international media attention strays farther and farther from the tragedy. Journalists that dare to report news in opposition to Kremlin prerogatives are routinely threatened and murdered (notably Anna Politkovskaya, for whom the one-year anniversary of her murder just passed).

Here at The University of Chicago, we were lucky to hear a talk given by Robert Amsterdam on October 2. Amsterdam is legal counsel to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the deposed Russian oil oligarch and former head of Yukos Oil, once the largest and most-profitable oil company in Russia, and who now resides in a Siberian prison, serving out an 8-year sentence on charges that are terribly difficult to unravel (basically, tax evasion), in a trial that was largely understood to be a show trial. Robert Amsterdam, friend and counsel to Khodorkovksy, is intimately acquainted with machinations of the Kremlin, and is quite out-spoken as a critic and in his fears for what these details portend for the Russia and indeed for the international community. This talk was part of UC's World Beyond the Headlines series, and will soon be available as audio/video podcast on CHIAMOS.

The next talk in the WBH series will be with Steve LeVine on November 1 [6pm, International House]. He will be discussing his newly released book "The Oil and the Glory". See http://oilandglory.com/ for a bio, details on the book, and most interestingly, Steve LeVine's blog. Steve LeVine has been reporting on the politics and economics of the Central Asian region for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times since the fall of the USSR, and he is well-versed in the power politics and struggle for control of the vast energy resources contained in Russia and former Soviet regions, which still pay much attention to Moscow. This talk will also be made available on CHIASMOS.

Other than the economic ties that I mentioned are impacting US cities like Chicago, why should we as Americans keep paying attention to Russia, Putin and the internal politics there? Especially when Putin's presidential term is constitutionally limited and will end next May? Russia's regained economic power has emboldened its impact in global affairs. Unlike the US, Russia will speak to Iran. They have a relationship with North Korea. On top of vast natural resource exports (Europe is largely powered by Russian pipelines, which the Kremlin can shut off at will), Russia also exports military arms and nuclear technology. Though Putin and Bush seem to enjoy a special friendship, that does not curtail diplomatic stand-offs, such as we are witnessing with Bush's plans to install a missile-defense shield on Russia's doorstep, Poland. Today's headline in The New York Times is "Putin Warns U.S. Over Missile Shield."

Please join CEERES for these talks and keep looking us up for new resources. We are currently in the planning stages for a program that could possibly take up to 15 K-12 teachers to Russia. This is an important period in time to keep paying attention to and learning as much as we can about this country. I should never fail to mention that, while the politics can be daunting and frightening, Russia is ever a country of exceptional people, dazzling culture, and globally important and beautiful natural lands.

East Europe at Chicago Film Fest

2007-10-05T12:05:00.000-05:00

The Chicago film fest began this week, and it runs until Oct. 17. There looks to be a strong showing of films from our region of the world (mostly central Europe; though a disappointing lack of films from the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia), so I decided to run through the program and list the films from our region in order to save you that step.

The full program is available here. The locations are spread throughout the city, and the program is rich with material.

There's an especially extensive list of films from Hungary, as well as an-person discussion with famed Hungarian film-maker Istvan Szazbo (Mephisto). The Romanian film 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS has already been generating great reviews for a year, and I hear that the Czech film I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND (OBSLUHOVAL JSEM ANGLICKÉHO KRÁLE) will be really good.

Below, I've culled the films from the CEERES region:

HARD-HEARTED
KREMEN
Director: Aleksei Mizgiryov
Russia
First-time director Aleksei Mizgiryov, who picked up the Best Debut prize at the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival, looks at the stark reality of Moscow through the eyes of Anton, a young war vet from the countryside. Anton’s rosy vision of the city, fueled by memories of a lost love, is quickly squashed on his first encounter with the city’s crooked cops. 82 min.
Wed 10/10 | 9:45pm | LM3 | EHHD1
Thurs 10/11 | 6:45pm | LM2 | EHHD2
Mon 10/15 | 7:15pm | AMC9 | EHHD3

4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS
4 LUNI, 3 SAPTAMANI SI 2 ZILE
Director: Cristian Mungiu
Romania
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, 4 Months combines documentary-style camerawork with naturalistic acting to draw viewers into a raw, realistic world. It’s 1987, at the tail end of the Ceausescu era in Romania, and college roommates Otilia and Gabita live in fear and oppression. Gabita is pregnant, and together they prepare to meet with a cruel abortionist who asks them for more than money in return for his dangerous and illegal procedure. Romanian with English subtitles. 113 min.
Sun 10/7 | 6:00pm | AMC4 | EMWD1
Tues 10/9 | 8:45pm | LM3 | EMWD2

