Events Archive | Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center at Illinois

Summer 2021

Summer 2021 Events

	Freedom of the Press at the Borders of Europe: Turkey and the Mediterranean (2021 Turkish Studies Symposium) Date: Jun 28, 2021 The European Union Center's 14th annual Turkish Studies Symposium, "Freedom of the Press at the Borders of Europe: Turkey and the Mediterranean," brings together three journalists who have reported extensively on migrants and refugees in Turkey and beyond to discuss the state of the freedom of the press in Turkey and the Mediterranean today.
	VSRL Dissertation Research Discussion Date: Jul 7, 2021 Please join the Slavic Reference Service on Wednesday, July 7 at 2pm CDT for our Dissertation Research Discussion. This event is a part of our peering mentoring program for students in REEES, and will feature an informal presentation by current REEES PhD candidates on their research.
	VSRL Meet the Editors and Publishers Date: Jul 9, 2021 Are you interested in publishing your manuscript? Meet with editors and publishers to discuss the publishing process. They will be offering tips and suggestions to prepare your manuscript for publication.
	A Woman's Work is Never Done: Female Life and Labor across the Imperial, Soviet and Post-Soviet Eras Date: Jul 10, 2021 - Jul 11, 2021 The politics surrounding women's labor in the Russian and Soviet space have long fascinated scholars. Historically, women's activism for professional, political, and educational equality in the region has been strikingly checkered and, in some ways, more extreme in terms of setbacks and successes, than in the west.
	VSRL Fisher Fellow Brown Bag Lecture: Andrey Shlyakhter, "Backs to the USSR: Explaining the Growth of the Soviet Border Guard, 1917-1939" Date: Jul 13, 2021 By the eve of the Second World War, the Soviet Union boasted the world's most stringent system of border control, successfully established along the world's longest border. Indeed, the consensus is that "the Soviet Union created one of the most effective border systems in terms of holding its people in that any country had ever constructed."
	Media Culture in Balkan and Eurasian Muslim Communities Date: Jul 15, 2021 - Jul 16, 2021 This workshop will explore recent changes in media, media literacy, communications, and publishing in contemporary Muslim communities across the East European and Eurasian region, and how these changes affect sociopolitical trends, personal beliefs and identities.
	UIUC IGI Summer 2021 Global Educators Workshop: "Education in Uncertain Times: How to Prepare for the New Normal Around the World" Date: Jul 20, 2021 - Jul 22, 2021 UIUC IGI Summer 2021 Global Educator Workshop - 3 days of round-table discussions around the context of migration, education, and health with the theme of "Education in Uncertain Times: How to Prepare for the New Normal Around the World"
	VSRL Fisher Fellow Brown Bag Lecture: Kristina Poznan, "The U.S. Census, the Paris Settlement, and the Forging of Eastern European Ethnic Categories and Immigration Quotas: An Exercise in 'Guesswork'" Date: Jul 21, 2021 After the First World War, two factors drastically changed how Eastern Europeans might migrate to America: first, new geopolitical borders in the region, outlined in the Paris Settlement treaties; and second, restrictive immigration legislation in the United States.
	Spurlock Museum Family Program: "Wooden Treasures: Instruments and Toys of the Caucasus Region" Date: Jul 25, 2021 Among the items in the touchables area will be examples of hand-carved toys with parts that move. One of the most popular figures on these toys are bears, a favorite in Russian fairy tales.

