September 2007 |
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
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6 “ Nikita Khrushchev: The Man and His Era”
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8 Films: “To the Stars by Hard Ways" and "First on the Moon" |
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13 “Identity and Diversity in Romani (Gypsy) Musical Culture" |
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15 |
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17 |
18 |
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20 “The United States and Poland : A New Special Relationship?" |
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22 |
23 |
24 “An Ever Expanding EU: The 2007 Accession of Romania" |
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26
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27 “Russia 's Sputnik Generation: Interviewing Soviet Baby Boomers" |
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29 |
30 |
"Nikita Khrushchev: The Man and His Era"
Thursday, September 6
4:00 PM
William Taubman, Bertrand Snell Professor of Political Science, Amherst College
Location: Room 325 Pyle Center
702 Langdon St., Madison
Sponsors: CREECA, with generous financial support from the Hilldale Fund
Immediately following the talk, please join us just outside the lecture room for a reception and book signing, hosted by the Hilldale Foundation. A representative from the University Bookstore will have copies of Khrushchev: The Man and His Era for sale.
About the lecture: Remembered by many as the Soviet leader who brandished his shoe at the United Nations, Khrushchev was in fact one of the most complex, colorful and important political figures of the 20th century. Complicit in Stalinist crimes, he attempted to de-Stalinize the USSR. His daring attempt to reform Communism prepared the way for its eventual collapse. His awkward efforts to ease the cold war triggered its most dangerous crises in Berlin and Cuba. Taubman, winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Khrushchev, will analyze the Soviet leader's personality, and show how it helps to explain his role in unmasking Stalin, and in sparking the Berlin and Cuban crises.
About the speaker: William Taubman, Bertrand Snell Professor of Political Science at Amherst College , is the author of Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, published by W. W. Norton in March 2003. Khrushchev was awarded the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for biography. It also received the 2004 National Book Critics Award for biography, the Wayne S. Vucinich Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, and the Robert H. Ferrell Book Prize of the Society of Historians of American Foreign Policy. Taubman is also the author of The View from Lenin Hills: Soviet Youth in Ferment (1967), Governing Soviet Cities (1973), and Stalin’s American Policy (1982); co-author (with his wife, Jane Taubman, Amherst Russian professor, Radcliffe ‘64) of Moscow Spring (1989); editor-translator of Khrushchev on Khrushchev by Sergei N. Khrushchev (1990); and co-editor (with Sergei Khrushchev and Abbott Gleason) of Nikita Khrushchev (2000). In addition to scholarly articles and reviews, he has written op-ed pieces and book reviews for The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Atlanta Constitution, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post. He has appeared on “The Today Show,” “The MacNeil/Lehrer Report,” C-Span’s “Booknotes” and “Washington Journal,” and NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition,” and “Fresh Air.” He is currently at work on a biography of Mikhail Gorbachev.
Films: “To the Stars by Hard Ways (Cherez ternii k zvezdam)” and “First on the Moon (Pervye na lune)”
Thursday, September 8
7:30 PM, 9:40 PM
Location: 4070 Vilas Hall
821 University Ave.
Co-sponsors: CREECA
"To the Stars by Hard Ways (Cherez ternii k zvezdam)"
About the film: Boldly going where no man has gone before, the starship Pushkin finds an abandoned vessel with one surviving crew member, a gynoid who seeks the help of earthlings to restore her severely polluted home planet. After the fall of the USSR the film became a cult hit and was restored by the director's son in 2001. ( USSR, 1981; 35mm. color, 118 min. Directed by Richard Viktorov. With Yelena Metyolkina, Vadim Ledogorov, Uldis Lieldidz).
"First on the Moon (Pervye na lune)"
About the film: This Russian mockumentary seamlessly mixes authentic and faked archival footage to tell the “secret” story of Russian cosmonauts who beat the U.S. to the moon by 30 years. But Fedorchenko’s debut film also has a dark side, telling the story of heroes who become victims of Stalin-era oppression. ( Russia, 2005, 35mm, b/w and color, 76 min. Directed by Alexei Fedorchenko. With Aleksei Anisimov, Viktoriya Ilyinskaya, Viktor Kotov).
