The Havighurst Centerfor Russian & Post-Soviet Studies
Silk Road ExplorAsian:Pathway of Cultures
Miami University116 Harrison Hall
Karen Dawisha, DirectorLynn Stevens, Program Coordinator
2006-07
Director’s MessageThe case for extended study abroad
In this issue of the newsletter, you will see an announcement ofthree excellent study abroad opportunities in Russia. Theseprograms almost always set the stage for deeper and morepassionate learning about Russia when students return, and oftenlead to increased enrollments in language courses that studentswish they had taken before going abroad. Why don’t studentsknow that it would be better to prepare for a foreign trip bystudying a foreign language and reading more about the region’shistory, culture, people?
I gained insight to this issue this summer while on a Miami faculty Silk Road tripthat traversed western China and Central Asia to Turkey. It was an amazing trip,and I learned a lot, including the heuristic power of experience. Until you seesomething, talk to people, walk through a market, you don’t really ‘know’.
So among the things I now ‘know’: as a political scientist, I had read about thegrowing gap between China and the post-Soviet space. But until our bus crossed theChinese-Kyrgyzstan border, leaving a bustling mercantile economy behind, andgoing onto a road that for 8 hours did not contain a single built structure exceptelectricity lines taking Kyrgyz energy to China, I did not appreciate the gulf betweenthese economies.
As a Russian specialist, I knew that the Soviet collapse had produced new-foundnational identities, but not until I was there did I know what a challenge thisprovides for citizens on a day-to-day basis. For example, in Uzbekistan, riot policewear Roman-legion style brass helmuts with metal flaps down the back of the neckto protect against knife attacks from the rear; young men are noticeably absentfrom markets, places of work, perhaps having migrated to Russia or fled elsewhere;western-oriented elites yearn for contact with American universities, but arerepressed—they ‘run into us’ in restaurants, but cannot welcome us in theirinstitutions. President Karimov has rebuilt the ancient monuments of Tamerlane,with quotes from himself adorning the new structures—local contacts sometimesadoringly repeat these quotes, sometimes call him a ‘new Saddam’ in a whisper.
And so, for me, the answer to the question, “why don’t students prepare well enoughfor their foreign trips?”: because, like us, they can’t understand the power ofexperience until they are in its midst. They go abroad to travel, they come backfrom travel to learn.
How much better, therefore, if this learning and traveling could be combined, i.e.,if they could travel, learn, absorb, and really immerse themselves while abroad.The Silk Road trip, at over 6 weeks, was longer than most of our study abroadsummer workshops. How much more I would have learned if I had been able to staylonger.
This is the case for embracing a more extended study abroad experience for ourstudents. Yes, there are problems—scholarships, loans, credits, and on and on. Butup against the sure knowledge that the opportunity for us as an institution totransform forever the lives of those students who partake of this chance, I feel it is agoal worth pursuing. It is even more vital when we consider the need for ourstudents, as all Americans, to get ‘beyond the water’s edge’.
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September 25 - December 4Havighurst Colloquia Series:
Postcommunism and the Rule of LawGulnaz Sharafutdinova
Harrison Hall 209, Mondays 12-1:30PM
September 25Andrew Barnes, Kent State UniversityProperty, Oil, and the Rule of Law in Russia
October 2Bob Orttung, American UniversityExplaining Corruption in Russia
October 9Jevgenijs Steinbuks, Miami UniversityThe EU Accession and the Rule of Law: Case of Latvia
October 16Peter Rutland, Wesleyan UniversityWhatever Happened to the Oligarchs?
October 23Vitalii Silitskii, Queen’s UniversityBelarus: Perfecting Authoritarianism and Preempting Democracy
October 30Alexei Trochev, Queen’s UniversityJudicial Pluralism and the Rule of Law: Lessons from Central and EasternEurope
November 6Taras Kuzio, George Washington UniversityThe Orange Revolution’s Impact on the Rule of Law and Democratization inUkraine
November 13Venelin Ganev, Miami UniversityConstitutional Courts and the Rule of Law in PostcommunistEastern Europe: Empirical Evidence and Conceptual Challenges
November 20Martin Dimitrov, Dartmouth CollegeThe Rule of Law Under Authoritarianism: The Case of China
December 4Najia Badykova, George Washington UniversityPolitical Regimes and the Rule of Law in Central Asia
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Schedule of EventsFall 2006
September 6-November 151,001 Nights: Story Without Endfilm screenings and lecture series; Alumni Hall 1, 7:30 p.m.This project of the Department of French and Italian, organized by Prof.Karla Mallette, will consist a film series and two lectures investigating themeans by which cultural information is communicated, and the role thatthe Silk Road played in transmission of narrative traditions in particular.
