In this issue: Fall 2008 Letter from the Director Upcoming EventsStarovoitova Paper PrizeCampus NewsStudent and Alumni NewsStudy Abroad in Eastern EuropeFall ClassesPast EventsFunding Opportunities

Red House--Maxim Kantor

The Havighurst Centerfor Russian & Post-Soviet Studies Newsletter

Director’s Message Russianclassesare fullhereatMiami.Almost300studentsareinRussianorRussianStudiesclasses.Thesameisreportedinclassroomsacross thecountry.Funding, too, isup.Russian isonceagain listedasalanguageofstrategicimportancebytheUSgovernment.JobapplicantswithRussian-languagebackgroundarefast-trackedandgivenpaybonuses. WhydowehavetowaituntilrelationswithRussiadeteriorateforthestudyofRussiatoimprove?Russia’sprovocativeactionstowardGeorgia,andGeorgia’sstrikeagainstciviliantargetsinsouthOssetia,tookplaceagainstabackdropofworsening relations between the US and Russia. To be sure, all sides have their own specific interests in this conflict. The Russians object to Georgian President Saakashvili’s efforts to removeGeorgia fromtheRussianorbit; theOssetians,dividedbyStalin intonorthernandsouthern sections, want unity and independence; and the Georgians seek an alliance withthe West. But beyond these interests, the Georgia conflict is also serving as a proxy for other issues—most notably Moscow’s resistance to the extension of NATO and the EU to Russia’s borders. SincethecollapseoftheUSSR,America’srelationshipwithRussianeverresultedinatruealliance.Welovedgivingadvise,werealwayswillingtosendadvisors,andreveledintellingRussianshowtobuildabettersystem.Wedidnot,however,listentotheRussians,muchlessactonwhatwemighthaveheardhadwelistened.IrememberbeinginWashingtonDCfor a policy meeting in November 1989, one week after the Berlin Wall fell, when the National Security Council’s Director of European and Soviet Affairs opined that this event would have very negative repercussions on the unity of NATO! He was like many in Washington who sawthecentralityofAmerica’spositionintheworldasdependentlessonwhatitstandsforthan on its military posture against an agreed enemy. NATO’s march eastward began almost immediately,inaclearbreakfromWesternassurances. Now efforts in ‘old Europe’ to encourage multipolarity are giving way to ‘new Europe’s’ calls to unite against Russia. It is all too easy to agree with President Saakashvili’s blandishments that the Europeans’ unwillingness to put Georgia on track to NATO membership emboldenedtheRussianstotearthecountryasunder.MightitalsobethecasethatGeorgia’sbestdefenseover the longrunwas thesteadyandconsistentdeepeningofdemocracyandeconomicprosperity? In 1990, Czech President Vaclav Havel, speaking before the US Congress, noted that thefallofcommunism“willenableustoenteratlastintoaneraofmultipolarity,thatis,intoanerainwhichallofus,largeandsmall,formerslavesandformermasters,willbeabletocreate what your great President (Abraham) Lincoln called ‘the family of man.’” He went on: “I often hear the question: how can the United States of America help us today? My reply is as paradoxical as the whole of my life has been. You can help us most of all if you help [Russia] on its irreversible but immensely complicated road to democracy.” BillClintondescribedthepaltryamountofaidgiventoRussiafordemocracyassistanceas “a forty-watt bulb in a damned big darkness.” Today, Russia is a wealthier country, with a massivebudgetsurplusagainstourweakenedandindebtedcountry.Itcanaffordapolicyofrecklessabandon.We,ontheotherhand,urgentlyneedcooperation,diplomacy,andallieswhowillcontributefullytotheglobalchallengeswemutuallyface. ThisisamassivechallengefortheUSandwillbefrontandcenterontheagendaofthe next administration. In the meantime, I am nevertheless pleased that students, as both idealistsandrealists,acceptthatweliveinadangerousworldandaregettingprepared.

-KarenDawisha

UPCOMING EVENTS

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Tuesday, September 23Maria Gaidar, Founder of Democratic Alternatives (DA!)The Authorities, Society, and Opposition in Russia–A Biased Observation from an InsiderPearson Hall 112, 5:00pmMaria Gaidar is a political activist from Russia who has challenged the Putin regime on its violations of electoral freedom. She is the founder of the youth activist organization DA! and daughter of the former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, who launched economic reforms in Russia in the 1990’s.(more information about Ms. Gaidar on page 5)

Friday, September 26Havighurst Research SeminarBrigid O’Keeffe, Miami UniversityMarxism and Authenticity: Representing “Gypsy Sluts” and “Rus-sian Heroes” on the Early Soviet StageHarrison Hall 116, 12:00pm