"Identity and Diversity in Romani (Gypsy) Musical Culture"
Thursday, September 13
Margaret H. Beissinger, research scholar, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Princeton University
Location: 4:00 PM , 2nd Floor Main Lounge Area, Memorial Union, 800 Langdon Street
Sponsors: Division of International Studies, Madison World Music Festival
About the lecture: This talk serves as an introduction to the three Romani music performances at the Madison World Music Festival this fall. In order to offer some context to Romani music and music-making, a few remarks on Romani history and society will precede the main discussion. She will then address, from a variety of different perspectives, a number of questions of identity and diversity within Romani musical culture. They include the identity of Romani performers as musicians and/or as Roma; performing for Roma versus for non-Roma; and traditional versus contemporary (post-Communist period) music-making, including repertoires, instrumentation, events, and performance venues. Observations from years of her own field experiences collecting traditional and contemporary music performed by Roma (both before and after 1989) in urban as well as rural communities in southern Romania will provide illustrations of some of these dichotomies and tensions. She will conclude by discussing the three groups of Romani musicians here at the Festival, focusing on them as performers, what and how they play, and how they figure in the larger picture of the post-1989 globalization of “ethnic” music.
About the speaker: Margaret H. Beissinger (Ph.D., Harvard University) teaches courses on Slavic and East European oral traditions, Romani culture, and Balkan languages in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton University. Before moving to Princeton, she was Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Folklore Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She specializes in Romanian and South Slavic oral traditions and has engaged in fieldwork and research in the area since the late 1970s. Author of The Art of the Lautar: The Epic Tradition of Romania (1991) and Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World (coedited, 1999), she teaches and has published widely on oral traditions in the Balkans, Romani folklore and culture, and Balkan languages and literatures. She is presently completing a book on culture and performance among Romani musicians in southern Romania, based on extensive fieldwork there.
"Traditional Romani (Gypsy) Musicians and Oral Epic in the Balkans: A Comparison of Performers and Performance"
Friday, September 14, 2007
Margaret H. Beissinger, research scholar, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Princeton University
Location: 12:05 PM , 336 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive
Sponsors: Division of International Studies, Madison World Music Festival
About the lecture: Oral epic was widespread in the Balkans of the past, though by the present time, the genre with a few exceptions–has died out. In Serbia (and Croatia), traditional epic performance by South Slavic singers--guslari–was in decline already in the 19th century, while in Bosnia, it had faded out by the 1950s. By contrast, in Romania, epic was still performed quite frequently by professional traditional Romani (Gypsy) singers–lautari–through the end of the 20th century and is even sung on occasion at the present time. In this presentation, I explore oral epic performers and performance in the modern period (19th-20th centuries) in the Balkans, with particular attention to the unique role of lautari, the primary singers of epic in southern Romania. I offer a comparison of the Romanian and South Slavic traditions, focusing on epic as an event that takes place within a more or less circumscribed “performance arena” and is performed by skilled oral poets, whose social identities inform in greater or lesser degree their role as artists. I focus on what I term “marked” performance events by “marked” poet-musicians, arguing that the more marked or formal the performance of epic in terms of event (such as at wedding celebrations), the more likely it is to persist in tradition. Furthermore, among marked epic singers (such as the Romani in the Romanian tradition, who are distinguished by gender, ethnic, and professional indices), the performance of epic is likewise more apt to “survive” than epic sung by non‑professional and/or ethnically or socially unmarked oral poets. In order to illustrate my arguments, I draw from my own fieldwork among Roma in southern Romania, as well as from the South Slavic (Serbian/Croatian and Bosnian) epic traditions.
About the speaker: Margaret H. Beissinger (Ph.D., Harvard University) teaches courses on Slavic and East European oral traditions, Romani culture, and Balkan languages in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton University. Before moving to Princeton, she was Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Folklore Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She specializes in Romanian and South Slavic oral traditions and has engaged in fieldwork and research in the area since the late 1970s. Author of The Art of the Lautar: The Epic Tradition of Romania (1991) and Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World (coedited, 1999), she teaches and has published widely on oral traditions in the Balkans, Romani folklore and culture, and Balkan languages and literatures. She is presently completing a book on culture and performance among Romani musicians in southern Romania, based on extensive fieldwork there.