September 6Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003, 86 minutes)featuring the voice talents of Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones and others
September 13The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926, 65 minutes)first full-length animated movie
September 14 Lecture by Daniel Beaumont, University of RochesterThe Long and the Short of It: The 1001 Nights, Voltaire and Proust
September 20The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974, 105 minutes)pt. 2 of a 3-film series (other films to be shown November 1)
September 27Destiny/Der Mude Tod (Germany 1921, 114 minutes)a classic tale told from the perspective of Death
October 4Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944, 87 minutes)
October 11Arabian Nights (1974, 125 minutes)a classic of European cinema
October 17 Lecture by Paolo Limos Horto, Simon Fraser UniversityThe 1001 Nights and English Literature
October 18The Thief of Baghdad (UK 1940, 106 minutes)considered the best classical era film based on Arabian Nights
October 27Sinbad the Sailor (1947, 116 minutes)tall tales of adventures on the high seas
November 1Day of the Dead double feature **screenings start at 7:00 p.m.**The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958, 89 minutes)Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1998, 114 minutes) 8
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August 29-December 16Silk Road Oasis: The Sculpture of Ancient GandharaMiami University Art MuseumThis exhibition, featuring significant works of ancient Buddhist sculpture,examines the important confluence of cultures and styles that producedthese works. Silk Road Oasis explores the crucial role the Silk Road playedin the eclectic development of this region’s art and culture. Innovativeeducational components will animate this exhibition and bring to life oneparticular region of the Silk Road at a unique and crucial moment in time.
September 22Brill Silk Road OrientationBrill Science Library 12:30-4:30 p.m.A follow up to last year’s amazingly successful Brill Silk Road Orientation.Participants will be transformed into “ambassadors” and will be intro-duced to all of the facilities available for use at Brill Science Library, whileexploring the many facets of the Silk Road. Podcasts will be availablecovering a range of topics including Silk Road history, gemstones andtourism.
September 28Gypsies and the Silk RoadHall Auditorium, 8:00 p.m.A special free concert of the Oxford Chamber Orchestra, directed byRicardo Averbach, featuring music from the countries around the SilkRoad and music by gypsies, illustrating how Eastern Music was brought toEurope. The concert will include three works from Azerbaijan for violinand orchestra, featuring soloist Zara Gulyeva, as well as Manuel de Falla’sEl Amor Brujo (Gypsy Love).
October 10Brown Bag Lecture: The Sculpture of Ancient GandharaMiami University Art Museum, 12:00 p.m.Robert Wicks, director of the Miami University Art Museum will bepresenting this lecture as a part of the Silk Road Oasis exhibit.
October 19Giant BuddhasART 100, 7:00 p.m.Part of the Miami University Art Museum Silk Road Oasis, the documen-tary, “The Giant Buddhas,” will be shown in an open screening. This filmby Christian Frei, about the destruction of the famous Buddha statues inAfghanistan, is an essay on faith and fanaticism, terror and tolerance,ignorance and identity. The screening will be followed by a discussionwith the filmmaker.
October 26-28Havighurst Center International Young Researchers ConferenceOrienting the Russian EmpireMiami Inn and MacMillan HallThis conference will consider theories,conceptual frameworks, and analyticalrepresentations of the Russian case of empirefrom the late-Tsarist era to the contemporaryperiod, including late-Imperial Russia, theSoviet Union, and post-Communist transi-tions addressing a wide array of perspectiveson empire.
Keynote lectures will be given by MargaretZiolkowski (Miami University), NicholasBreyfogle (Ohio State University) and William Fierman (Indiana Univer-sity).
Panel participants include: Patryk Babiracki (Johns Hopkins University),Yuri Bassilov (European University, St. Petersburg), Victoria Clement(Western Carolina), Sergei Glebov (Smith College), Irina Kotkina (Euro-pean University Institute, Florence), Elena Kropacheva (HamburgUniversity), Marlene Laruelle (Woodrow Wilson Center), Irina Morozova(International Institute for Asian Studies), Sebastien Peyrouse (WoodrowWilson Center), Meredith Roman (SUNY Brockport), Peter Rottier (Cleve-land State University), Natalie Rouland (Stanford University), ElenaShulman (Texas Tech University).
See www.muohio.edu/havighurstcenter for schedule.
November 8-30The Silk Road Project ExhibitAlumni HallOpening Reception, November 8An exhibit presented by the Department of Architecture features the workand experiences of some of the Miami faculty who participated in theFulbright Hays-sponsored Summer 2006 workshop along the historic SilkRoad.
November 13The Greening of Global Project Financing: The Case of the Sakhalin-2 Offshore Oil and Gas ProjectShideler Hall 229, 12:00 p.m.Michael Bradshaw from the University of Leicester will be presenting alecture sponsored by the Department of Geography.
December 4Havighurst Center Annual Open HouseHarrison Hall 116, 5:00 p.m.
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Coming Spring 2007
January 31American Premier: Tchaikovsky’s Concerto for Flute and OrchestraOxford Chamber OrchestraHall Auditorium, 8:00 PMOxford Chamber Orchestra presents the American premiere of a newlydiscovered work by Tchaikovsky, the Konsertstück for flute and stringorchestra with harp. The soloist will be the highly decorated Brazilianflutist, James Strauss, who discovered the unfinished work andcompleted it with a full orchestration for flute, strings and harp. The freeconcert will also feature the Double Concerto for flute and piano (originallyfor violin and piano) by Haydn, and Lensky’s aria from Eugene Onegin byTchaikovsky.