Monday, September 29Havighurst Colloquia Series: Islam in Central AsiaAleksandr Naymark, Hofstra UniversityThe Arab Conquest and Islamisation of Sogdiana: The Case of BukharaHarrison Hall 209, 12:00pm(full colloquia schedule on page 6 )

Tuesday, October 7Miami University Study Abroad FairShriver Center Multi-purpose Room, 2:00-6:00pmMiami University’s annual study abroad fair will take place on Tuesday, October 7thfrom 2 to 6 pm in the Shriver Multi-purpose Room. Miami offers programs in Russia and Eastern Europe, including summer workshops offered by the Havighurst Center and the Department of German, Russian and East Asian Languages. Non-Miami programs include the American Councils of Teachers of Russian (www.americancouncils.org), American Institute for Foreign Study (www.aifsabroad.com), Council for International Educational Exchange (www.ciee.org), International Student Exchange Program (www.isep.org), Palacky University Exchange (Czech Republic, kpes2.upol.cz/cesp), and Central European University (Hungary, ceu.bard.edu).

Friday, October 10Sarah Phillips, Indiana University, BloomingtonWomen’s Social Activism in the New UkraineHarrison Hall 116, 12:00pm

Monday-Wednesday, October 13-15Film Series: 100 Years of Russian FilmHarrison 012, 7:00pm(see film schedule on page 7)

Monday, October 20 Havighurst Colloquia Series: Islam in Central AsiaJudith Kolbas, Miami University AffiliateTingri and Allah: the Mongol Relationship with IslamHarrison Hall 209, 12:00pm

Friday-Saturday, October 24-25Young Researchers Conference: The Role of Law in the Construction and Destruction of Democracy in PostcommunismThis conference will explore the analytical, theoretical, empirical and normative dimensions ofthevariouswaysinwhichlawhasbeenusedtorestructurepostcommunistsocieties.(full conference schedule on page 8)

Monday, October 27 Havighurst Colloquia Series: Islam in Central AsiaJo-Ann Gross, The College of New JerseyIsma’ili Shrines, Oral History and the Construction of Sacred Space in BadakhshanHarrison Hall 209, 12:00pm

Monday, October 27Henry Carey, Georgia State UniversityThe EU’s Eastward Expansion: Comparative and Geo-Political ImplicationsHarrison Hall 110, 2:00pmco-sponsored with the Department of Political Science

Friday, October 31Elizabeth Skomp, University of the South--SewaneeHistory, Memory and the (Re)conception of Family in Liudmila Ulitskaia’s ProseMcGuffey 419, 9:00 am

Monday, November 3Havighurst Colloquia Series: Islam in Central AsiaRobert Crews, Stanford UniversityTransnational Islam, State Boundaries, and the Muslims of the Russian Empire and USSR Harrison Hall 209, 12:00pm

UPCOMING EVENTS continued...

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Wednesday, November 5Liudmilla Sergei and Ivan PosokhovPolitics and History in Ukraine Upham Hall 235, 4:30 pm sponsored by the History Department

Friday, November 7Havighurst Research SeminarBenjamin Sutcliffe, Miami UniversityRepresentation, Illusion, and Autonomy in the Prose of Ol’ga SlavnikovaHarrison Hall 116, 12:00pm

Monday, November 10Havighurst Colloquia Series: Islam in Central AsiaEdward Lazzerini, Indiana UniversityBelief and Knowledge in Islamic Central Eurasia: The Northern Tier in the 18th and 19th CenturiesHarrison Hall 209, 12:00pm

Tuesday, December 2 Havighurst Colloquia Series: Islam in Central AsiaDevin DeWeese, Indiana UniversityReflections on the FieldHarrison Hall 209, 12:00pm

Friday, December 5 Havighurst Research SeminarGulnaz Sharafutdinova, Miami UniversityRedistributing Sovereignty and Property: A View From Russia’s Ethnic RepublicsHarrison Hall 116, 12:00pm

UPCOMING EVENTS continued...

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Monday, December 1Havighurst Center Annual Open House

Harrison Hall 116, 4:30-6:30pmAll are invited to come join us for regional holiday food and cheer!

September 23

Maria Gaidar, Democratic Alternatives (DA!)The Authorities, Society, and Opposition in Russia: A Biased

Observation from an Insider Pearson Hall 112, 5:00pm

co-sponsored with theCollege Democrats, College Republicans, Russian Club,

and the Program in International Studies

Maria Gaidar is a political activist from Russia who has challenged the Putin regimeon itsviolationsofelectoral freedom.She is thedaughterof the formerRussian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, who launched economic reforms in Russia in the 1990’s, and she graduated cum laude from Russia’s Academy of National Economy.

