Announcements and News |
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**Slavic Center Spring 2013 Newletter Available here!**
The Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar
The Mellon Foundation Seminar on “Language, Politics, and Human Expression in South Asia and the Balkans” will be held during the academic year 2013-2014. This year-long seminar seeks to develop a comparative dialogue on culture, language, and politics in both regions. The group aims to explore comparisons and connections along multiple axes, including common and divergent imperial legacies, gender and nationalism, religion and secularism, and post-colonialism and post-communism. The Ohio State faculty who collaborated to put this event together are Theodora Dragostinova (History), Yana Hashamova (Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies), Pranav Jani (English), Brian Joseph (Linguistics and Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures), Jessie Labov (Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures), Scott Levi (History), Andrea Sims (Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures), and Mytheli Sreenivas (Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies and History). A recent addition is Dr. Ujala Dhaka-Kintgen (Anthropology from Harvard University) who will be a resident postdoctoral fellow from August 2013 through May 2014. Besides working on her research, Dr. Dhaka-Kintgen will be teaching an undergraduate course in spring 2014. The wide ranging expertise of the group is just one indication of the interdisciplinary nature of the seminar. There are three exciting events planned for next year. One of the seminar’s highlights is a lecture series by distinguished scholars in South Asia and the Balkans. Additionally, there will be a year-long one-credit graduate course (ASC 8194) open to all students interested in the seminar’s themes and methodologies. Those enrolled for the course will have the opportunity to interact with the invited speakers. In October 2014, there will be a conference that will aim to crystallize the links that would emerge from the previous events.
Faculty Member Receives Grant to Study Environment and Natural Resources
Nicholas Breyfogle (Department of History) recently received the very good news that an international group of scholars of which he is a part has been awarded an International Network Grant from the Leverhulme Trust in the UK on the topic “Exploring Russia’s Environmental History and Natural Resources.” The grant involves scholars from 3 countries (UK, Russia, and USA) and six universities, and it is a three-year £123K grant. As part of the grant, they will travel as a group to three sites of ecological interest in Russia for field work and workshops/conferences. The grant includes funding for Dr. Breyfogle to go and also full funding for another faculty member or graduate student from OSU to attend as well for each of the three trips. This network of British, American and Russian specialists will conduct multidisciplinary research into key aspects of the environmental history of lands that have come under Russian rule over a long time period and in a global comparative perspective. The network activities will revolve around workshops/field trips in St Petersburg, the Solovetskii islands in the White Sea, Lake Baikal in Siberia, and the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine. By adding field work to conventional historical research we will enhance our understanding of the history of Russian scientific research, exploitation of natural resources, environmental disasters, and nature conservation.
Slavic Center Faculty Receive NEH Grants
Nicholas Breyfogle, History
Nicholas Breyfogle received an NEH Fellowship for his book project, “Baikal: The Great Lake and its People.” The project is an environmental history of the Lake Baikal region of Siberia from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Over 25 million years in age, Baikal is one of the earth’s natural wonders. The lake is the world’s oldest, deepest, and largest (in terms of volume of water), holding one-fifth of all surface, liquid freshwater on the planet—more water than all the Great Lakes combined. His research reconstructs the history of this dynamic, world-important body of water and the people who lived near it—how the lake and its environs have changed over time through their own ecological rhythms, how humans have transformed the lake and its ecosystems, and the ways in which human society has simultaneously been changed and directed by Baikal. By exploring the relationship between humans and Baikal (cultural, socio-economic, political, ecological, biological, and technological) over the longue durée, this project contextualizes Soviet-era environmental traumas, analyzes broad patterns found at the nexus of Russians and the environment, and discusses the development of Russian conservation efforts. Using the lens of Baikal and the methodologies of environmental history, the study also sheds new light on questions of colonial contact, economic development and resource management, the formation of Russian identity, evolution of Russian science, the historical importance of natural disasters, and the role of the sacred in Eurasian society.
