"A Minute for Reflection: Soviet Television Game Shows, 1960s-1980s"
Christine Evans, assistant professor of History at UW-Milwaukee
Date and Time: March 1, 2012, 4:00 – 5:30 PM
Location: 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive
Sponsors: Center for Russia East Europe and Central Asia (CREECA)
About the Lecture: Soviet television game shows occupy a prominent spot among the many “common places” of post-Soviet memory, reflecting their great popularity among viewers during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. This paper will argue that Soviet Central Television’s game shows were not just the most popular, but also among the most important and interesting programs on Central Television. They offer us a particularly concentrated and revealing view of the social and political conflicts and processes of the late Soviet Union, and thus a better understanding of both the origins of the Soviet collapse in 1991 and the significant continuities between the late Soviet and current Russian systems. Far from being straightforward vehicles for the imposition of Soviet ideology, Soviet game shows were creative and experimental. They reflect a much less familiar side of the Brezhnev era, as a time not only of old age, cynicism, and decay, but of intense searching, contestation, and creative experimentation—an exploration of the new possibilities opened up by the loss of belief. This experimentation was concentrated around a central issue raised by the decline of Soviet ideology: the nature and exercise of authority in the Soviet Union. This paper will explore the meanings and limits of these late Soviet TV game show experiments, and their connections to the improvisational politics of both perestroika and the “managed democracy” that followed."
About the Speaker: Christine Evans received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 2010, and was a Residency Research Fellow at Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies of the University of Michigan in 2011. She has published articles on Soviet television news and holiday variety programs and is the co-author of two chapters in edited volumes, one on the creation of a university for "Third World" students in Moscow in 1960, and the other on the relationship between terrorists in early 20th century St. Petersburg and the modern urban landscape in which they operated. Her research interests include the relationship between mass media and political and cultural change, and the place of uncertainty, risk, and game-playing in Soviet culture and everyday life. She is currently at work on a book entitled Between Truth and Time: A History of Soviet Central Television."
Music! Food! Dancing!
Where: University Club
When: Thursday, March 1st at 4:30pm
Please join the Friends of the Libraries at a free event celebrating the Mayrent Collection of Yiddish Music, one of the treasures of Mills Music Library. The event, at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 1st at the University Club, will feature Henry "Hank" Sapoznik, founding director of the Mayrent Institute, which is part of UW-Madison's Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies, and of KlezKamp, the noted Yiddish folk arts program. Henry and some talented musician friends will bring the Central & Eastern European Yiddish past to life with live music, as well as selections from classic 78s in the Mayrent Collection, which was generously donated by Sherry Mayrent in 2010. The event is free, open to all, and family-friendly. There will be plenty of food & drink, with dancing encouraged!
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Overture Center
International Festival
Date and Time: March 3, 2012, 11:00 AM– 5:00 PM
Location: Overture Center for the Arts
On Saturday, March 3rd, the Overture Center for the Arts will be holding the annual International Festival. This festival includes performances from around the world, including quite a few from Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia. Below is a calender of events pertaining to that region.
Schedule of Select Events:
Capitol Theater
12:25 pm UW Russian Folk Orchestra, Russian and Eastern European folk music on authentic instruments
1:35 pm Žaibas Lithuanian Dancers, Lithuanian folk dances
Promenade Hall
3:50 pm Tri Bratovchedki, singing traditional Eastern European songs
Wisconsin Studio
12:50 pm Veseliyka, Music from areas around Bulgaria on traditional folk instruments
Rotunda Stage
1:10 pm Sergei Belkin, Traditional folk songs from around the world on the accordion
For more information and a full schedule of events: Please click here
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"Russian Presidential Elections"
CREECA Faculty Roundtable
Date and Time: March 8, 2012, 4:00 – 5:30 PM
Location: 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive
Sponsors: Center for Russia East Europe and Central Asia (CREECA)
About the roundtable discussion: On March 4, 2012, voters in the Russian Federation will go to the polls to elect their next president. In September, Russian Prime Minister, and former president, Vladimir Putin announced that he would run for president in 2012, with incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev taking over as Prime Minister. Please join us just days after the election for a lively discussion with some of CREECA's faculty experts on Russia.