MariaGaidarhasbecomewellknownforherpoliticalactivism.Shewasinspiredto become involved in politics following the Beslan school hostage crisis, thegovernment seizure of the Yukos oil company and the imprisonment of its CEO, theUkrainianOrangeRevolution,andelectorallossesbypro-democracyforcesinthe 2003 parliamentary elections in Russia.

Ms. Gaidar is the founder of the youth political organization “Democratic Alternative” (DA!), which fights against civil rights abuses, corruption in universities, police brutality, mistreatment of draftees in the army, and intolerance and xenophobia.

Maria has organized several volunteer projects, as well as the extremely popular Political Debates, an alternative platform for open political debates designed to rekindle interest in politics among Russian youth, active internet users andjournalists. She is a major leader of demonstrations and protest actions in Moscow. Ms. Gaidar was the focus of international media attention when, together withanother youth leader, Ilya Yashin, she hung from a bridge over the Moscow River acrossfromtheKremlin,displayingabannerdemandingtherestorationoffreeelections. In 2007, the last election period, Maria Gaidar ran for the State Duma on the SPS ticket in Moscow region. She received more votes then any other SPS candidate in absolute and relative terms and in a “truly” fair election she most likelywouldbeservingintheDumatoday.SheistheauthorofnumerouspoliticalcampaignsontheInternet.

Ms. Gaidar speaks Russian, English, German and Spanish.

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Havighurst Colloquia SeriesIslam in Central Asia

HST 436/536, POL 440/540, REL 470/570

Prof. Daniel Prior, HST

Mondays, 12:00-1:30, 209 Harrison Hall

September 29Aleksandr Naymark, Hofstra University

The Arab Conquest and Islamisation of Sogdiana: The Case of Bukhara

October 20Judith Kolbas, Miami University Affiliate

Tingri and Allah: The Mongol Relationship with Islam

October 27Jo-Ann Gross, The College of New Jersey

Isma‘ili Shrines, Oral History and the Construction of Sacred Space in Badakhshan

November 3Robert Crews, Stanford University

Transnational Islam, State Boundaries, and the Muslims of the Russian Empire and USSR

November 10Edward Lazzerini, Indiana University

Belief and Knowledge in Islamic Central Eurasia: The Northern Tier in the 18th and 19th Centuries

December 2 (Tuesday)Devin DeWeese, Indiana University

Reflections on the Field

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A Celebration:100 years of Russian Film

Film Seriesorganized by

Stephen Norris, Director of Film Studies

All films will be in Harrison 012 at 7:00pm

Monday, October 13: The Contemporary Blockbuster

Night Watch [Nochnoi dozor]Timur Bekmambetov, 2004, 114 min.

This fantasy film shattered box-office records and became a sensation—topped at the box office by its sequel, Day Watch. The director now works in Hollywood and released his first English-language film this year, Wanted.

Tuesday, October 14: Thaw Era Classics

Cranes are FlyingMikhail Kalatazov, 1957, 95 minutes.

Voted the number one film of the first 50 years of Russian film, Kalatazov’s lyric film about World War II is a classic. The first Russian film to win the Palm d’or at Cannes.

Wednesday, October 15: Return to the Silent Era: 100 Years

Stenka RazinVladimir Romashkov, 1908, 10 min.

The very first Russian film, screened for the first time on October 15, 1908.

Battleship PotemkinSergei Eisenstein, 69 min.

Thesilentclassic,newlyrestoredandremastered.Eisenstein was voted the best director of the first 50 years of Russian film by Russian critics.

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The 8th Annual International Young Researchers Conference: The Role of Law in the Construction & Destruction of Democracy in Postcommunism

OCTOBER 24-25, 2008Friday, October 24

-Harrison Hall Room 012-8:45-10:30am Institutional Transplants & Local Contexts

Arolda Elbasani, European University Institute, Borrowed Electoral Systems & Post-Communist Contexts William Partlett, Stanford University, Hydrocarbon Contract Stability

After the Oil Shock: The Demand for Foreign Capital as a Limiting Factor on Contractual Renegotiation

Daniel Beers, Indiana University-Bloomington, Culture in the Courts: Formal Rules, Informal Practices & the Politics of Postcommunist Judicial Reform

-Harrison Hall Room 209-11:00-12:30pm Keynote Lecture Kathryn Hendley, University of Wisconsin, Mobilizing Law in Russia

-Miami Inn, A/B Room-2:15-3:30pm Postcommunist Courts & the Politics of Judicial Independence Alexei Trochev, Queen’s University, After The Revolution: Political Competition & Judicial Disempowerment Maria Popova, McGill University, Judicial Independence & Regime Type: Why Are Dependent Courts Prevalent in Electoral Democracies?