THE BANISHMENT
IZGNANIE
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Russia
The power of The Banishment, like director Andrei Zvyagintsev’s previous film, 2004’s Golden Globe®-nominated The Return, lies in the information that is withheld from the audience. Alex hurries his wife, Vera, and two children from an anonymous city to the stilly, bucolic countryside, where Vera reveals to Alex a shocking secret—she’s pregnant, and the child isn’t his. Russian with English subtitles. 150 min.
Sun 10/7 | 7:30pm | LM4 | EBAN1
Mon 10/8 | 8:15pm | LM3 | EBAN2
Tues 10/16 | 4:30pm | AMC4 | EBAN3

OPIUM: DIARY OF A MADWOMAN
ÓPIUM: EGY ELMEBETEG NAPLÓJA
Director: János Szász
Hungary
Based on the infamous writings of Hungarian psychoanalyst Geza Csath, Opium peers inside the chilling confines of an experimental institute for the mentally ill in the early 20th century. Though the film offers plenty of hair-raising glimpses of archaic instruments and barbarous medical procedures, the focus is on the increasingly symbiotic relationship between a morphine-addicted doctor and one tormented patient, whose voluminous diaries offer a window into her ravaged brain. Hungarian with English subtitles. 110 min.
Wed 10/10 | 6:45pm | AMC4 | EOIM1
Thurs 10/11 | 9:30pm | AMC7 | EOIM2
Tues 10/16 | 4:15pm | LM7 | EOIM3

SAVIOR’S SQUARE
PLAC ZBAWICIELA
Directors: Krzysztof Krauze, Joanna Kos-Krauze
Poland
Savior’s Square, which has already racked up five top awards from the Polish Film Festival and four more from the Polish Film Awards, offers a devastating glimpse into a family’s struggle to stay afloat in post-Communist Poland. After losing his money in an apartment scam, Bartek is forced to move his wife and sons into his mother’s tiny Warsaw apartment. Personal hostilities within the apartment come to a boiling point as family values disintegrate. Polish with English subtitles. 105 min.
Tues 10/9 | 4:45pm | AMC4 | ESSQ1
Wed 10/10 | 7:00pm | LM3 | ESSQ2
Thurs 10/11 | 7:00pm | LM4 | ESSQ3

I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND
OBSLUHOVAL JSEM ANGLICKÉHO KRÁLE
Director: Jirí Menzel
Czech Republic / Slovakia
Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, this irreverent black comedy blends razorship wit and blunt tragedy into a no-holds-barred social commentary. The King begins in the 1950s with Jan Díte (Ivan Barnev) being released from a 15-year imprisonment imposed by the Communists. Flash back to the ’30s, when womanizing Jan, an ambitious go-getter who longs to be a rich hotelier, hooks up with a fervent Aryan as the Nazis begin to invade. Czech and German with English subtitles. 120 min.
Wed 10/10 | 9:00pm | AMC9 | ESKE1
Thurs 10/11 | 6:30pm | AMC7 | ESKE2
Tues 10/16 | 5:00pm | LM3 | ESKE3

ISKA’S JOURNEY
ISZKA UTAZÁSA
Director: Bollók Csaba
Hungary
Beautiful compositions of a criminally unfortunate way of life make for an eye-opening, dramatic experience in Iska’s Journey. Daily, poor young Iska must salvage enough scrap metal from the trash heaps to keep her witchy mother in booze and cigarettes. One day she and a lovestruck fellow ragamuffin decide to escape to the place of Iska’s dreams, the seaside—but the journey could lead to an even worse fate. Hungarian with English subtitles. 92 min.
Wed 10/10 | 8:45pm | LM7 | EIZJ1
Thurs 11/11 | 9:15pm | LM7 | EIZJ2
Sat 10/13 | 12:00pm | AMC4 | EIZJ3