February 22, 2007Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra presents Valery GergievMusic Hall, Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.Valery Gergiev is the highly acclaimed artistic and general director of St.Petersburg’s Mariinsky theatre. He has worked with most of the world’sleading orchestras and has organized numerous international festivals.Gergiev will be conducting Stravinsky’s Petrouchka and Tchaikovsky’sSymphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64
April 19“Silk Road on the Slant Walk” FestivalAgainst a backdrop of pavilions representing the Silk Road, the culture,music, art and food of the Silk Road countries will be found along the SlantWalk. Pavilions will be created by architecture students under thedirection of Profs. Gulen Cevik and Afsaneh Ardehali. Pavilion designs willconsider how cultural identities and boundaries are expressed in architec-tural forms.
April 19Golden Dragon AcrobatsMillett, 7:30 p.m.For more than twenty-seven centuries Chinese acrobats have beenthrilling audiences, making it the “longest running” folk art form inhistory. In China, acrobats are revered much the same way primaballerinas and opera singers are in the West. The performers of the GoldenDragon Acrobats represent the best of this honored tradition, mixingaward-winning acrobatics, traditional dance, spectacular costumes andancient and contemporary theatrical techniques to present a show ofbreathtaking skill and spellbinding beauty. Tickets can be purchased atthe MU Box Office: $15 Public, $14 Srs., $7 Student/Youth.
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Study Abroad in RussiaSummer 2007
Miami students interested in Russia are very fortunate tohave access to two integrated workshops available forstudy in Russia. Students may go to Russia with theNovgorod Program to study Russian language and thenjoin the Havighurst Center workshop, immediatellyfollowing. A third opportunity, which focuses on business,is also available.
Language Program in NovgorodMay 20-June 23The Department of GREAL offers a four week program at Novgorod StateUniversity, which inclues tours and excursions.The program is open toall—no previous knowledge of Russian required. Beginning, Intermediate,and Advanced Levels of Study.Living arrangements: Students live with Russian families.Credit: 6 hours of undergraduate credit; 4 hours of graduate credit.Cost: $2990 (includes airfare), plus Miami University tuition and visafees (about $150). Prices subject to slight change.Group Leader: Prof. Irina Goncharenko-Rose. Contact for more informationat [email protected] or 529-1848.
Russian Summer Workshop:The Past in the Post-Soviet PresentJune 22-July 13This course, offered by the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-SovietStudies, will be taught in English. Through guest lecturers, visits totourist sites, and meetings with important cultural figures, students willbecome better acquainted with the fascinating ways that history, tourism,memory, and politics collide.Living arrangements: hotelsCredit: 6 hours of graduate or undergraduate creditCosts: $3200, plus Miami University tuition.Group Leader: Prof. Steve Norris. Contact for moreinformation at [email protected] or 529-2615
Russian Business WorkshopJune 23-July 8This workshop focuses on issues in business management and leadership inRussia including the history of Russian business, economic changesresulting from the transition from the Soviet Union to present-day Russia,current trends in business and leadership, and emerging & future trends.Credit: 5 hours of undergraduate creditCosts: $2600 (includes airfare), plus Miami University tuitionGroup leaders: Prof. Dennis Sullivan ([email protected] or 529-2859)& Prof. Jill Kickul ([email protected] or 529-4215). Contact groupleaders for more information.
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Faculty Spotlight
A Distinguished Scholar award has been presented toProfessor Margaret Ziolkowski (German, Russian and EastAsian languages) in recognition of substantial andcontinuing records of research that has brought herprominence in her field. Provost Jeffrey Herbst presentedthe awards at Faculty Assembly, Aug. 21.
Ziolkowski has established a reputation as one of theforemost scholars in Russian literature. In writing abouther book Hagiography and Modern Russian Literature, Hugh McClean fromthe University of California Berkeley said, “The author’s scholarshipstrikes me as impeccable. She is thoroughly versed in all the ramificationsof her subject: in modern Russian literature itself, of course, and in thescholarly literature concerning it, whether Russian, German, French, orEnglish.”
As a faculty member in the Russian program, she has taught a full courseload in both language and literature and has assumed the administrativeduties of head of the Russian section, as well as assistant chair in thedepartment. She has developed a course in Russian studies for the majorand for the Miami Plan.
The new book A War of Images, by Professor Steve Norris,was published this year by Northern Illinois UniversityPress. Amply illustrated, A War of Images is the firstcomprehensive study of how popular prints helped toconstruct national identity in Russia over a period ofmore than a century. Norris shows how visual images ofpatriotism and expressions of the Russian spirit changedover time, yet remained similar. The lubok—a broadsideor poster—produced during Russia’s modern wars
consistently featured the same key elements: the Russian peasant, theCossack, and a representation of “the Russian spirit.”