Speakers:
Yoshiko M. Herrera, Department of Political Science and Director of CREECA: Yoshiko Herrera received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Having taught at Harvard University from 1999-2007, she is currently an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include politics in Russia and the former Soviet states, social identities including methodological issues and measurement, regionalism and ethnic politics, norms and institutional change including bureaucracy and constructivist political economy. At UW-Madison, Professor Herrera has taught courses in comparative politics, social identities, and politics of the states of the Former Soviet Union. Her most recent book, Mirrors of the Economy: National Accounts and International Norms in Russia and Beyond, was an Honorable Mention for the 2011 Ed A. Hewett Book Prize. The book analyzes the variance in implementation of the UN’s System of National Accounts (SNA), and in particular the success of post-communist countries in implementing the SNA. Currently, she is working on xenophobia and contemporary Russian nationalism, and has begun a project on the role of identity-related variables in public health and demography outcomes in the states of the former Soviet Union.
Alexander Dolinin, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature: Alexander Dolinin is Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at UW-Madison, having received his Ph.D. from Leningrad State University. He is a specialist in Russian prose of the 19th and 20th centuries, Russian-American literary linkages, Nabokov and Russian émigré literature, Pushkin’s prose and translation, and 19th century Russian poetry. At UW-Madison, Professor Dolinin has taught courses in Russian Literature in Translation, Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Symbolism, and Russian Poetry after Pushkin. He is the author of many articles in both Russian and English on Nabokov, and has served as an editor, annotator, and translator.
David M. McDonald, Department of History: David McDonald is the Alice D. Mortenson-Michael B. Petrovich Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since 1988, he has received numerous awards not only in his field of research, but also for teaching, and is a frequent invited speaker on Wisconsin Public Radio on topics as varied as Catherine the Great, US-Russian relations, and Russian foreign policy. His most recent book, United Government and Russian Foreign Policy, 1900-1914, is an analysis of Russian foreign policy on the eve of World War I in regard to the war with Japan and its aftermath. David McDonald’s research and teaching interests focus on the social, intellectual, political, and diplomatic aspects of Imperial Russian history (1649-1917).
Robert Kaiser, Department of Geography: Robert J. Kaiser is Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and served as the director of the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia (CREECA) from 2001-2004. His research areas include: geography of nationalism; cultural politics of memory; politics of scale; power, place and identity; border studies; and post-socialist space. Professor Kaiser’s current research focuses on the cultural politics of memory through re-imagining the past and reclaiming the future in the Estonian-Russian borderlands. His most recent book, co-authored with Tassilo Herschel and Dmitry Zimin, Borders in Post-Socialist Europe, uses empirical case studies from post-socialist European countries to combine the main strands of the ‘borders’ debate, and considers whether there are links between scale and perceived immediacy and closeness, and thus the impact of borders on people’s perception and action. Professor Kaiser was awarded the Leon Epstein Fellowship, beginning July 1, 2012, in recognition of his contributions to teaching, research and service.
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Wisconsin International Students Association: Intercultural Night
When: March 9th 2012
Where: Wisconsin Union Theater
ICN is an annual event organized by WISA with the goals of promoting and celebrating the diversity of cultures amongst students and communities in Madison and beyond. For the past 8 years, we have collaborated with numerous student organizations such as MadHatters, KUSA , Madtown Ballroom, School of Bhangra, ISA to name a few, to showcase their unique culture through various form of performances. The 2011 ICN attracted over 600 attendees from different cultural backgrounds around the Madison area and featured 10 performances. Recognition for the event by our university was evident as our guest of honor, Director of International Student Services, Laurie Cox presented the ICN opening speech.
The best part? It's all free! So don't miss it!
More details of the event:
Intercultural Night (ICN)
What: A cultural concert featuring performances from various groups on campus.