THE MAN FROM LONDON
A LONDINI FÉRFI
Director: Béla Tarr
Hungary/France/Germany
Hungarian master filmmaker Béla Tarr follows 2000’s award winning stunner Werckmeister Harmonies with another black-and-white masterpiece that is at once dreamy, genuine, eerie, and breathtaking. After witnessing a murder, railway worker Maloin’s quiet life of seaside isolation changes forever. Forced to examine his thoughts on crime and punishment, Maloin begins to question his own worth and the meaning of his existence. Hungarian with English subtitles. 132 min.
Thurs 10/11 | 4:15pm | LM3 | EMFL1
Fri 10/12 | 6:30pm | LM4 | EMFL2
Sun 10/14 | 8:45pm | AMC9 | EMFL3

MEN IN THE NUDE
FÉRFIAKT
Director: Károly Esztergályos
Hungary
Middle-aged Tibor, unhappy in his marriage and career, never considered bisexuality, but a manipulative 19-year-old male prostitute pursues him and ignites a sexual passion and artistic inspiration that Tibor feared he’d lost forever. Bold and affecting visuals lead us through a rocky relationship plagued by the human fear of aging as well as the potentially tragic interplay between love and sexuality. Hungarian with English subtitles. 94 min.
Fri 10/5 | 10:00pm | AMC9 | EMIN1
Mon 10/15 | 9:45pm | LM3 | EMIN2
Tues 10/16 | 7:30pm | LM3 | EMIN3

TRADE ROUTES
Director: Jim Loftus
Bulgaria/USA
Against the backdrop of a high-stakes Bulgarian election, this dense political thriller finds an ingenuous, low-level CIA officer and her disgruntled boss trying to strike a dangerous deal with the prime minister’s top political officer, who desperately needs to finance his campaign. In a world where information buys money and money buys power, everyone along the trade routes faces questions of duty and betrayal. English and Bulgarian with English subtitles. 117 min.
Fri 10/5 | 9:30pm | LM2 | ETRR1
Sun 10/14 | 12:15pm | AMC9 | ETRR2
Mon 10/15 | 9:45pm | AMC7 | ETRR3

István Szabó
Friday, October 12 6:45 p.m.
Landmark’s Century
Centre Cinema
2828 N. Clark St.
The always entertaining Hungarian director István Szabó (Sunshine, Being Julia) spends an evening at the festival speaking on the intimacy and the insight that can be achieved with the use of the close-up in film. Szabó has said that film has “one singular quality that no other art form can supply. The moving picture is capable of showing us a living human face in close-up: this ability is the source of its special energy.” In his carefully cast films, Szabó perceptively uses close-ups to convey what he has called “life’s beautiful changes, the constant movements of the human expression in the most intimate moment, in the moment of its birth.” Szabó received an Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film for Mephisto, one masterpiece in a trilogy that includes Colonel Redl and Hanussen. Now is your chance to get up close and personal with one of the world’s great film artists.

a whole world of graphic novels

2007-10-04T13:41:00.000-05:00

One of the most dynamic forms of narrative expression- be it fiction or memoir- is the graphic novel. And I'm not talking about superhero comic books, though those are great, too. There are a whole slew of graphic novels now, and many of them are illustrating intense personal and historical situations from our region of the world.

As a reader, I find graphic novels-with their mix of whimsy, intimacy-to be a unique and often gripping way to express moments in our lives. I also think this form would be a great resource for teaching in middle and high schools about certain historical circumstances. As resources, these books and often their websites provide great contextual information for learning and teaching about these regions and themes.

Perhaps because the recent history of East Europe has been so tumultuous, and often hard to describe only utilizing traditional forms of narrative (novels, history books, films), there now seems to be a boom in graphic novels trying to make sense of, or at least represent the memory of, this region's events.

In my memory, what really launched the form of the graphic novel as a literary tool with deep emotional impact, was Maus: A Survivor's Tale, which was set in Poland during the Holocaust. Maus is written and illustrated by Art Spiegelman, and it depicts his relationship with his father, and his father's story of living to tell the tale of Holocaust. [In a turn of brilliant metaphoric graphic depiction, the Jewish Poles are mice, while the Nazis are cats]. When I was a high school student, the film "Schindler's List" was the chosen media to discuss the Holocaust in my school. I think Maus is at least as compelling, and perhaps more personal and accessible.

A recent publication has me excited, but I'm kicking myself for missing the chance to meet the artist. And it sort of picks up at the point of history in East Europe where Maus leaves off. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by the famous Czech graphic artist and MacArthur Fellow Peter Sis, was launched last weekend in Chicago. This is story of life in communist Czechoslovakia under the thumb of the Soviets.