Critical acclaim for A War of Images:
“Norris offers a sweeping analysis of the visual culture of war and itsimportance in the formation of Russian national identity. He uses his vastknowledge of 19th- and 20th-century print culture to vividly illuminatethe close connections among the images that permeated Russian life.”—Karen Kettering, Curator of Russian and Eastern European Art, HillwoodMuseum & Gardens
“The author effectively marries cultural with military history to create astrikingly original contribution to our understanding of Russian nationalIdentity.”—David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, author of Toward theRising Sun
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Russian, East European & EurasianUpcoming Spring 2007 Courses
(subject to updates)
ATH/HST/ Intro to Russian and Eurasian Studies (Agadjanian)REL/RUS 254
ATH 3 0 6 Peoples and Cultures of Russia and Eurasia (Larson)
ATH 3 8 4 The Anthropology of Capitalism: Russia in ComparativePerspective (Larson)
ARC 303/ Silk Road Studio (Cevik)4 0 3
ARC 405/ Pre-modern Mood, Post-modern Space: Silk Road Digital505 Nomad (Ardehali)
ARC 405.2B/ Russian Art and Architecture 2, from 1860 to present505.2B (Sokolina)
CLS 310.B Bakhtin and the Classics (Nimis)
GEO 3 1 1 Geography of Western Europe (inc. E. Europe) (Dahlman)
GEO 408 Geography of the Silk Road (Toops)
GLG Geopolitics of Azerbaijan’s Oil in the 21st Century (Dilek)
HST 360/ Havighurst Colloquium: Russia’s Empire (Norris)POL 4 3 0
HST 3 7 5 Russia and the USSR from 1855 to the Present (Rouland)
HST 470F The Great Game (Rouland)
MUS 481/ The Modernist Revolution of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes5 8 1 (Papanikolaou)
POL 3 3 2 Russian Politics (Dawisha)
POL 6 1 0 Social Theory and Postcommunist Politics (Ganev)
REL 2 3 5 Religions of Russia and Eurasia (Agadjanian)
REL 3 6 0 Religion in Contemporary Russia (Agadjanian)
RUS 101 TA Intensive Beginners’ Russian Language, half-semester(Sutcliffe)
RUS 102 UA Intensive Beginners’ Russian Language, half-semester(Sutcliffe)
RUS 1 0 2 A Beginners’ Russian Language (Goncharenko-Rose)
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RUS 1 3 7 Russian Folklore (Ziolkowski)RUS 1 3 7 . B Russian and Eurasian Folklore (Light)
RUS 2 0 2 Intermediate Russian Language (Chernetsky)
RUS 1 8 0 Alcohol Abuse and the Russian Cultural Imagination(Sutcliffe)
RUS 250.I Topics in Russian Literature/Culture in EnglishTranslation: Russian Cinema Today (Chernetsky)
RUS 250.J Culture and Power in Eurasian History (Light)
RUS 255 Russian Literature from Pushkin to Dostoevsky inEnglish Translation (Chernetsky)
RUS 380.H Central Eurasia: Missionaries, Merchants, Diplomats andExplorers on the Silk Road (Light)
New Major!Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies
A new major is now being offered in Russian, East European andEurasian Studies. This interdisciplinary major allows students tostudy the history and culture of Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia,broadly defined as the territory of the former Soviet republics, frommedieval times to today. Drawing from a range of disciplines andapproaches, students have the opportunity to explore issues of politi-cal, social, and regional identity and cultural diversity, as well asofficial and popular culture.
The program has 36 semester hours of requirements. Students musttake a core introductory course, Introduction to Russian & EurasianStudies, and complete Russian at least up to 202. Students may selectfrom two tracks in the new major--History and Politics or Language,Literature and Culture.
In addition to the program requirements, students are encouraged toattend the Miami summer Russian language workshop in Novgorod,Russia, the Miami summer Cultural Workshop in St. Petersburg,Russia, or an approved semester or year-long academic study pro-gram in Russia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, or Eastern Europe.
For more information, contact:Dr. Margaret Ziolkowski, Program Advisor
Department of German, Russian & East Asian Languages (GREAL)172 Irvin Hall, 513-529-2526.
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New Faculty and StaffAdditions to the Havighurst Center Community
Vitaly Chernetsky, Assistant Professor in German, Russian & EastAsian Languages (GREAL)
Vitaly Chernetsky is a native of Ukraine. He began hisuniversity education in Russia, at Moscow State University,and completed it in the US, earning a doctorate inComparative Literature and Literary Theory at theUniversity of Pennsylvania. He has taught Slavic andComparative Literature and Film Studies at Columbia andat Northeastern University, and has been a postdoctoralfellow at Cornell and Harvard. His research interestsinclude Russian, Ukrainian, and other literatures and
cultures of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, cultural aspects ofglobalization, postmodernism, postcolonialism, film studies, gender studies,and the theory and practice of literary translation. His book, “MappingPostcommunist Cultures: Russia and Ukraine in the Context of Globalization,”is forthcoming from the McGill—Queen’s University Press. He has coedited acomprehensive English-language anthology of contemporary Russian poetry,“Crossing Centuries” (2000), and has published numerous articles on, aswell as translations of, modern Russian and Ukrainian literature.