Time: 7:00pm-9:00pm
Venue: Memorial Union Theater
Performance lineup:
1. Ulssu, Korean Traditional Drumming and Dancing Group
2. Voice Solo Performance by Amandine Martin
3. Rhythm Per Second
4. Violin and Piano Philippines Folksong Duet by Isidora Miranda & Kah Yee Yap
5. Cultural Dance by Malaysian Students Association
6. Tangled Up In Blue Women's A Capella
7. Madtown Ballroom
8. REPLAY: HASA Dance Crew
9. Amateur Chamber Players
10. Traditional Indonesian Dance by PERMIAS (Indonesian Students Association)
Intercultural Festival (ICF)
What: An after-celebration with food and great raffle prizes, stand a chance to win exclusive prizes! Special appearance by Bucky the Badger
Time: 9:00pm-11:00pm
Venue: On Wisconsin Room, Red Gym
Disclaimer: Attendance for On Wisconsin Room is limited to UW-Madison students, faculties, as well as guests of UW-Madison students
This event is sponsored by Associated Students of Madison (ASM), Assembly of International Students (AIS), International Student Services (ISS), Wisconsin Experience Grant and Wisconsin Late Night Grant.
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"Political participation in Russia and Indonesia"
Danielle Lussier
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Grinnell College
Date and Time: March 15 at 4:00 PM
Location: 206 Ingraham Hall
Sponsor: Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia; Center for Southeast Asian Studies
About the speaker: Danielle Lussier is an assistant professor in political science at Grinnell College, having received her Ph.D. at Berkeley in 2011. Her research focuses on democratization, the political behavior of former authoritarian regimes, and leadership, with a particular emphasis on Eurasia and Indonesia. Her work has appeared in Problems of Post-Communism, Post-Soviet Affairs, and Slavic Review. She is currently developing a book manuscript that analyzes the role of political participation in the regime change outcomes of post-Soviet Russia and post-Suharto Indonesia. Lussier is also involved in a collaborative research project that examines variation in social and political attitudes between Muslims and Christians around the world. Lussier teaches courses on Russian politics, democratization and regime change, and Islam and politics.
About the lecture: What causes democracy to survive after initial democratic elections? Scholarship on democratization and regime change suggest several factors conducive to democracy’s survival, including higher levels of socioeconomic development, stronger parliaments and weaker presidents, and a longer history of independent statehood. These factors, however, do not explain the political trajectories of two of the world’s largest countries—Russia and Indonesia. In both countries, democratizing systems replaced authoritarian regimes in the 1990s. Yet after almost a decade of reform, early democratic gains had been eroded in Russia, while they have survived in Indonesia. This talk will offer an alternate explanation for Russia’s and Indonesia’s fates: the patterns in political and social engagement that emerged after initial elections. Using a combination of evidence from public opinion surveys and more than 240 interviews with Russians and Indonesians, I argue that Russians’ retreat from political and civil life opened the path for elite reversal of democratic gains, while Indonesians’ sustained activism constrained elites and helped foster democracy’s survival.
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Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Tajikistan
Erin Peck and Jillian Landeck
Medical students, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Date and Time: March 22 at 4:00 PM
Location: 206 Ingraham Hall
Sponsor: Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia
About the speakers:
Erin Peck: Prior to starting medical school at the UW, Erin completed a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a PhD in toxicology at the University of Washington. Her interest in global health stems from previous experiences in science and public health and from interactions with colleagues working in the field. Working in Tajikistan this past summer was a very eye-opening and rewarding experience, and it reaffirmed her commitment to public health and preventative medicine.
Jillian Landeck: Jillian obtained a B.A. in Anthropology and International Development from Tulane University in 2006 and an M.A. in Physical Anthropology from Tulane in 2007. Before starting medical school, she worked as clinic coordinator at the Free Clinic of SW Washington in Vancouver, WA. She enjoys working with underserved populations in the US and abroad, and has interests in rural medicine and health policy.
About the lecture: Due to economic decline and failing health infrastructure, rates of TB are on the rise throughout much of the former Soviet Union. TB treatment is free and available (for the present moment); however, many TB patients receive an inadequate number of drugs for an inappropriate length of time or do not complete treatment. This has lead to the development and spread of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Tajikistan has the highest incidence of TB in Central Asia, and an estimated 23% of cases are MDR-TB. In May and June of 2011, we conducted a study through the USAID Quality Health Care Project to evaluate barriers to successful treatment outcomes for patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Tajikistan. The primary objectives were to assess knowledge of MDR-TB, barriers to treatment access and adherence, and sources of stigma and discrimination according to MDR-TB patients and their providers. Two surveys were developed to evaluate the contributions of these factors. The first survey involved fifty randomly selected MDR-TB patients from Dushanbe and the surrounding area. The second survey was administered to twenty-one providers, which included nurses, volunteer community health workers, and TB specialists. Collectively, the survey data revealed significant gaps in patient education and financial and social challenges that must be addressed in order to control the growing MDR-TB problem in Tajikistan.
