The Ohio State University

2012 Midwest Slavic Conference
March 30 - April 1, 2012
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH

The Midwest Slavic Association is proud to host the 60th anniversary of the Midwest Slavic Conference March 30th through April 1st, 2012. Bowling Green State University held the first Midwest Slavic Conference in 1952, and throughout much of its history, the conference travelled to colleges and universities around the Midwest, including Indiana University, Michigan State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and University of Wisconsin. Since 2003 the Midwest Slavic Conference has found a permanent home at the Ohio State University thanks to the generous support from the Center for Slavic and East European Studies and the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures. In the last ten years the conference grew from thirteen panels in 2002 to over thirty panels in 2012. Such incredible growth is due to the tireless efforts of George Kalbouss (Ohio State University), Halina Stephan (Ohio State University), Tim Pogacar (Bowling Green State University), Jennifer Spock (Eastern Kentucky University), and others. Bob Taft, the former Ohio governor, recognized the successes and achievements of the Midwest Slavic Conference with a letter on the opening day of the 2001 event. A copy of his letter can be found here.

The 60th anniversary conference will begin on Friday, March 30th at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs with opening remarks by Dr. Yana Hashamova and Associate Dean Sebastian Knowles at 6:00pm, the keynote address by Lilya Kaganovsky (University of Illinois) at 6:30pm, followed by an opening reception at 7:30pm. Saturday, March 31st and Sunday, April 1st will be two full days of panels. This year’s panels are composed of approximately fourty two faculty members, seventy five graduate students, and twenty four undergraduates from twenty nine colleges and universities, including four international institutions. The conference is pleased to continue its tradition of providing a welcoming and comfortable environment for students in Slavic, Central and East European, and Central Asian studies. In addition to the conference, the Slavic Center will host its annual Midwest Slavic K-12 teacher workshop on Saturday entitled “Islam Outside the Middle East.” Finally on Saturday the Second Annual Ohio Undergraduate Olympiada of Spoken Russian will be held for all students enrolled in Russian language classes at any Ohio college or university.

For more information on the 2012 Midwest Slavic Conference or any of the events taking place March 30th through April 1st, please contact Jordan Peters at midwestslavic@gmail.com.