Anna Sokolina, Assistant Professor in ArchitectureAnna Sokolina is an architect/art historian. She receivedher Ph.D. in Architecture from the Russian AcademicResearch Institute for the Theory of Architecture andUrban Design, and her M.A. in Architecture from theMoscow Architectural Institute. She is a Certificategraduate in Arts Administration from New YorkUniversity. She interned at the Art Commission of theCity of New York, the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt NationalDesign Museum, and the S.R. Guggenheim Museum.Sokolina has published over seventy papers, article and reviews inprofessional media, compiled, authored and edited the monographArchitecture and Anthroposophy. She also has lectured and curated art andarchitectural exhibitions in the United States, Germany, and France.
In 1996-1997, she worked as a curator of exhibitions at the TabakmanMuseum of Russian Art in Hudson, NY. In 2002-03, she conducted theCultural Heritage Database Project initiated by the GuggenheimFoundation, J. Rothschild Foundation, and the Russian Ministry of Culture.Anna Sokolina is elected Honorary Advisor of the Board of the InternationalArchive of Women in Architecture at Virginia Polytechnic Institute andState University.
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Doug Rogers, Assistant Professor in AnthropologyDoug Rogers received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from theUniversity of Michigan in 2004 and was a HavighurstPostdoctoral Fellow at Miami University for two years beforejoining the Anthropology Department as an AssistantProfessor. He teaches courses on “Peoples and Cultures ofRussia and Eurasia,” and “The Anthropology of Capitalism:Russia in Comparative Perspective,” as well as on theanthropology of religion and general cultural anthropology.
Rogers’s research is largely based on long-term field researchin the Urals area of Russia (Perm Region). His articles on various aspects of post-Soviet transformation in historical perspective have appeared in AmericanEthnologist, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Kritika: Explorations inRussian and Eurasian History, and Religion, State, and Society. In 2006-7, he willbe a fellow at the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, a unit of theWoodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., wherehe will be completing a book manuscript entitled A Vernacular Ethics: Work,Prayer, and Moral Practice in the Russian Urals, 1698-2004.
Masha Stepanova, Slavic LibrarianMasha Stepanova is a new Resident Librarian on the Oxfordcampus. She received her Master’s degree in Library andInformation Science from the University of Iowa in 2006.During her residency she will have an array of experiencesin the departments of Technical Services, InstructionalServices, and Special Collections. Originally fromKaliningrad, Russia, Masha is interested in Slaviclibrarianship and rare materials. Her other interests includeconservation/preservation, bookbinding structures, andinformation literacy.
Jonathan Larson, Visiting Assistant Professor in AnthropologyJonathan Larson received his PhD in anthropology this fallfrom the University of Michigan for his dissertation,“Ideology, History, and Performances of Opinion: AnEthnography of Slovak Critical Thinking, 1948-2005.”Trained as a cultural and linguistic anthropologist,Jonathan’s research focuses on language and political formsin Central-Eastern Europe. His research was supported byTitle VI and VIII funding from the U.S. Department of State,a Fulbright-Hays dissertation fellowship from the U.S.Department of Education, and various grants from theInternational Institute of the University of Michigan, including the VáclavHavel Dissertation Fellowship. Jonathan received his B.A. in Modern EuropeanHistory and German from the University of Vermont.
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Nathan Light, Havighurst Postdoctoral Fellow in German, Russian &East Asian Languages (GREAL)
Nathan Light is a Folklorist and Anthropologist with hisPhD from Indiana University, who studies verbal and per-forming arts, the politics of culture and history, and theways individual experience interacts with collective his-tory and culture. He has done field work among Uyghursand Kyrgyz national identity, and religion in modern andpostmodern settings. Among his publications are twenty-three articles, an edited volume, and two monographs: TheBuddhist Way in the 20th Century: Religious Values and Con-
temporary History of the Theravada Nation (Nauka Publishers, Moscow 1993),and The Peasant World and the State in Burma (Nauka Publishers, Moscow,1989).in northwest China and Kyrgyzstan. He has also taught and studied ininland China, France, Germany, Japan, Turkey and the Soviet Union. Hisdissertation study of the poetry and performers of Uyghur Muqam song hasresulted in an article on Turkic inscriptions and will be the basis for his projectwriting a critical history of eastern Turkic literature while at the HavighurstCenter.
During the past year Nathan taught at American University in Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan, and collected oral life histories from a variety of Bishkek resi-dents. He will be editing these for publication in a volume intended to be anaccessible introduction to the diversity and complexity of Central Asian expe-rience over the past 100 years. He is also collaborating on a number of Cen-tral Asian cultural research projects including a study of what is often called“bride kidnapping,” a marriage strategy that is widespread in Kazakhstanand Kyrgyzstan. His research on Ala Kachuu (bride stealing) offers insightsinto the ways individual behavior, social expectations and cultural valuesinteract to shape a custom in ways that even participants do not understand.