Fast forwarding to more tragic events in Europe, we have Joe Sacco's account of the Bosnian war - "Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia, 1992-95". Can't make sense of this complex conflagration? much less teach it? Here is a work of journalism and comic illustration that might be a useful tool, and is a great read as well. This is a genre that Sacco excels at. In 1996, he was awarded the American book award for a two-volume graphic novel account of the West Bank and Gaza strip, "Palestine".

Another very popular graphic memoir is Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. It's the story of an Iranian woman growing up at the time of the Islamic Revolution. It's actually going to be released as a film this year.

As a sort of instructive, optimistic, if still harrowing addendum to "Safe Area Gorazde", we have this year's "Macedonia: What does it take to stop a war?" I mentioned this book in an earlier post about the Republic of Macedonia (and I'll probably mention it again, because we're going to be hosting the creators of this book down here in Hyde Park!). It's co-written by important American comics writer Harvey Pekar, and Heather Roberson, a peace worker who spent time in Macedonia when the country was on the brink of civil war; and illustrated by Ed Piskor. Heather's website and blog about the book, and peace work in general, raises a very valid point - why do we focus on war and the history of those countries afflicted by war so frequently: in our media, and in our classroom teaching. Why shouldn't we work for, document, write about, teach, and celebrate peace, whenever, wherever, and however it occurs?

I am especially excited because Heather Roberson is going to be visiting Chicago this month. She'll be talking to schools; and down here at the University of Chicago, we'll have a chance to meet her (of course, this is free and open to the public, so anyone can come). She'll give a talk at UC on Monday, Oct. 15 at 3:30pm. Check the events list on the CEERES home page for more details. Hope to see you there. For a sneak peak at the author, this is Heather over here on the right, as illustrated in her book by Ed Piskor.

song and dance

2007-10-04T12:03:00.000-05:00

After the summer festivals, fall seems to be the opening of the performance season in the city. Perhaps it feels like that to me since I'm writing from a university campus; all of the students have returned, their sports teams and a cappella groups have reconvened. But it's more than that in Chicago.

Here's a few entertainment options coming up in Chicago that could be of real interest to you if you're interested in culture from our region.

Georgian State Dance Company will be performing at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University on October 6, 2007 at 7:30pm. The costumes will be authentic, and the acrobatics will be explosive. In the CEERES office, we actually have $5-off discount vouchers, so if you're on campus, come by and see us and we'll pass this on to you.

October 13 is the Macy's Day of Music, with performances by a wide range of groups and artists, including a few performing music from our region, not to mention the Chicago Symphony Orchesta with Branford Marsalis, and the legendary Tortoise. The entire event is free and open to the public - yeah! A pdf of the day's schedule and locations is available here. Performers of our region include-

University of Chicago's very own GOLOSA, a Russian folk choir.
LIRA SINGERS will perform traditional music in authentic costumes from various regions of Poland
CHICAGO KLEZMER ENSEMBLE, founded by clarinetist and music director Kurt Bjorling

Yuri Yukanov's Romani (Gypsy) Wedding Band will play at the Old Town School of Folk Music, October 26, 2007. One of my first blog entries was about gypsy culture and music- if you were interested in that, definitely put this on your calendar.

There's a World Music program at Symphony Center that is putting on "Spiritual Sounds of Central Asia", on Friday, November 9 at 8:00PM. This will feature music performers and ensembles from six countries of the region. Student tix are a reasonable $10, and the program will include some multi-media documentaries and text feeds to contextualize the performances.

For more music from our region, check out some of the programming happening at our local radio station down here in Hyde Park, WHPK 88.5 FM in Chicago. They have an expansive international music interest, whose centerpiece is Marta Nicholas' "Music Around the World" show on Thursdays at 4pm. Marta picks a rainbow of music and topics, and does some complementary interviews. Also, UC students Ksenia and Sasha have a hot little show on Tuesday's at 5pm that they are calling "Not Necessarily Russian". Poslushai!

All About Macedonia

2007-09-20T12:47:00.000-05:00

This comics panel is from the new graphic novel "Macedonia, What Does is Take to Stop a War?", written by Harvey Pekar (of American Splendor, both the comics and the reknowned film) and Heather Roberson (that's Heather in illustrated form to the left), and illustrated by Ed Piskor. I just found out about this book and am very excited to read it, and this leads me to the theme of my post today. It's All About Macedonia, and for some reason it's converging on us here in Chicago.