-Harrison Hall Room 204-4:00pm Keynote Lecture: Stephen Holmes, New York University, Lineages of the Rule of Law

Saturday, October 25-Miami Inn, A/B Room-

10:00-11:30am Law as an Instrument of Social Change: Successes & Failures Narcis Tulbure, University of Pittsburgh, Values in Exchange: Ambiguous Ownership, Collective Action & Changing Notions of Worth in Romanian Mutual Funds Industry Lauren McCarthy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Law Enforcement’s ResponsetoHumanTrafficking Patricia Young, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Institutional Capture in Transition: Business, Market Governance Laws & High-Level Corruption in Romania

2:00-3:30pm Citizenship: Legal, Historical & Political Aspects Davit Mikeladze, Central European University, “Russian-Speaking Minorities” in the Baltic States Caress Schenk, Miami University, Russia’s Changing Migration Policies Sophia Wilson, University of Washington, The Role of Courts & Police in the Development & Suppression of Human Rights in the Post-Soviet World

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Galina Starovoitova Paper PrizePsychologists believe that the pursuit of power is part of the

individual’s hedonistic nature. Taking control over others helps to satisfy certain desires.

I believe that the exercise of power is a form of creativity and self-expression. Political power also gives us the possibility of shaping

and guiding the future, for ourselves and for our children. -GalinaStarovoitova-

As part of an international effort to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the murder of Galina Starovoitova, the Havighurst Center announces a competition for the Galina Starovoitova Paper Prize. Starovoitova was a leading human rights advocate and a deputy in the Russian lower house of parliament, first elected in 1995. She served in the Congress of Peoples’ Deputies from 1989-91, and was a presidential advisor on ethnic relations until 1992. She was also a co-founder of the Democratic Russia movement, and was a presidential candidate in 1996. Somebelieveshewascontemplatinganotherrunforthepresidencywhenshewas gunned down in her apartment building stairwell November 20, 1998.

Anethnographerandpsychologistbytraining,StarovoitovaspenttimeintheUnitedStatesasavisitingscholarbothatBrownUniversityand theKennanInstitute,andwasaJenningsRandolphFellowattheUnitedStatesInstituteforPeace. She was easily the best-known female politician in post-Soviet Russia, an outspoken proponent of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, and achampionforwomenandethnicminorities.

The Starovoitova Paper Prize GuidelinesPapers may be submitted only by current Miami University students, and must be at least 10 pages in length. Paper themes must center on human rights, the rule of law, conflict resolution, the free press, and/or civil society. Papers may relate to any region of the world during any time period, including andespeciallyRussiaandtheformerSovietRepublics.Graduate and Undergraduate categories include $200 for Best and $100 for Honorable Mention in each category.Papers must be nominated by a faculty member who has read the paper.Winners will make 10-minute presentations of their papers at a panel discussion and open reception on November 17.DUE DATE: Papers, accompanied by the letter of nomination from a faculty member,aredueonNovember 3, by 4:00 pm in the Havighurst Center, 116 Harrison Hall. Submit a hard copy to the Center, as well as an electronic copy to havighurstcenter@muohio.edu. Please include Starovoitovainthemessagetitle.

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CAMPUS NEWS In its second year of cooperation with the Havighurst Center, the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS) is entering an exciting phase in its developing capacities for scholarly service. CESS will hold its Ninth Annual Conference September 18-21 in Washington, DC, hosted by the Center for Russian and East European Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. The program, with over 60 panels and nearly 300presenters,promisesmoreoftheprogressivescholarshipthathasbecomeahallmarkof CESS conferences. This year’s keynote speaker is Rory Stewart, head of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Afghanistan and author of the best-selling and award-winningtravelmemoir,The Places in Between.

The Annual Conference follows closely on the success of CESS’s First Regional Conference, which was held at Lake Ysyq Kol in Kyrgyzstan in August. That meeting, conceived as a trial run of a new initiative to promote involvement of scholars from the Central Eurasian region, greatly exceeded all expectations in the size and quality of the program (about half the size of a North American meeting), the diversity of participants, and the vitality and value of the discussions.Seewww.cess.muohio.eduformoreinformation.

FACULTY/STAFF NEWSBrigid O’Keeffe, Havighurst Fellow in History

Brigid O’Keeffe (Ph.D., 2008, New York University) received her Ph.D. in modern European history. Her dissertation, “Becoming Gypsy, Sovietizing the Self: 1917-1939,” examined how nationalitypolicy facilitatedRoma’sself-fashioningasconscious,integrated Soviet citizens in the first two decades of Bolshevik rule. Her interests include narrativity and selfhood; ethnicity, nation-building, and nationalism; citizenship and subjecthood; comparativeempires;andthehistoryofethnographyasatoolofempire. In Spring 2009, Dr. O’Keeffe will offer two undergraduate courses in the history department: “The History of Russia Since 1855” and “Defining the Self in Russian History.” In the fall of 2009, she will join the history department of CUNY-Brooklyn College as Assistant Professor.