Spring 2021

Fall 2020

Fall 2020 Events

	On a Personal Note: A Conversation with Violinists Yulia Ziskel & Joe Deninzon Date: Aug 31, 2020 A conversation about their journey from their Russian-Jewish roots to current positions and relationship with Jewishness/ Judaism and how that has evolved over the years.
	Race and Racism in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies: A Roundtable Date: Sep 3, 2020 As a Kickoff Event for this year's New Directions Series, the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center invites you to join a roundtable discussion on the role of race and racism in our region and scholarly field.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Rawi Abdelal (Harvard University), "Imagining the Next Global Economy" Date: Sep 15, 2020 There is no going back to the beginning. The emerging global economy will not resemble the system that came before. That pre-pandemic system was already fragile. Now we have an opportunity to imagine a new global economy.
	REEEC New Directions Lecture: Emily Wang and Korey Garibaldi, "Interrogating the Declining Significance of Pushkin's Blackness: Henry James, Ivan Turgenev, and Literary Nationalism" Date: Sep 17, 2020 Though most scholarship on Pushkin's reception in the United States focuses on twentieth-century African American literature, the origins of this encounter remain poorly understood. In fact, nineteenth-century commentators on both sides of the Atlantic were obsessed with Pushkin's racial heritage-as both a Russian, and as a canonical European writer of African descent.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Harsha Ram (UC Berkeley), "The Caucasus: From Geopolitics to Geopoetics" Date: Sep 22, 2020 The Caucasus is primarily seen as a contested territory, an interregional space caught between rival empires as well as local polities. At the same time its topographic and ethnolinguistic diversity has captured the imagination of travelers over the centuries.
	The Crisis in Belarus: A Discussion with Natalya Chernyshova Date: Sep 25, 2020 Dr. Natalya Chernyshova is Senior Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Winchester. She specializes in late Soviet history, with a focus on Belarus, and is the author of Soviet Consumer Culture in the Brezhnev Era (Routledge, 2013).
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: David Cooper (University of Illinois), "Anatomy of a Successful Forgery: The Czech Manuscripts" Date: Sep 29, 2020 For over five decades from the moment of their appearance in 1817 and 1818, the Queen's Court and Green Mountain Manuscripts were considered by the vast majority of the international scholarly community to be genuine monuments of medieval Czech literature.
	Insulted. Belarus(sia) Play Reading Date: Oct 1, 2020 You are invited to an Illinois Theatre Zoom Reading for the UIUC community of the new play Insulted. Belarus(sia) by Andrei Kureichik about the current events taking place in Belarus.
	Weapons of Mass Destruction - Proliferation: Challenges, Opportunities & Careers Date: Oct 1, 2020 The international community faces no shortage of challenges when it comes to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. The crisis in US-Russia relations, the slow pace of nuclear disarmarment, the future of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and the emergence of new technologies with military applications - theses are just a few of the issues that nuclear policy professionals are working to address today.
	The Global and Its Worlds Lecture: Arjun Appadurai (New York University), "The Volatile Market for Globalization" Date: Oct 2, 2020 In this presentation, titled "The Volatile Market for Globalization," Professor Arjun Appadurai will address the recent debates about the rebirth of the nation-state in the era of pandamic disease, and about whether globalization is about to be rolled back or marginalized.
	ASEEES - Pitt Race in Focus Series: Webinar - Teaching about Race and Racism: Your Syllabus 2.0 Date: Oct 2, 2020 This event is part of the series "Race in Focus: From Critical Pedagogies to Research Practice and Public Engagement in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies." This series is designed to elevate conversations about teaching on race and continued disparities in our field while also bringing research by scholars and/or on communities of color to the center stage.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Sarah Phillips (Indiana University), "American Literary and Cultural Diplomacy during during the Cold War: Kurt Vonnegut in the USSR" Date: Oct 7, 2020 This talk explores a fascinating yet little-known chapter in the history of literary and cultural diplomacy during the Cold War - the popularity of the American author Kurt Vonnegut in the Soviet Union during the 1970s.
	2020 Baltic Sea Region Forum Date: Oct 8, 2020 The Baltic Sea Region is home to nine countries that represent numerous cultures and societies. Through interdisciplinary scholarly discussions, the Slavic Reference Service seeks to highlight original research and facilitate thematic discussions on the countries of this world region.
	HRI Medical Humanities Event: "Global Spread: COVID in the World" (Roundtable on Zoom) Date: Oct 8, 2020 Speakers include Professors Maimouna Barro (African Studies), Rini Bhattachyra (Comparative and World Literature), Shao Dan (East Asian Languages and Cultures), Jerry Davila (Illinois Global Institute), Linda Herrera (Education Policy), Emanuel Rota (European Union Center), Valeria Sobol (Slavic Languages and Literatures), and Robert Tierney (East Asian Languages and Cultures).