CREECA Information Session: "Putting Your Major to Work: A Career as a State Department Foreign Service Officer"
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Bart Putney, Office of North Central European Affairs, US Department of State (UW BA '87)
Location: 12:05-1:00 , 336 Ingraham
Sponsors: CREECA, EUCE, Center for European Studies, Global Studies, Go Global!, and Department of Slavic Languages & Literature
About the session: Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) advocate American foreign policy, protect American citizens, and promote American business interests throughout the world. FSOs staff our embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions devoted to strengthening peace, stability, and prosperity. Their perceptiveness, dedication, and creativity drive the formulation and achievement of American foreign policy objectives. Bart Putney, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin (class of 87, English/Political
Science) will speak about the terrific opportunity that the Foreign Service represents and about what the State Department is looking for in a new generation of accomplished, creative and bold professionals.
Luncheon will be provided by the European Union Center of Excellence (EUCE), but all participants must RSVP by September 14, 2007 to reserve a meal. Please contact Drago at events@creeca.wisc.edu or 262-3379 to reserve a meal
About the speaker: Bart Putney, a class of '87 UW graduate in English and Political Science, joined the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service in 1997. He has served as a political/economic/commercial officer in Surabaya, Indonesia; as consular and political officer in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; as science and technology officer (working on nuclear nonproliferation issues) and as economic officer in Moscow, Russia. He is currently working in Washington D.C. as Poland Desk Officer, where he has primary responsibility for managing the U.S.-Poland relationship. Thursday, September 20, 2007
Bart Putney, Office of North Central European Affairs, US Department of State (UW BA '87)
Location: 4:00 PM , 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive
Sponsors: CREECA, EUCE, Center for European Studies, Global Studies, Go Global!, and Department of Slavic Languages & Literature, Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy
About the lecture: Poland may be the United States' best friend in "New Europe." Shared values have formed the foundation for extensive bilateral ties, underpinning joint efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and perhaps soon on Ballistic Missile Defense. But where are the constraints on this special relationship, and where do U.S. and Polish interests diverge? Bart Putney, Polish Desk Officer at the U.S. State Department, will discuss where the U.S.-Polish relationship is now, where U.S. policy would like to take it, and the prospects for getting there.
About the speaker: Bart Putney, a class of '87 UW graduate in English and Political Science, joined the U.S. State Department's Foreign Service in 1997. He has served as a political/economic/commercial officer in Surabaya, Indonesia; as consular and political officer in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; as science and technology officer (working on nuclear nonproliferation issues) and as economic officer in Moscow, Russia. He is currently working in Washington D.C. as Poland Desk Officer, where he has primary responsibility for managing the U.S.-Poland relationship.
"Film Screenings: The Heavens Call and Planet of Storms
Saturday, September 22, 2007
First Film Screening: “The Heavens Call (Nebo zovet)”
Part of the Fall 2007 Cinematheque Film Series “From the Tsars to the Stars: A Journey through Russian Sci-Fi Film”
Location: 7:30 PM, 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave.
Co-sponsors: CREECA
About the film: This tale of an aborted Mars expedition features spectacular "spacescapes", as well as a prescient depiction of the Earth's orbit as cluttered by manmade satellites. Sound familiar? Francis Ford Coppola liberally borrowed footage from this Russian Sci-Fi film for his 1963 directorial debut, the Roger Corman production Battle Beyond the Sun. ( USSR, 1959; 35mm, color, 80 min.
Directed by Mikhail Karyukov and Aleksandr Kozyr. With Ivan Pereverzev, Aleksandr Shvorin, Konstantin Bartashevich).
Second Film Screening: “Planet of Storms (Planeta bur)”
Location: 9:00 PM, 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave.