Kelly Church, Havighurst Center Graduate Assistant

Kelly Church is the new Havighurst Center Graduate Assistant. She is currently a Master’s student in the Political Science department. She began her study of Russian as a high school

student in 1987 at the Concordia College Language Villages and Miami University. She earned a B.A. in History, Russian Language, and International Studies from Macalester College in 1995. While in college, she studied in St. Petersburg, Russia, through the School forInternationalTraining.Shealsospenttwoseasonsinterpretingand translating at Chersones for the Black Sea Project, run jointly by Macalester College and Zaporozhye State University. Since then, Kelly has taught history at McGuffey Foundation School, in Oxford, and in 2007 earned her J.D. from the University of CincinnatiCollege of Law.

CENTRAL EURASIAN STUDIES SOCIETY

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Vitaly Chernetsky, assistant professor in the department of German, Russian and East Asian languages at Miami University, was co-winner of the 2006-2007 Best Book prize from the American Association for Ukrainian Studies (AAUS) for his work, Mapping Postcommunist Cultures: Russia and Ukraine in the Context of Globalization (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007). The prize was awarded during the annual conference of the AAUS April 12 in New York City.

Chernetsky also is co-editor of Crossing Centuries: The New Generation in Russian Poetry (2000) and author of articles on post-Soviet postcolonialism, the cultures of the former Soviet bloc andSlavicwritersinSouthAmerica.

The AAUS Prize for Best Book in the fields of Ukrainian history, politics, language, literature and culture also was received by Catherine Wanner, Pennsylvania State University, for her work, Communities of the Converted: Ukrainians and Global Evangelism (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2007).

Stephen Norris, Associate Professor of History and Zara Torlone, Assistant Professor of Classics, co-edited a recently published collection of essays, Insiders and Outsiders in Russia Cinema (Indiana University Press, 2008), based on papers written for a symposium hosted by the Havighurst Center in 2004. The essays highlight the varied ways thatRussianandSovietcinemaconstructedothernessandforeignness.

Also co-edited by Stephen Norris, and published in 2008 by Indiana University Press, was a the collection of essays entitled Preserving St. Petersburg, based on a Havighurst symposium in 2003. Stephen’s co-editor was Helena Goscilo, Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh. Contributors to this volume trace the ways in which St. Petersburg has served as a site of preservation, becoming “a ‘museum piece,’ embodying history, nostalgia, and recourse to memories of the past.”

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CAMPUS NEWS continued...Faculty Publications

This summer, Miami University Libraries purchased a very rare futurist manifesto for the Special Collections, with the help of a grant from the Havighurst Center. The manifesto, “Slovo kak takovoe” (“The Word as Such”), by A. Kruchenykh and V. Khlebnikov, with poems by V. Mayakovsky, D. Burliuk and E. Guro, is illustrated by K. Malevich and O. Rozanova. The lithograph by Malevich, “Woman Reaper, ” is mounted on the cover and a smaller, untitled, lithograph by Rozanova is bound-in. This book is a second futurist manifesto after “Deklaratsiia slova kak takovogo” by Kruchenykh and N. Kulbin and goes into greater detail

of theories behind the futurist movement inpoetry.Itcallsforcreationanduseofnewwordsthatare“clear,clean,honest,sonorous,pleasant(tender) to the ear, expressive (distinct, vivid, rich).” The book includes a poem by Kruchenykh, oneofthemostquotedandfamousinthehistoryof the Russian poetry fin de siècle:

dyr,bul,shchyl,ubeshchurskumvysobur l ez

Only 500 copies of this remarkable book were published in 1913, of which Miami University Libraries’ copy will be the second in WorldCat.

Also of Interest:

The Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System Online provides access to digitized ma-terials selected from the Harvard Project on the Soviet Social System (HPSSS). The digital collection consists chiefly of summary transcripts of 705 interviews conducted with refu-geesfromtheUSSRduringtheearlyyearsoftheColdWar.Auniquesourceforthestudyof Soviet society between 1917 and the mid-1940s, the HPSSS includes vast amounts of one-of-a-kind data on political, economic, social and cultural conditions. The HPSSS’s value is compounded by the fact that it was compiled in English and organized according toarigoroussocialscienceframework,makingitaccessibletoabroadrangeofstudentsandscholars.

http://hcl.harvard.edu/collections/hpsss/index.html

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Library NewsCAMPUS NEWS continued...

STUDENT and ALUMNI NEWS

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Vap I Madhe ka Ardhur (The Big Heat has Come)Marisa Bowersox, B.A. Russian, 2006

I am in my 18th month of service as a Peace Corps volunteerservinginBerat,Albania,andIamsittingin my apartment right now thinking about just how hot it is outside. One would think that the secondsummer would make me more accustomed tosweating all of the time; unfortunately it does not.I’mreallyhotrightnow.I’malsolisteningtoaBBCpodcast of the news roundup from August 4, 2008. It’smymainaccesstothecurrentnews,whichisbadconsideringIcanonlygetapodcasteverycoupleofweeks. Needless to say, I’m hopelessly clueless about theoutsideworld.