Scott Levi, History
Scott Levi, Associate Professor, Department of History, was awarded an NEH Fellowship for his current research project, Central Asia on the Frontier of Empires: The Khanate of Khoqand, 1709–1876. This project aims to produce the first book to focus direct attention on the ways that early modern Central Asia actively engaged with the globalizing world. The book will also represent the first English-language history of the Khanate of Khoqand, an extraordinarily dynamic state that emerged during the eighteenth century in eastern Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley. The study will analyze ways that global political, economic, technological and environmental developments influenced life in early modern Central Asia and contributed to the rise, and fall, of Khoqand. It will also illustrate the ways that Central Asians influenced the policies of their much larger imperial neighbors on the Eurasian periphery.
Margarita Mazo, Music
Margarita Mazo, Professor Emerita, has received a substantial and highly competitive two-year grant from National Endowment for the Humanities that will enable the first publication of Igor Stravinsky’s autographs for his seminal 1923 ballet “Les Noces” in facsimile. Mazo’s collaborator in this project is Olga Haldey, an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland and a former PhD student at OSU. The previous grants from the OSU College of Arts and Sciences and American Musicological Society helped to lift the project from the ground and support the initial research. The NEH grant makes this publication possible by providing funds to purchase over 800 high-quality images in full color, reproduction fees, fees of multiple copyright holders, libraries charges, color balancing editing, and travels of the authors to research sites for final checking of the materials, all prohibitively-costly expenses that delayed the publication of this monumental project for years. One of the most powerful and influential compositions of the twentieth century, Igor Stravinsky’s 1923 ballet Les Noces was re-envisioned multiple times throughout its eleven-year history. Conceived in 1912 as a spectacle for the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev’s lavish pre-WWI enterprise, its ethnographic narrative of ancient wedding ritual in Russian villages was gradually stripped down to create the abstract, stark, and austere work we know. Extant autographs for the piece assembled in the facsimile edition shed light on all stages of this remarkable transformation and reflect Stravinsky’s reinvention of his work, artistic self, and the new public image he wanted to present to modernist Paris, as he re-molded himself from a young Russian émigré into a French celebrity, an icon of Parisian modernity, and a leader of contemporary music. Mazo began her investigation of Stravinsky’s autographs for Les Noces in 1997 at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel, Switzerland, then worked with the materials deposited in the archives of Stadtbibliothek Winterthur, University of Lausanne, Bibliothéque Nationale de France, British Library, and The Pierpont Morgan Library, leading to several groundbreaking discoveries, including the original version of the work and two key manuscripts, previously not known to exist. She has published in leading scholarly venues, presented numerous papers and lectures around the world, culminating in 2005 in the much-acclaimed release of the critical edition of the work’s score based on the autograph sources – the first new edition of Les Noces since its 1923 premiere.
Stephen Petrill, Psychology
Dr. Stephen Petrill, professor of psychology, has received a 2013-2014 Fulbright Grant to conduct research on “International Twin Studies Examining Gene - Environment Processes in Mathematics Achievement”. His research, a portion of which will be conducted in Tomsk, Russia, has two objectives: to integrate existing data collected from US, UK, and Russian twin samples in order to examine the genetic and environmental underpinnings of math achievement from an international perspective and to plan pilot studies in US, UK, and Russian twin samples to examine the genetic and environmental etiology of brain-based measures of mathematical ability. It is generally recognized that there are important country-level differences in mathematics achievement, but there are also significant person-level differences in math achievement within countries. By understanding how genetic and environmental factors influence person-level differences in math achievement, and how these differ/do not differ across countries, Dr. Petrill hopes to obtain foundational information about the mechanisms through which genes and environments work differently under the influence of different cultures; including different curricula, educational set-up, educationally-relevant cultural norms, and linguistic factors. As a Fulbright research grantee at Tomsk State University, in collaboration with the Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education in Moscow, he will accelerate his efforts in these domains by combining and beginning the systematic analysis of the existing (but currently separate) behavioral genetic studies of mathematics in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation, and by planning new international pilot projects using brain-based measures of mathematical processing. Dr. Petrill has a long history of successful international collaboration, allowing him to develop a high level of adaptability and understand the importance of cultural sensitivity. A British colleague, Dr. Kovas, with whom he has collaborated since 2003, recently received a grant for a new twin study of mathematics based at Tomsk State University, funded by the Government of the Russian Federation, and the Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education in Moscow. Dr. Petrill is also a scientific advisor on the new Russian twin project. Together with Dr. Kovas he has recently submitted a book chapter with Dr. Sergei Malykh, one of their colleagues on the Russian Twin Study (and scientific director of the Psychological Institute). In June 2012, he travelled to Moscow and Tomsk to participate in scientific meetings and take part in a research colloquium and the International Summer School on behavioral genetics with his Russian colleagues. This experience allowed him to accelerate the process of learning to speak and read the Russian language, and also has enhanced my appreciation of the cultural, political, and scientific landscape in Russia. Beyond the relationships developed with his Russian colleagues, Ohio State University and Tomsk State University have a positive institutional history of developing joint research as well as student exchange programs in other academic domains. Thus, beyond the scope of his Fulbright research, this work has enhanced potential to promote sustainable and mutually-beneficial ties between the US and Russian academies.
