This past semester has been a particularly productive one for the Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (CSEEES) in terms of our outreach work. While many are familiar with our U.S. Department of Education Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grant, we are also very fortunate to be named a U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) for Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia (REEE). This funding enables us to offer programming and resources to K-14 students and educators within the state of Ohio and beyond. These programs allow us to share information and foster interest in the regions and countries that our center covers with a younger generation of students and their educators who want to bolster their curriculum with more content pertaining to our region. CSEEES’ outreach work is largely facilitated by Alicia Baca who has served as outreach coordinator since fall 2018, but we also create programs in partnership with the other Ohio State Area Studies Centers and other REEE NRCs across the United States.

On Saturday, October 7 we hosted the first regional topic session of our 2023-24 Global Fellowship Program. Organized by CSEEES in partnership with the other Ohio State Area Studies Centers, this program brings educators from across the U.S. together in a series of discussions about contemporary issues from a global perspective. This year’s program focuses on the topic of “Women’s Rights and Issues Across the Globe.” CSEEES’ regional session was led by Dr. Jennifer Suchland (SEELC/WGSS) and covered the history of women’s rights and activism within Russia from the Soviet period to the modern day. The teachers also received access to an additional resource guide on the topic that covers the region of Central Asia and other countries in Eastern Europe.

On October 14, 2023, 12 high school and community college educators from across the U.S. visited the Ohio State campus to kick-off their participation in the 2023-24 Engaging Eurasia Teacher Fellowship (EETF). Organized by Harvard U., U. of Wisconsin-Madison, U. of Pittsburgh and Ohio State, EETF is a year-long professional development program for K-14 educators devoted to the people, histories, and cultures of Eurasia. The 2023-24 program focuses on the topic “An Exploration of Central Asia” and has provided participants with the opportunity to take a deep dive into the history, environment, politics, and culture of Central Asian states and peoples. The fellows heard lectures about new approaches to teaching the Silk Road from Ohio State faculty members Scott Levi and Morgan Liu and PhD student Di Wang. Daniel Prior from Miami U. also made a special appearance to talk about his translation of The Memorial Feast for Kökötöy Khan and how the Kyrgyz epic can be used as a cooperative work for ELA educators who work with other epic texts such as Beowulf or The Odyssey.

On Saturday, October 28 we hosted our annual teacher training workshop with SEELC faculty member Alexander Burry as our guest expert. The workshop, entitled “’Happiness Without Freedom or Freedom Without Happiness’: Slavic Science Fantasy Literature and Film as Political and Social Commentary,” focused on how works within the genres of science fantasy, sci-fi, speculative fiction, etc. have functioned as an outlet for criticizing social and political issues in Eastern Europe. Participating teachers explored the works of the Strugatsky Brothers, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Stanisław Lem, Karel Čapek, and more. Participants learned how to use this genre as a tool to help students explore the topic of identity, talk about the modern use of AI, and engage with issues that they may not have interacted with otherwise. Those who completed the workshop also received five books, contact hours, a stipend, and access to a resource guide that contains links to articles, books, music, films, and more for K-12 and community college educators and students.

In November, Baca also presented a number of career lectures for the Columbus Council on World Affairs’ (CCWA) Global Scholars Diploma program. During these talks, she told students about her career trajectory, the type of work she does as an outreach coordinator, and how she works with educators, students, and scholars both domestically and internationally. In spring 2024 she will return to CCWA to give presentations on LGBTQ+ rights in the region for the portion of the program that focuses on global issues. Additionally, she has also been acting as the temporary teacher for Columbus International High School’s Russian language program this semester. Since 2011, CSEEES has collaborated with CIHS to provide Russian 1 and 2 for their students to give them with the opportunity to learn an East European language. In an effort to help students understand the complexities of the usage of Russian in the region, particularly in countries that were part of the former Soviet Union, Baca has also brought in guest speakers to the class to talk about the languages, cultures, and histories of other countries that have historically been made to adopt Russian as a state language. This semester, Emma Pratt (CSEEES assistant director) and Mykyta Tyshchenko (PhD student in SEELC) gave presentations on Georgia and Ukraine, respectively.

However, the work didn’t stop there. In partnership with fellow outreach and engagement coordinators Megan Luttrell (CREES at U. of Kansas) and Zita Toth-Shawgo (REEES at U. of Pittsburgh) Baca presented on a roundtable at the 2023 Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies convention. This roundtable, chaired by Jennifer Tishler (CREECA at U. of Wisconsin-Madison) highlighted the three centers' outreach work, resources they have created over the years, major themes that the centers address, and discussed the challenges of returning to high-touch, in-person programs after COVID-19 and interest in the region following Russia’s war in Ukraine.

While 2023 is coming to a close, we are gearing up for more programs next spring and summer. CSEEES is pleased to share that we will be leading the 2024 Global Teacher Seminar which will feature Maria Fedorova (Macalester College) as our lead instructor and Daniel Redman (Ohio State U.) as our pedagogy instructor. The 2024 theme will continue the seminar’s focus on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, specifically looking at issues surrounding global poverty and hunger. Applications for this program will open soon and we look forward to welcoming educators from across the country to the summer seminar. We are excited about the opportunities that are on the horizon and, as always, stay tuned for news about our upcoming programs, workshops, and more!