As fall is quickly approaching, I am realizing how little time I have left here and what types of projects I want to do. I am a health education volunteer working in the public health office, but my main focus right now is an environmental/health youth group that I started last spring. I have 8 girls that regularly attend and they are such aninspirationtoworkwithonadailybasis.Theirenthusiasmandvigorforeverydaylife is a constant reminder as to why I decided to pack up for 27 months and move acrosstheworld.Theyhavegreatideasabouthowtocleanupthecity,workwitha local mental hospital to brighten up the residents’ day, increase tourism (Berat just became a UNESCO site), and get other youth involved in becoming leaders in their local community. Another project that I’m excited to bring to Berat is a campaign that my local counterpart and I decided to start that is called Pink Power (copyright coming soon!). This will be a monthly series targeting at-risk women inthecommunityandeducatingthemabouthealthtopicsrangingfromnutrition,breastcancer,andmentalhealth.Myyouthgroupgirlsareactivelyinvolvedintheplanning of the campaign so it’s a project that can help girls and women.

As I think back to when I first stepped off the plane at Tirana International Airport and the shock and just utter bewilderment that I faced, it’s so clear just how far I have come.IamabletoconverseeasilyinAlbanian,makefriendswiththelocals,travelalone,livealone,andhavebecomeincrediblyskilledatmakingthemostofmydowntime, of which I have a lot. Some of my new skills include knitting and origami! I alsothink,wouldIdothisagain?WouldIleaveeverythingbehindtolearnaboutanew language, culture, work, and people? Absolutely. Peace Corps is right when they say this is the ‘toughest job you’ll ever love.’ It’s challenging in so many different ways.Justafewmoremonthstogo,soIbettermakethemostofmytimehere.

Mirupafshim (Good bye),Marisa Bowersox, Peace Corps VolunteerBerat,Albania

STUDENT and ALUMNI NEWS...continuedNot Your Average InternshipBy Lindsey Hallock, Junior, International Studies/Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

Last winter, I was lucky enough to find an internship that brought metoIstanbul,Turkeythissummer.IwasataChristmaseventand some family friends were asking me about my experience at college and what I was planning on majoring in. When I told them I was double-majoring in International Studies and RussianStudies,somewereimpressed,somewereconfusedandothers asked me “Are you taking Business classes as well…just in case?” However, I guess one man was really listening and

introduced me to a non-profit organization called CELA (Central Eurasian Leadership Academy) funded by the Society of International Business Fellows in Atlanta, GA.

CELA is a network of people from the post-Soviet countries in the Caucuses and CentralAsia.Whilehundredsofpeopleapplytobeacceptedintothenewclassofmembers CELA takes in each year, only 40 or so make it. They are the cream of the crop and have been successful in NGOs, business or the governments of their respective countries. Every year the new class of CELA members goes to a 12-day academy in Istanbul where they do team building exercises, take classes on leadership and ponder challengesfacingtheirregionstoday.Istanbulmayseemlikeanoddplacetoholdtheevent,especiallyasitwasneverpartoftheSovietUnion,butitisaconvenientmiddlegroundforthetworegionsparticipantscomefrom,andithadmanyinterestingthingstodoandseewhilewewerenotworking.

As an intern, my food and other expenses were covered by the program. I only had to payfortheairfare.Itwasanunpaidinternship,butthecontactsImadewithboththeAmericanbusinessmenrunningtheprogramandtheparticipantsarepriceless.AsaRussian Studies major, the experience was invaluable. After work, all of the interns (there were four other American interns and two Turkish interns) met and talked with theparticipants,anditwaseasytobuildpersonalrelationshipswiththembecausewewereallstayinginthesameplace.IwasabletospeakRussianwithallofthemandtalktopeoplelivingundersomeoftheworld’sworstdictatorshipsaboutpolitics-arare experience. I now consider many of the participants my friends and know that ifIevertravelthroughCentralAsia,Ihaveaplacetostay.Irecommendthateverystudent bring up their major or interests in conversation with anyone who will listen; youneverknowwherepeople’sconnectionsmaytakeyou.

The Havighurst Center can add you to its listserv for information about internships and job openings.

Contact Karen Dawisha at dawishkl@muohio.edu

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Cincinnati Symphony OrchestraThe Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’sFallSeasonisrepletewithperformancesof Russian and Czech compositions.