	ASEEES - Pitt Race in Focus Series: Webinar - Engaging with Race and Racism in the Classroom Date: Oct 9, 2020 This event is part of the series "Race in Focus: From Critical Pedagogies to Research Practice and Public Engagement in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies." This series is designed to elevate conversations about teaching on race and continued disparities in our field while also bringing research by scholars and/or on communities of color to the center stage.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Jessica Robbins (Wayne State University), "Aging Nationally in Contemporary Poland: Memory, Kinship, and Personhood" Date: Oct 14, 2020 Active aging programs that encourage older adults to practice health-promoting behaviors are proliferating worldwide. In Poland, the meanings and ideals of these programs have become caught up in the socialcultural and political-economic changes that have occured during the lifetimes of the oldest generations - most visibly, the transition from socialism to capitalism.
	REEC New Directions Lecture: Diana Kurkovsky West, "From 'Big Data' Socialism to Digital Utopianism: Lessons from the Soviet Past for the Post-Covid-19 Future" Date: Oct 15, 2020 Diana Kurkovsky West received her Ph.D. from the Princeton University School of Architecture, and has served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Science and Human Culture at Northwestern University and Director of Science and Technology Studies Center at the European University at St. Petersburg, Russia.
	ASEEES - Pitt Race in Focus Series: Lightning Round - Emerging Scholars of Color Abroad Date: Oct 16, 2020 This event is part of the series "Race in Focus: From Critical Pedagogies to Research Practice and Public Engagement in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies."
	The Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh: A Conversation Date: Oct 16, 2020 Professors Anna Ohanyan and Erik Herron will address what is most important to know about the current conflict surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, and also how we should understand it in relation to larger patterns of conflict across the post-Soviet space (and the world more generally) today.
	IGI International Music & Dance Event Date: Oct 19, 2020 This event is organized by the Illinois Global Institute's area studies centers as part of Illinois International Week 2020 (Oct. 19-23).
	Nina Jankowicz, "How to Lose the Information War: Lessons from Central and Eastern Europe" Date: Oct 20, 2020 The Kremlin, as well as other state actors and far-right groups, divide and deceive populations around the world using social media and other online warfare tactics. The Western world has finally begun to wake up to this threat, but Central and Eastern European states have been aware, and reacting, for years.
	Museums During COVID-19 Date: Oct 21, 2020 Since the COVID-29 outbreak, museums from around the world have developed strategies to offset the impact of the global pandemic on funding, programs, and services as well as curation of collections.
	International Literature Discussion Date: Oct 21, 2020 Fiction in the time of a pandemic? The Slavic Reference Service is holding its second International Literature discussion on Oct. 21st at 12:00 P.M. (CST)
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Chelsi West Ohueri (UT Austin), "Outsiders, Others, and Outcasts: Examining antiziganism and race-making in Albania" Date: Oct 21, 2020 In this lecture, Professor West Ohueri explores the contours of antiziganism, conceptualized as racism and prejudice against Romani people groups, in Albania and the Balkan region. Part one of the presentation considers the theoretical framings of antiziganism and asks how analyses of antiblackness can allow scholars to think through contemporary manifestations of antiziganism in the Balkan region.
	Illinois Global Institute Career Day Date: Oct 23, 2020 Current and recent graduate students are invited to a career diversity day focusing on using foreign language, area studies, and thematic studies in the job market.
	Are European Human Rights and Rule of Law in Crisis?: Roundtable and Discussion Date: Oct 27, 2020 Join us for a roundtable and discussion about different challenges to human rights and rule of law in contemporary Europe.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Marianne Kamp (Indiana University), "Jobs for Orphans, Taxes for Kulaks, and Love of Tractors: Collectivization Oral Histories from Uzbekistan" Date: Oct 28, 2020 This lecture series is a collaborative effort to showcase an area studies specialist from each center focusing on the Russian, East European, and Central Asian world region.
	Slavic Story Time Date: Nov 1, 2020 At this story time, enjoy Patricia Polacco's Luba and the Wren. Luba, a young girl, rescues a wren who can grant wishes. Once her parents learn of this, they make Luba ask the wren for more and more.
	D.I.N.E: Diversity & Inclusion Networking Exchange Date: Nov 4, 2020 Engage with employers who value diversity in the workplace. Practice networking with company representatives in a virtual setting. Hear what employers look for in new hires. Learn what questions you can ask to determine if an organization meets your needs.