That's great news for people who want to learn more or teach about a small republic of the former Yugoslavia that is little known, gets little media attention (which is sometimes good if that means that there's nothing too bad happening to report about), and whose language is little studied outside of its borders - a LCTL, or a Less Commonly Taught Language, in Education's parlance.

But a lot seems to be happening here in Chicago, and at The University of Chicago.

This is one of the few institutions where a student can actually receive instruction in the Macedonian language, one of the south Slavic languages that are in fact all LCTLs, and many of which are taught here.

Next Friday, September 28, 2007, we have the opening of a photo exhibit called "Time and the Sacred". It's a collection of photographs by Pance Velkov, a Macedonian photographer and cultural preservationist, who has documented sacred spaces and frescoes that often date back to the 11th century, and in many cases have been used alternately by Muslims and Orthodox Christians throughout their histories. The exhibit has found an impressive and appropriate home at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel on the U of C campus, and will run from Sept. 28 until Dec. 24, 2007. On Sept. 28, the artist will join us for the opening, and will give a talk on "Photographing Heritage: Art or Documentation." The picture above is one of the 37 images on display. The opening is open to the public, as is the Rockefeller Chapel every day of the exhibit from 8am-4pm.

This past spring, CEERES convened a workshop "Rethinking Crossroads: Macedonia in Global Context", which offered a venue for the new research being conducted in and on the Republic of Macedonia. The idea behind the title is that, often, Macedonia is defined externally, by the notion that it is a crossroads of other cultures and peoples and their attitudes; rather, the conveners of the workshop sought to address how is Macedonia defining itself, situating itself in its own global context. Paper titles and presenters at the March 31, 2007 workshop can be found here.

In the past, we've sponsored a showing of Macedonian film-maker Milcho Manchevski's Oscar-nominated film "Before the Rain" at Doc Films. The buzz is that he has a forth-coming film "Senki", or "Shadows", and once it's out, I'll bet we'll try to get it shown on campus.

If you'd like find out more about the Republic of Macedonia for the sake of personal interest, or if you're looking for resources to supplement classroom instruction on the region and the language, I suggest you start with SEELRC's Webliographies, which are available for 24 of our region's languages and countries.

Be sure to keep checking back here for more news about Macedonian-related events and resources. First, I'm going to pick up "Macedonia" by the Heather Roberson and the legendary Pekar and give it a read...

Film Fest Friday

2007-09-14T09:29:00.001-05:00

I'm learning that Chicago is a city of festivals. Especially in the summer, one finds dozens of large and small neighborhood street fairs, cultural heritage festivals, art fairs, and music festivals. Even when it gets cold here, one form of festival is a staple of the Chicago cultural landscape - films.

Given the city's ethnic heritage(s) and appetite for the arts, Chicago plays home to many fine film festivals and series dedicated in whole or part to films coming out of East Europe, Russia and the rest of the 28 former Communist states of our region. Even under repressive Communist regimes, the level of film production was very high in many of these states, especially in Russia, Czechoslovakia (as it was then), and Poland (some may even claim that often because of the repression, the quality of art was higher), and that tradition continues. Internationally acclaimed films are now coming out of many of these states, including Romania, Bulgaria, the republics of the former Yugoslavia, the Baltics, and Mongolia.

Here are some current and upcoming film events. [This is by no means a comprehensive list]

Cultural Film Festivals

First Serbian Film Festival in Chicago, September 13- September 13-16, 2007 at the AMC Lowes Pipers Alley 4 Theatres, 1608 North Wells Street (North and Wells) in Chicago, 312- 642-6275. This is a new significant festival, taking its place in the pantheon of important culture specific festivals that find their home in Chicago each year.
The Polish Film Festival in America, in Chicago, November 3-18, 2007.
The Chicago Festival of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Films, usually in the spring.

Film Series

Lech Majewski’s Landscape of Dreams, Gene Siskel Film Center, September 8-October 4, 2007. One of the strengths of the state-of-the-art Siskel Film Center is film series of directors' ouvres, regional films, and thematic runs. They also are able to show rare and remastered prints of films you could not find anywhere else. Recent examples of eclectic series at the Siskel include the films of Krzysztof Kieslowski; and annual EU film series; and Russian SciFi films.

Film Festivals

The 43rd Annual Chicago International Film Festival, October 4-17, 2007. This competitive film festival hosted at multiple venues in Chicago is sure to feature the latest films coming out of such countries as Russia, Poland, Romania, and indeed out of all corners of the globe.