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Global Hot Spots featuring CREECA Director, Yoshiko M. Herrera
Power and Protest in Russia: What's Next After the Presidential Elections?
When: March 23, 2012, 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Where: The Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street, UW-Madison Campus
Sponsors: UW-Madison Division of International Studies and the Wisconsin Alumni Association
Yoshiko M. Herrera is Associate Professor in the department of Political Science and Director of the Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia at University of Wisconsin, Madison. She received her Ph.D. (1999) from University of Chicago and taught at Harvard University from 1999-2007. Her research interests include politics in Russia and the former Soviet states; social identities including methodological issues and measurement; nationalism, regionalism and ethnic politics; identity-related variables in public health and demography; norms and institutional change, including bureaucracy; constructivist political economy; and political psychology. She teaches courses on comparative politics, identity, institutional change, post-socialist economic transitions, and politics of the states of the Former Soviet Union.
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Tales from the Earth: Nelson Institute Environmental Film Festival
Date and Time: March 25, 2012, 12:00 PM
Mushrooms of Concrete 2010
Martijn Payens (23 min., color, Digibeta, Netherlands, In Dutch with English subtitles)
Sunday, March 25, 2012, 12 p.m.
Take the Cold War, a paranoid dictator, and an isolated nation and you get: Albania. For more than 40 years, Albanian Communist Party Chief Enver Hoxha ran the nation into the ground, literally. Consumed with fear of attack, he forced Albanians to dig more than 750,000 concrete bunkers in a country less than half the size of Wisconsin. Today these bunkers litter the landscape -- a bitter reminder of past sacrifices for one generation, but potential sites of opportunity for a younger, enterprising generation. A fascinating portrait of a country little-known in the U.S., Payens' engaging film was an official selection of the 2011 Silverdocs Film Festival. (Screens with Pit No. 8)
Visit the film's official website
Pit No. 8
Marianna Kaat (95 min., color, Blu-Ray, Estonia/Ukraine, In Russian with English subtitles)
Sunday, March 25, 2012, 12 p.m.
In the heart of Ukraine's once-thriving coal-mining region in the town of Snizhne lives 15-year old Yura, head of his family of three that includes his two younger sisters. The town's coal mines have officially been abandoned as "poor pits," but Yura and many other children, retirees, and unemployed members of the community continue to dig for coal illegally in shafts under their homes, their gardens, abandoned buildings, parks -- wherever they can. Yura dreams of raising money to get training to become a chef in his own cafe; but the economic realities of the recent global economic downturn continually press in upon him and his family. An intimate profile lacking a traditional narrative plot, the film presents an in-depth account of one family's struggle to survive in a world increasingly lacking economic opportunity. A multi-award winner at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival as well as several other festivals. (Screens with Mushrooms of Concrete)
Visit the film's official website
View the film's official trailer
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The Russian Flagship Program Presents
Страна глухих/Land of the Deaf (1997)
Date and Time: March 25, 2012, 12:00 PM
Location: 254 Van Hise Hall, 1220 Linden Drive
Страна глухих/Land of the Deaf (1997)
"Страна глухих" (1997). Фильм снят потрясающим режиссером Валерием Тодоровским ("Стиляги","Любовь","Мой сводный брат Франкенштейн") по мотивам повести другой заметной фигуры российской кинематорафии Ренаты Литвиновой. В центре сюжета дружба двух девушек, оказавшихся в гуще криминальных разборок двух мафиозных кланов, глухих и слышащих. Существует в картине "такой пласт, как глухие люди, - рассказывает сценарист Юрий Коротков. - Это совершенно особый мир, сильно отличающийся от мира слышащих... В какой-то момент глухота в картине переходит в художественный образ, отражающий жизнь людей в современном мире."
By the amazing director of such films as "Hipsters", "Love", and "My Step-Brother Frankenstein", Valeriy Todorovsky, and based on a story by another outstanding figure in Russian cinematography, Renata Litvinova, at the center of "Land of the Deaf" is the friendship of two young women who find themselves in the middle of a showdown between two mafia clans, one whose members are dead and the other hearing. "Deaf people are a sort of layer," says screenwriter Yury Korotkov, "that exists in its own particular world, completely different from the world of the hearing... At some point deafness in the film becomes an artistic image that reflects the lives of people in the modern world."