6th International Conference on Conflict Resolution Education: Bridging Cultures: Education for Global Citizenship and Civic Engagement
Bridging Cultures: Education for Global Citizenship and Civic Engagement Global Issues Resource Center at Cuyahoga Community College is hosting the 6th International Conference on Conflict Resolution Education (CRE), Bridging Cultures: Education for Global Citizenship and Civic Engagement in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, June 12 - 17, 2013 in collaboration with the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Ohio Campus Compact, the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, the American Red Cross, and the International School Psychology Association. During the conference there are 4 keynotes, 32 workshops, 7 pre-conference intensive trainings, and many other events with presenters from 19 countries including: Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, China, Georgia, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Montenegro, Philippines, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Presentations focus on innovations in the fields that are making broad impacts in local, state, national, and international communities. Pre-Conference trainings cover topics including: Integrating Core Theories of Conflict Resolution Across Disciplines; Sustained Dialogue Campus Network; Collaborative Negotiation; Teaching International Humanitarian Law in the Humanities; Integrating Service Learning and Civic Engagement into Courses; Child Rights; and Methods for Teaching about Nonviolent Struggle. On-site events include a networking meeting of Colleges and Universities developing peace and conflict studies programs, March 15th, 6:30PM – 9:30PM and a capacity building seminar for U.S. Community Colleges developing peace and conflict studies programs on June 16 and 17, 2013. The 2013 conference builds upon prior conferences and meetings in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 which brought together representatives from around the globe. The annual audience includes college/university educators and students, K-12 educators, prevention specialists, and state, local, national, and international policy makers. For more information or to register, please visit: http://creducation.org/cre/goto/6th
Outreach to Community and Technical Colleges, HBCUs, and Other Minority Serving Institutions
Resources for students now available on the CTC and HBCU homepage!
As a Title VI National Resource Center, the Center for Slavic and East European Studies offers programs for Community and Techincal Colleges, as well as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions throughout the Midwest. These programs are offered at no expense to the CTCs or HBCUs and are aimed at raising the level of awareness of issues related to Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia (REE&E). Programs specifically designed for CTCs and HBCUs include (1) Slavic film or lecture series, (2) development grants for CTC and HBCU faculty, and (3) career development opportunities. For more information about these opportunities, please visit our CTC and HBCU homepage.
Polish Studies Initiative
The website for the Polish Studies Initiative is now available! Click here for more information on the PSI!
Beyond Mosque, Church, and State: Negotiating Religious and Ethno-National Identities in the Balkans
Dr. Hashamova and Dr. Dragostinova would like to thank everyone who participated and attended the conference for making it a huge success. Click here for post-conference updates, including video of select panels, photographs from the events, and comments from presenters and audience members!
Outreach Update
Check out the expanded Teacher Resources section of the CSEES Outreach website! You will find information on what materials are available for loan and what presentations are available for your students. Also take a look at the new CSEES Outreach Photos section.
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