Lastly, I need to mention that Doc Films, the venerable and venerated student-run screen at The University of Chicago has just posted its upcoming calendar. At Doc, each day of the week is part of an ongoing series throughout the quarter, and on the weekends they tend to show the latest popular releases. I haven't seen a detailed description of the films for this quarter, but if there are films related to the CEERES countries, I'll try to include something about them in this space.

Gypsy Wednesday

2007-09-05T12:52:00.000-05:00

Gypsy Caravan

What really got me thinking about getting this CEERES Blog up and running is the incredible cultural entertainments and events happening in Chicago.

Last night, the Associate Director of CEERES, Meredith Clason, and myself (Jeremy Pinkham, Outreach Coordinator) took a field trip to the historic Chicago theater the Music Box to see the documentary film Gypsy Caravan.

Gypsy Caravan at the Music Box Theater

The documentary follows the Gypsy Caravan, a 2002 concert tour in the U.S. made up of 5 Romani musical groups from Macedonia, Spain, India, and Romania. I'd like to comment on some of the more interesting, eye-opening elements of the film. For one, the music, and variety of musical traditions, coming out of Rom culture is extremely rich and varied. I, for one, was not aware that flamenco music and dance, so associated with Spain, actually has its roots in the Spanish gypsy population. Nor was I aware that an old population of Rom still lives in India (in Rajastan, the supposed ancestral homeland of Rom peoples), though on second thinking it makes perfect sense. The film received favorable comparisons to Bueno Vista Social Club, and I only wish that we were shown more music throughout the course of the film.

There is much talk among the musicians in Gypsy Caravan about the commonalities still shared by these geographically isolated yet culturally linked populations, and about the common soul and rhythm of the gypsies. Something even more interesting to me are the elements that we are shown in passing that give context to the lives of the Romani in the places they live. We get the idea that the success of some of these musicians in the west provides the only income for some of the families and villages back home. One fascinating scene has an interview with a gypsy war refugee from Kosovo, who has found acceptance and assistance from Romanis in Macedonia.

Of note: one of the featured performers in Gypsy Caravan, Esma Redžepova of Macedonia, provided the single Čaje Šukarije for Borat.

I'd recommend this film for a number of reasons: experience great music; find out about a group of people scattered by time, diplacement, and prejudice, but nourished by their community and traditions; visit the wonderful Music Box theater.

[By the way, without meaning any insensitivity, I use the term gypsy, which is often regarded as derogative, interspersed with the more acceptable ethnic terms Rom, Roma, and Romani, because the use of the various terms show how identities are constructed, reinforced, and questioned over time.]

A little more on Gypsies

Watching the film also reminded me that there are other media resources about Rom music that I've been meaning to share. Influences of Balkan, Slavic, Gypsy, punk, jazz, and rock are fusing in lots of different bands in Europe and especially in the U.S. One of the more increasingly well-known bands is Gogol Bordello, based out of NYC, and who seem to be touring across the states all the time. The are fronted by Eugene Huts, a Ukrainian who grew up in the USSR and is a survivor of the Chernobyl disaster. Recently, I heard a couple great pieces of radio about the band and their music. These resources are available online and as podcasts:

That's all for Gypsy Wednesday. I'm sure there's lots more news, events, and bands I could profile in this space, but this media came to my attention, and I hope it's a jumping-off point.

Introduction

2007-09-05T12:07:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the new blog of The University of Chicago Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies. Check out the CEERES website for full details about what we do. Basically, we are situated at The University of Chicago and have funding from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Centers program to educate and encourage interest and scholarship about the wide region of the world which we represent. Our goal is to reach out beyond the University - to Chicago Public Schools and all the K-12, community college, and other university teachers and students in the Chicago area, to cultural organizations, to people who love music and art, to anyone who needs to know even a little bit about our region of the world to make sense of their own.

The CEERES Blog will serve as an informal, but hopefully informative space for students, teachers, and community members to find out about events (conferences, lectures, concerts, films - you name it) in the Chicago area and on the U of C campus in Hyde Park that are related to our region. We will also use this space to highlight news and cultural events that come to our attention and that we think should be shared - bits of information that are uniquely interesting. Hopefully you'll see what mean.

Your respectful comments and appropriate information to share with us and our readers are welcome and encouraged. This blog will generally be informative and objective. When opinions are shared, they are by no means indicative of the point of view CEERES or The University of Chicago, but are the sole opinions of the posters themselves.