September 19, 11 amSeptember 20, 8 pmDVORÁK DELIGHTPaavo Järvi, conductorGautierCapuçon,cello

DVORÁK Symphonic VariationsDVORÁK Cello Concerto in B MinorDVORÁK Symphony No. 8 in G Major October 3, 8 pmOctober 4, 8 pmRUSSIAN RHAPSODYVasily Petrenko, conductorJon Kimura Parker, piano

GLINKA Overture to Russlan and LudmillaRACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of PaganiniSHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 8

October 31, 11 amNovember 1, 8 pm TOWERING TCHAIKOVSKYLeonid Grin, conductorTaiMurray,violin

DVORÁK Scherzo capricciosoBARBER Violin ConcertoTCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5

November 15, 8 pmNovember 16, 3 pm MUSICAL METAMORPHOSISPaavo Järvi, conductorChloë Hanslip, violin

STRAVINSKY Pétrouchka (1947 version)PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1HINDEMITH Symphonic MetamorphosisofThemesbyCarlMariavonWeber

December 5, 8 pmDecember 6, 8 pm TALES OF TCHAIKOVSKYAlanGilbert,conductorJohannesMoser,cello

TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a RococoThemeTCHAIKOVSKY Manfred Symphony

Miami University Symphony Orchestra

October 11, 2008 Inspired by the sound of Bohemianfolkmusic,heartheorchestraperformAntonin Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major.Hall Auditorium, 8:00pm

ENJOY THE MUSIC OF RUSSIA AND EASTERN EUROPE

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Russian and East European Universities Approved for Credit at Miami University

Czech Republic: Palacky University (Olomouc) Palacky (pah-LAS-ky) University in Olomouc is a modern European university with rich international relations. It is the second oldest university in the Czech Republic. The Department of Politics and the European Studies is an interdisciplinary department of the Philosophical Faculty of Palacky University. It works in close cooperation with other departments in thePhilosophical Faculty, including History, Philosophy, Sociology, English, and American Studies. Palacky University is home to about 14,000 students. It supports the international exchange of knowledge through numerous international contacts andprograms, including the Central European Studies Program. Instruction is in English. Fall or spring semesters. (Exchange) Website: http://www.muohio.edu/international/exchange-palacky.php

Hungary: Central European University (Budapest) Central European University (CEU) came into being along with the sweeping social, political, and economic changes ofthe early 1990s in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (CEE/FSU). The university was established by a group of visionary intellectuals (many of them prominent members of anti-totalitarian, democratic oppositions) led by the philanthropist George Soros. CEU is a US-style graduate institutioninthesocialsciencesandhumanities.Inadditiontostudents from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, CEU welcomes students from Western Europe and North America, including undergraduates on the CEU/Bard program whohelptoenrichtheinternationalenvironment.Thelanguageof instruction at CEU is English. Fall semester, spring semester, oracademicyear.Website: http://ceu.bard.edu

Russia: St Petersburg State Polytechnic University (St Petersburg) St. Petersburg, the most European of Russian cities, was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 as Russia’s “Window to the West.” The St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University was founded in 1899 and became one of the major universities of Russia. The University, home to more than 20,000 students and 2,000 professors, lecturers, and instructors, is equipped withmodernfacilitiesincludinglecturehallsandstudyrooms,computerlabsandsportsand training facilities. Instruction is in English and Russian. Fall semester, spring semester, oracademicyear.Website: http://www.aifsabroad.com/ays/stpetersburg/index.htm

For more information on these and other study abroad programs in Russia and Eastern Europe, contact the Office of International Education, 216 MacMillan Hall, international@muohio.edu.

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ATH/HST/POL/RUS 254 Intro to Russian & Eurasian Studies9:30am - 10:45am TR, UPH 262 Norris, Stephen

ATH 306 Peoples and Cultures of Russia 9:00am - 9:50am MWF, UPH 389 Klumbyte, Neringa

HST 374Russia To 1855 9:00am - 9:50am MWF, UPH 343 Thurston,Robert

HST 436/536POL 440/540REL 470/570Havighurst Colloquium: Islam in Central Eurasia12:00pm - 1:50pm M, HRN 209/W HRN 203 Prior, Daniel

ITS 402O Transition to Democracy 1:00pm - 3:40pm T, MMH 115 Sharafutdinova, Gulnaz

POL 331 Development of the Soviet Polity 9:30am - 10:45am TR, HRN 109 Ganev, Venelin

RUS 101 A Beginners Russian 11:00am - 12:10pm MWF, IRV 030 Sutcliffe, Benjamin RUS 101 B Beginners Russian 2:00pm - 3:10pm MWF, IRV 024 Sutcliffe, Benjamin RUS 201 Intermediate Russian 10:00am - 10:50am MWF, MCG 224 Ziolkowski,Margaret