"Land of the Deaf" will be shown in Russian with English subtitles. Introductory remarks are by Snezhana. For more information please contact zheltoukhova@wisc.edu
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"How did Mysticism Penetrate into Jewish Studies? The Russian Context"
Hamutal Bar-Yosef, Professor Emerita, Ben-Gurion University; Halls Visiting Scholar, UW-Madison
Date and Time: March 27, 2012, 4:00 – 5:30 PM
Location: Red Gym, 716 Langdon Street
Sponsors: the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies and the Center for Russia East Europe and Central Asia (CREECA)
About the Lecture: If the founders of Wissenschaft des Judentums—the pioneers of Jewish studies in nineteenth-century Germany—could be here today, they would be surprised to see that Jewish mysticism—Kabbala, Hassidism, and other Jewish mystical trends—is now a legitimate part of Jewish studies. During the nineteenth century the majority of masskilim (Jewish intellectuals) in Germany appreciated only the “enlightened” aspects of Jewish religion. Mysticism was for them an obscure, retarded deviation from Judaism. When, where, how, and why did the rehabilitation of Jewish mysticism take place?
This lecture will try to answer these questions. It will show that research of Jewish mysticism did not begin with Martin Buber and Gershom Scholem, and it was not connected with Zionism. A positive change of attitude toward Kabbala, Sabbetaianism, and Hassidism was a process which was taking place in Russia during the last third of the nineteenth century. It was carried out by Jewish scholars and writers of literature who were influenced by Russian modern mystical trends, which at that period were spreading in Russia and in other European countries.
About the Speaker: Professor Bar-Yosef was born in 1940 in Israel, in a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee. At 20 she got her BA in Philosophy and Hebrew Literature and at the same age she was married to the playwright Yosef Bar-Yosef. At 29 she was a mother of four children. At 33 she did her second degree in Comparative Literature, and at 44 she got her PhD at the Hebrew University. From 1987 through 2003 she taught in the Department of Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva. She has lived in Jerusalem since 1976.
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"The Wawel Incident of 1937: Church, State, and Nation in Interwar Poland"
Neal Pease, professor of History at UW-Milwaukee
Date and Time: March 29, 2012, 4:00 – 5:30 PM
Location: 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive
Sponsors: Center for Russia East Europe and Central Asia (CREECA)
About the Lecture: In 1937, the Archbishop of Krakow decided to change the location of the tomb of Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, the dominant figure of the independent interwar Second Polish Republic, two years after the original interment. This seemingly simple act touched off a brief but intense storm of controversy in Poland that threatened to topple a government and cause a rupture in Polish relations with the Holy See. Almost forgotten nowadays, the "Wawel incident" illustrates the point that the role of Catholicism in Polish public life is more complex than generally thought.
About the Speaker: Neal Pease is Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he has taught since 1983. His primary area of teaching and research interests are the history of Poland and East Central Europe, particularly the role of the Catholic Church in 20th century Poland. He is current president of the Polish American Historical Association. His most recent book, Rome's Most Faithful Daughter: The Catholic Church and Independent Poland, 1914-1939 (Ohio, 2009) was named co-winner of the 2010 ASEEES Kulczycki Prize for the best book in the field of Polish studies, and winner of the 2010 John Gilmary Shea Prize given by the American Catholic Historical Association for the best book in the field of Catholic history
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Sawyer Seminar:
Gender Relations and the End of the Cold War: Feminism and Socialism after the End of History
When: March 30th 2012
Where: 3401 Sterling Hall, 475 North Charter Street
Co-Conveners: Myra Marx Ferree, Aili Tripp, Christina Ewig
Sponsored by: the Center for Research on Gender and Women, with the support of the European Union Center of Excellence and the generous funding of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
NOTE: If you have not registered or signed up for the seminar, please check with Celeste Benson cbenson@ssc.wisc.edu to see if there is room.
For inquiries, contact Celeste Benson cbenson@ssc.wisc.edu
For the Sawyer Seminar webpage: click here
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