Jevgenijs Steinbuks, Havighurst Associate in EconomicsJevgenijs graduated from Riga’s Secondary Jewish School in 1996 and beganstudies at the University of Latvia in the Faculty of Business administrationand Economics. After graduation from the University of Latvia, he joined theUniversity of Warwick (UK) for MSc in Economics, and then the George Wash-ington University (U.S.) for a PhD program in Economics, where his primaryresearch interests were Applied Econometrics, EconomicGrowth, Industrial Development, Real Estate Finance, andthe Economics of Technological Change.
Jevgenijs’s work experience started in 1997 in the Euro-pean Integration Bureau (now European Affairs Bureau),Latvia. Upon joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Repub-lic of Latvia, he focused on international economic affairsand Latvia’s accession negotiations with the European Union.More recently he did some consulting for the Latvian Em-bassy in Washington, the World Bank, and the Credit Research Center,Georgetown University and taught courses in the GWU International Busi-ness Department.
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Alexander Agadjanian, Havighurst Associate in Comparative ReligionAlexander will join the Comparative Religion department beginning spring2007. He earned a Doctor of Sciences (equivalent to the PhD) in World Historyat the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 1993.
Agadjanian’s areas of competence include:Eastern Orthodoxy in Russia and Eastern Europe, religion and human rightsdiscourses, religion and human rights discourses, religion and nationalidentity and religion in modern and postmodern settings. Among his publi-cations are twenty-three articles, and edited volume, and two monographs:The Buddhist Way in the 20th Century: Religious Values and ContemporaryHistory of the Theravada Nation (Nauka Publishers, Moscow 1993) and ThePeasant World and the State in Burma (Nauka Publishers, Moscow, 1989).
Natalie Rouland, Havighurst Associate in Russian LiteratureMs. Rouland is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Slavic Languages andLiteratures at Stanford University, where she completed a Master’s thesis en-titled “Feminine Filiation and the Absent Addressee in Tsvetaeva’s PodrugaCycle.” She has recently returned from St. Petersburg, whereshe was conducting dissertation research through Stanford’sCenter for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies onRussian literary culture in the late nineteenth century andthe creation of the Russian ballet.
Ms. Rouland received her B.A. from Wellesley College in Rus-sian and English literature and has been the recipient of aFulbright Fellowship and a Knafel Traveling Fellowship. Inaddition to nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russian literature, Ms. Roulandhas also written on twentieth-century Czech literature. This fall at Miami, shewill be teaching a freshman Honors seminar entitled “The Great Russian Novel”and presenting a paper on imperial nostalgia and Russian self-representationin Alexander Benois’ 1911 ballet Petrushka at the Havighurst Center’s AnnualInternational Young Researchers Conference.
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The Miami University Silk Road ProjectThe Power of Travel and Exploration
From May 21-July 2, 2006, fifteen faculty from Miami University traveledthe route of the historical Silk Road, from western China, throughKyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, to Turkey. During their travels, they tookturns updating an online diary of the trip, the “Silk Road Blog,” withdetailed descriptions and photos (plus a few films!). Following are someexcerpts of these entries. To read the unabridged accounts, visitwww.muohio.edu/havighurstcenter.
Day 1: May 21 Sunday: Xi’an China —Steve NimisThe Silk Road traditionally began in the oldcapital city of Xi’an southwest of Beijing. Afterbreakfast a group of us rented bikes for acircumnavigation of the walls, while otherswalked...
Day 2: May 22 Monday: Xi’an, China—AfsanehArdehali
Passing through orchard after orchard of pomegranate trees with redblossoms, we finally arrived at the site of the Terra Cotta Army, an houroutside the city center, a breathtaking trip to an unearthed past...
Day Three: May 23 Tuesday: Urumqi, China —Yildirim DilekOur first flight together was a smooth one with no serious bumps at 35,000feet elevation, flying over the easternmost part of Tibet. As soon as we leftthe airport, we were provided a full-blown feast with delicious shish kebab,juicy watermelon, and sweet yogurt. Nobody questioned the freshness of thekebab meat since we sat right next to some recently skinned lambs andsheep hanging from the butcher stands.
Day Nine: May 29 Monday Transfer —Steve NimisThe transfer from Urumqi to Naryn requiresthat we cross from China into Kyrgyzstan byway of the Torugart pass, which LonelyPlanet describes as the “most exciting andmost frustrating way to enter or exit CentralAsia or China.” The excitement comes fromthe stunning views high up in the moun-tains—3000 meters—not to mention therather sketchy roads which our bus driversnegotiated with nerves of steel. The frustration comes from the lengthydelays spent at customs where surly staff eye us suspiciously and spendunaccountably large amounts of time “recording” our information...
Day Fourteen: June 3 Bishkek —Ben SutcliffeThe leitmotif of the day is exchange, and in particular exchange as embod-ied in books, ideas, and mutton (but more on this later in the entry). Themorning began with a plentiful buffet [where] coffee drinkers were happy
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Visit www.muohio.edu/havighurstcenter to read more!
to find a vat of “roasted coffee” as well as theubiquitous Nescafe instant granules. Most ofthe group then proceeded to our main goal invisiting Bishkek: the Conference on Globaliza-tion and the Independent States of the SilkWay: Problems and Prospects...