RUS 257 Russian Lit in English Translation 9:00am - 9:50am MWF, MCG 419 Sutcliffe, Benjamin

RUS 301 Advanced Russian 11:00am - 11:50am MWF IRV 130 Ziolkowski, Margaret RUS 411Advanced Conversation & Composition3:30pm - 6:00pm W, IRV 130 Goncharenko-Rose,Irina

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FALL 2008 CLASSES

Spring 2008TheCenterkickedofftheSpringsemesterwiththeHavighurst Colloquia Series “Cold War Battles: Cultural Episodes from the Frontlines of the Cold War.” Organized by Associate Professor Stephen Norris (History), theseriesincluded guest lecturers Steven Barnes (George Mason), Sergei Zhuk (Ball State), Benjamin Sutcliffe (Miami), Andrew Jenks (CSU-Long Beach), Elena Prokhorova (William and Mary), Scott Kenworthy (Miami), Benjamin Nathans (U-Penn), and Vladislav Zubok (Temple).

Beginning in February, several Miami faculty participated in the Havighurst FacultyResearchForum,whichprovidedthemtheopportunitytopresenttheir current research and writing projects to colleagues. Neringa Klumbyte (ITS) gave a presentationonSoviet Time Alterity and Lives on the Social Periphery. Scott Kenworthy (REL) presentedaportionofhisbookmanuscript,Reviving Monasticism in the Soviet Union: The Trinity-Sergius Monastery during the Cold War. Gulnaz Sharafutdinova (POL) contributed withapresentationonSubnational Regime Change in Putin’s Russia.

From the first week of April to the last, the Havighurst Center hosted, sponsored and co-sponsored a myriad of lectures, performances and conferences. On April 1, the Havighurst CenterhostedRoaldSagdeev,Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland,and his wife Susan Eisenhower, President of the Eisenhower Group, Inc, and granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States,fortheAnnualHavighurst Lecture. In keeping with the Center’s Cold War focus, Dr. Sagdeev and Ms. Eisenhower presented the joint lecture Breaking Free: Parallel Lives and Common Dreams, about theirrelationshipandexperiences during the Cold War.

On April 11, the Havighurst Center co-sponsored a panel for the Political Science Department’s conference on Democracy in West Africa: 1990-2007. The comparative panel on elections was organized by Dr. Gulnaz Sharafutdinova (POL) and featured experts from Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa. It concluded the second day of the conference and featured Fabrice Lehoucq (UNC-Greensboro), Staffan I. Lindberg (Florida), and Conor O’Dwyer (Florida).

On April 18, the Miami University Symphony Orchestra performed, featuring Concerto Competition winners Amanda Collins and Matt Menickelly, both also recipients of the Havighurst Prize, which is awarded to a student who wins the Music Department’s annual concerto competition by playing a Russia composition. Amanda Collins performed Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2, 1st movement and Matt Menickelly performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1, 1st movement.

The semester concluded with a week-long focus on Uzbekistan, highlightedbytheperformanceofEcstasy with the PomegranatebyIlkhomTheater.TwooftheprincipalactorsfromtheIlkhomTheatrespent the week preceding their performance as artists-in-residence,visitingnumerousclassesandattendingtheScreening Uzbekistan film series, as well as the Uzbekistan at the Crossroadssymposiumhosted by the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS), where scholars discussed historical and contemporary Uzbekistan.

PAST EVENTS

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIESHAVIGHURST CENTER GRANTThe Havigurst Center announces the next round of competition for grant assistance through the Havighurst Center Fund for projects/program to be undertaken in Spring 2009. The purpose of the Havighurst Fund is to provide full or partial support for projects undertaken by full-time faculty and staff from all Miami campuses in all fields that focus on Russia, Eastern Europe, and/or Eurasia. Initiatives that promote wider faculty and student awareness of the region and that seek to deepen Miami’sprogrammaticinvolvementinthisareaarepreferred.

Those who wish to be considered for funding for Spring and Summer 2009 should submit one original and 9 copies of their application no later than 5:00pm, Friday, October 31, 2008, to the Havighurst Center, 116 Harrison Hall, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056. Another round of competition will be held in Spring 2009 to consider projects to be undertaken the following Fall.

Proposals will be reviewed by the Havighurst Advisory Committee, comprised of faculty peers who will submit their recommendations to the Provost for approval.

All applicants are encouraged to contact Karen Dawisha, Director of the Havighurst Center,todiscusstheirproposalsbeforesubmittingthem,atDAWISHKL@muohio.edu.

Further proof to the rumour that Steve Norris was an extra in Monty Python’s “Holy Grail”

The Havighurst Centerfor Russian & Post-Soviet Studies

MiamiUniversity116 Harrison Hall

Oxford, Ohio 45056

KarenDawisha,DirectorLynn Stevens, Program Coordinator