	75 Years After Hiroshima: A New Nuclear Arms Race? Date: Nov 4, 2020 On Auguest 6 and 9, 1945, over 120,000 people were killed by the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Decade by decade, the billions of people at risk from direct and indirect effects of nuclear war continue to grow.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Maria Sonevytsky (UC Berkeley), "Musical Evolution and The Other: State-Sponsored Musical Evolutionism in the USSR and the Conundrum of Post-Soviet Crimean Tatar Indigenous Music" Date: Nov 5, 2020 In the Soviet Union, logics of teleological evalutionism undergirded the Communist party-state's interventions into many aspects of Soviet life, including the realm of "folk music." In this lecture, Professor Sonevytsky draws on the example of the Soviet institutionalization of a Crimean Tatar folk orchestra to demonstrate how Soviet musical evolutionism ordered and constrained vernacular musical practices in ways that have had long-term political consequences, especially with regard to the politics of post-Soviet indigeneity.
	Legacies of WWII: 75 Years After Date: Nov 5, 2020 The Department of History and Phi Alpha Theta are hosting a special panel commemorating 75 years since the end of the Second World War on Thursday.
	Graduate Student Workshop: "Writing Effective Fellowship Proposals" Date: Nov 6, 2020 These events are free and open to any University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate Student.
	Info Session on Joint MA/REEES and MS/LIS Program at Illinois Date: Nov 10, 2020 This information session will be led by John Randolph (Director, Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center) and Moises Orozco Villicana (Director of Enrollment Management, iSchool).
	75 Years After Hiroshima: A New Nuclear Arms Race? Date: Nov 11, 2020 On August 6 and 9, 1945, over 120,000 people were killed by the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Decade by decade, the billions of people at risk from direct and indirect effects of nuclear war continue to grow.
	The New Speed of Politics: Technology and Sustainability in the EU Date: Nov 12, 2020 Countries of the European Union have collectively offered a leading global voice on the use of technology for local and planetary sustainability. This panel brings together two Former Members of the European Parliament with comparative experience in urban politics and corporate governance, from experience in the national politics of older and newer member states.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Trevor Erlacher (University of Pittsburgh), "Ukrainian Nationalism in the Age of Extremes" Date: Nov 12, 2020 This lecture series is a collaborative effort to showcase an area studies specialist from each center focusing on the Russian, East European, and Central Asian world region.
	Language Teaching Workshop: "Motivate Your Students with Real-Life Tasks and Scenarios" Date: Nov 12, 2020 This event is co-sponsored by the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center; European Union Center; Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies; and Center for Global Studies through support from the US Department of Education's Title VI NRC Program.
	FLAS Information Session (Virtual Session I for Undergraduates) Date: Nov 17, 2020 Topics of discussion include eligibility and requirements, walking through the application, and answering questions about the application process and the fellowship. FLAS Coordinators from individual Centers will be in attendance and available to the students for questions and discussion in break-out sessions after the main presentation.
	75 Years After Hiroshima: A New Nuclear Arms Race? Date: Nov 18, 2020 On August 6 and 9, 1945, over 120,000 people were killed by the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Decade by decade, the billions of people at risk from direct and indirect effects of nuclear war continue to grow.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Francine Hirsch (University of Wisconsin), "Soviet Judgment at Nuremberg: Revisiting the International Military Tribunal on its 75th Anniversary" Date: Nov 19, 2020 This lecture series is a collaborative effort to showcase an area studies specialist from each center focusing on the Russian, East European, and Central Asian world region.
	FLAS Information Session (Virtual Session II for Graduate Students) Date: Dec 2, 2020 Topics of discussion include eligibility and requirements, walking through the application, and answering questions about the application process and the fellowship. FLAS Coordinators from individual Centers will be in attendance and available to the students for questions and discussion in break-out sessions after the main presentation.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Faith Hillis (University of Chicago), "Utopia's Discontents: Russian Emigres and the Quest for Freedom" Date: Dec 3, 2020 In the last fifry years of the tsarist regime, large and boisterous settlements of Russian exiles emerged across the European continet. Called "Russian colonies" by their residents, these communities hosted the leaders of virtually every revolutionary party and produced most of the illegal literature that circulated in late imperial Russia.
	REEEC Virtual Winter Reception Date: Dec 9, 2020 Please join us on December 9th at 4:30 PM CST for the REEEC Virtual Winter REception. We will be celebrating the end of the fall semester and looking ahead to 2021.
	Area Studies Showcase Lecture Series: Theodora Dragostinova (Ohio State University), "The Cold War from the Margins: Socialist Bulgaria on the Global Cultural Scene" Date: Dec 10, 2020 Presenting Bulgaria's cultural engagements with multiple actors in the Third World, this talk highlights the global reach of state socialism, demonstrates the existence of vibrant partnerships along an East-South axis during the 1970s, and challenges notions of late socialism as the prelude to communist collapse in eastern Europe.