Day 17: Tuesday June 6: Moving From Red to BlueBorder Crossing - Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan —Simone Andrus: Camp Follower [and Stan Toop’swife]Uzbekistan appeared to be more prosperous than Kyrgyzstan - roads werebetter, homes were in better condition and fresh bright paint was every-where. We passed fertile fields and could easily see why the irrigatedFerghana valley is so important as the cultural and agricultural heart ofUzbekistan.
Day 29: Sunday June 18: Samarkand—Gulnaz SharafutdinovaJune 18th was an eventful day: we visited some of the most magnificentarchitectural structures of Samarkand - the capital of the Timurid empire(14-15th centuries). Samarkand represented one of the strategic points ofthe Silk Road: it was a city where the Silk Road divided into two (goingwest through Iran and south to India)...
Day 36: Sunday June 25: Istanbul—ScottKenworthyRick Colby and I went to services at thechurch of the Phanar. The church itself isbeautiful; though the complex itself is sotight and tall it is very difficult to getperspective on the whole thing. But one ofthe more striking aspects of the servicewas how few people there were in thecongregation—probably not more than 20
for the majority of the service, and many of them were clearly visitors. Certainly the most anticipated site for me—and one that was far moreamazing than I could have even imagined—was Hagýa Sophia. Picturesjust do not do the place justice; it is certainly the most amazing building Ihave ever seen in my life…
Day 40: Thursday June 29: Pammukale—Yihong PanLocated about 52 kilometers southeast of Konya, Catalhoyuk (“forkmount” in Turkish) was first under excavation in the 1960. Since we sawmany of the artifacts—obsidian tools, potteries, remains of fabrics, femalefigurines—Mother Goddess, and frescos, in the Museum of AnatolianCivilizations at Ankara the day before yesterday, the actual sites did notseem simply as holes in the ground; they, together with the naturalsurroundings and the artifacts, have painted for us a detailed picture ofwhat life was like in the Neolithic age at Catalhoyuk...
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Past EventsSpring 2006
Spring 2006 had a strong start with a series of lectures and symposia inJanuary. The semester began with the Havighurst Colloquia Series, asemester long series of lectures by guest scholars. The Spring 2006 series,organized by Comparative Religion’s Rick Colby, Scott Kenworthy, and LizWilson, focused on the Merchants, Mercenaries, and Monks along the SilkRoad. Guest lecturers included Uli Schamiloglu (Wisconsin), AdeebKhalid (Carlton College), playwright Richard Kalinoski, Eugene Wang(Harvard), Alexander Knysh (Michigan), Devin DeWeese (Indiana), JohnSchoeberlein (Harvard), and Elliot Sperling (Indiana).
In the Department of Theater, Chinese puppetmaster andArtist-in-Residence Wu shan Huang lectured to theater classes,visited local schools, and gave public performances at theOxford Lane Public Library and in Kelly Auditorium onMiami’s Oxford campus.
Islam Forum: Muslim Peoples of the Silk Road, organized by Prof. StanleyToops. The Geography Department, the Center for American & WorldCultures and the Havighurst Center sponsored a forum dedicated to thecross-disciplinary exploration of the historical and contemporary domes-tic and political lives of Muslim peoples from the Silk Road countries.Presenters included Vernon Schubel (Kenyon College), Nurten KiliçSchubel (Kenyon College), William Fierman (Indiana University), DilekÇindoglu (Bilkent University), and Gardner Bovingdon (Indiana Univer-sity).
In February, William Craft Brumfield (Tulane) spoke in the Department ofArchitecture on Buriatiia: Architectural Crossroads in Eurasia and Jeffrey D.Lerner (Wake Forest) lectured on Greek colonization in Afghanistan. Hislecture, If These Bricks Could Talk: Decoding an Ancient Mystery fromAfghanistan, was part of “The Power of Language” Series co-sponsoredwith the Center for American and World Cultures, the Department ofAnthropology and the Classics Department.
Also in February, one of the most prominent upcomingviolin players in the world, 23 year old Armenian violinistHaik Kazazyan, performed with the MU Symphony Orchestra.Mr. Kazazyan performed the Concerto for violin and orchestrain D minor written by fellow Armenian Aram Khachaturian.
Dr. Bill Granara, professor of Arabic at Harvard University, who specializesin the history and culture of Muslim Sicily, participated in the All RoadsLead to Rome Silk Road Lecture Series hosted by the Department of French& Italian.
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Wu Man, an internationally known player of the pipa, presentedAncient Dances, a multi-media work exploring the connectionsbetween the two ancient Chinese traditions of calligraphy andpipa playing.