Co-sponsors: CREECA
About the film: Upon arrival to Venus, cosmonauts find furious volcanoes and sundry prehistoric beasts in Klushantev’s film, based on a novel by the Soviet sci-fi writer Aleksandr Kazantsev. Footage has been recycled in three Corman productions: Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, Queen of Blood, and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (the directorial debut of Peter Bogdanovich). ( USSR, 1961; 35mm, n/w, 83 min.
Directed by Pavel Klushantev. With Vladimir Yemelyanov, Georgi Zhzhyonov, Gennadi Vernov).
"An Ever Expanding EU: The 2007 Accession of Romania"
Monday, September 24, 2007
“An Ever Expanding EU: The 2007 Accession of Romania”
The Hon. George Predescu, consul general of Romania, Chicago
Location: 7:00 pm, Vandeberg Auditorium, Pyle Center
Co-sponsor: European Union Center for Excellence
About the lecture: Mr. Predescu, who has served as consul general of Romania in Chicago since 2003, will discuss the challenges Romania faces in reforming its laws and economy.
About the speaker: George Predescu was appointed as consul general in Chicago on December 1, 2003. Prior to this appointment, he served as a political counselor and head of chancery with the Romanian Embassy in Washington D.C., with a focus on international government relations and security and defense issues.
From 1999-2000, he was the Deputy Head of NATO and International Security Affairs Division at the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Between 1994-1998, he served his first tenure as a political officer with the Romanian Embassy in Washington, being engaged extensively with the U.S. Congress, governmental agencies and businesses in order for Romania to be granted the permanent Most Favored Nation status and NATO membership.
Before joining the Foreign Service in 1990, he was an engineer in the petrochemical sector, and worked for “Solventul” Petrochemical Company in Romania.
On January 28, 2003, the President of Romania awarded Mr. Predescu the national order “For Merit” in rank of Cavalier for his dedication to promoting Romania’s NATO membership and his service with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well.
Russia's Sputnik Generation: Interviewing Soviet Baby Boomers
Thursday, September 27, 2007
“Russia 's Sputnik Generation: Interviewing Soviet Baby Boomers”
Donald J. Raleigh, Jay Richard Judson Distinguished Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Location: 4:00 PM , 206 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive
Sponsor: CREECA
About the lecture: This presentation traces the transformative developments of the second half of the twentieth century that brought down the Soviet empire through the life stories of the country’s first post-World-War-II generation. The seventy or so individuals in the study graduated in 1967 from Moscow’s School No. 20 or from the provincial city of Saratov’s School No. 42, newly opened “magnet” schools that offered intensive instruction in English. Part of the USSR’s “Sputnik generation” that began school the year the USSR lifted the first artificial satellite into space, they grew up during the Cold War, but in a Soviet Union that increasingly distanced itself from the “excesses” of Stalinism. During this generation’s childhood and young adulthood, the Soviet leadership dismantled the Gulag, ruled without terror, promoted consumerism, and opened the country in teaspoon-size doses to an outside world that feared Soviet-style Communism. Reaching their prime during the Gorbachev era, these Soviet baby boomers today constitute elements of Russia’s and other countries’ professional urban class. In telling the story of this cross-section of the country’s Sputnik generation in its own words, I hope to throw light on a critical generation of people who had remained largely faceless and unstudied up until now. Equally important, my investigation is one of the first in Russian studies to employ the methodologies of oral history.
About the speaker: Donald J. Raleigh, the Jay Richard Judson Distinguished Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has written several books, chapters, journal articles, and encyclopedia entries on Russian and Soviet politics and culture. Raleigh’s most recent publication is an anthology of Russian life stories that he edited and translated, called Russia’s Sputnik Generation: Soviet Baby Boomers Talk About Their Lives, published by Indiana University Press in 2006. His other major publications include Experiencing Russia ’s Civil War: Politics, Society, and Revolutionary Culture in Saratov Province, 1917-1922 (2002); Revolution on the Volga: 1917 in Saratov (1986); and a memoir, Zalozhnik proletariata, published by Saratov University Press in 2002. Raleigh has also translated or edited several books and essay collections, including Provincial Landscapes: Local Dimensions of Soviet Power, 1917-1953 (2001), and has served as an associate editor of the four-volume Encyclopedia of Russian History (2004).