The Havighurst Humanities Symposium last spring focused onexpressions of identity through performance. Papers explored aspects ofperformance ranging from overt displays and transmission of culturalforms to everyday modes of participation in ritual, discourse, and publiclife. Speakers included: Laura Adams (Princeton), Jennifer Dickinson(Vermont), Stephen Kotkin (Princeton), Ted Levin (Dartmouth),Havighurst Center Altman Humanities Scholar-in-Residence, NathanLight (American University of Central Asia), David Macfadyen (UCLA),Inna Naroditskaya (Northwestern), Michael Rouland (Miami), Tim Scholl(Oberlin), and Richard Stites (Georgetown).
In April a Kyrgyz ensemble named Tengir-Too shared tradi-tional nomadic mountain music with a variety of audiences.The group takes its name from the eponymous mountainrange better known by its Chinese name, Tien-Shan, or"Celestial Mountains."
Bruce Grant, Associate Professor of Anthropology at NYU, presented alecture entitled, “Brides, Brigands, and Fire-Bringers: Toward a HistoricalEthnography of Exchange, Violence, & Pluralism in the Caucasus.”
Culture, music, art and food of the Silk Road were the focus of the SilkRoad on the Slant Walk Festival, a interdisciplinary collaboration high-lighting many Silk Road countries. Pavilions representing variouscountries were created by architecture students of Dr. Sergio Sanabria.
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Alumni News
Michelle Smith, 2006 Miami Graduate, B.A. Political Sciencewith a minor in French
While a student at Miami, I studied an assortment ofseemingly unrelated subjects: political science, French,and Russian Studies. I traveled to Russia twice with theHavighurst Center's Undergraduate Research Workshop,completed a related research paper, did my Capstone inFrench, and spent a semester interning at the WorldHealth Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Presently, I am pursuing a Master of Arts in International Affairs at theGeorge Washington University, and am a research assistant for avisiting scholar studying Central Asia at the Kennan Institute. Theexperience of being a student of international affairs in Washington DCis amazing, with unparalleled access to an array of highly respectedinstitutions and individuals. Public or private sector, academic orprofessional sphere, US Government or foreign embassies, think tanks,non-profits--everything is concentrated here. The choices of speakers,events, and job opportunities are overwhelming.
For those interested in pursuing graduate studies or employment ininternational fields, I highly advise you to take advantage of yourundergraduate years to the fullest extent. Go beyond requiredcoursework--do an undergraduate research project, declare a minor,take economics, statistics, and as many foreign language classes aspossible, talk to faculty about your options, study abroad, and try tointern when you do. Many parts of the university, including theHavighurst Center, have funds available to help.
The more diverse your skills and experiences are, the moreopportunities that exist.
Graduate School Spotlight
Former Miami students focusing on Russian and Eurasian studieshave been accepted into graduate programs at Indiana Univer-sity, University of Texas, George Washington University,Georgetown University, University of Michigan, London Schoolof Economics, Central European University (Budapest), OhioState University, European University (St. Petersburg) andothers. For a list of graduate programs affiliated with Russiancenters, please visit our website:
www.muohio.edu/havighurstcenter/russiancenters
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Alumni News
A Day in the Life at European University, St. PetersburgKatie Bibish, 2006 Miami Graduate, B.A. History
September 4, 2006. I got a job today! I will teachEnglish to adults, teenagers and children across thestreet from the Hermitage. By the end of tomorrow, Iwill have attended each of the courses I plan to pursuethis fall. This includes the history of Russian border-lands (Poland, Ukraine, etc.), contemporary ethic problems in post-Soviet states, and Russian & Eastern European film. Each class expectsone midterm paper, one final paper and more reading each week then Iknow what to do with!
Last Friday my university hosted a celebration for the new students atthe university. This included many bottles of wine, grapes and bananas.It was a good chance to meet my professors and peers outside theclassroom. Everyone here seems genuine, smart and friendly. Followingthe university celebration, the program coordinator reserved ticketsfor a jazz club. Like in the U.S., it was small, dingy and smoky (depend-ing what part of the U.S. you occupy). Unlike the U.S., the group playeda mix of music, had a DJ working from an Apple in the background, andcaused many Russian girls to get up and dance in front of the stage.
I have my Russian visa registered, I have food in my fridge, and I have acomforter from IKEA. I have many liters of water. I also made my tripto the friendly U.S. Consulate. I was greeted with more security thenone receives to enter a public rally for Bush. I am now registered.
International MA in Russian Studies (IMARS)
European University at St. Petersburg
IMARS is a graduate program for students who already holda B.A. degree or its equivalent and wish to continue theirstudy of Russia or other successor states of the Soviet Union.Those reading for an M.A. in Russian Studies at the EUSP areexpected to achieve a solid interdisciplinary understandingof the region and to become first-class specialists in theirfield.
for more information, visitwww.eu.spb.ru/en/imars/index.htm
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Alumni News
Albanian DreamsMarisa Bowersox, 2006 Miami graduate, B.A. ITS with Russian language minor.
On March 22, 2007, I will be leaving for Albania to serve atwenty-seven month long commitment in the Peace Corps asa Community Health Educator. When I depart for Albania,one year will have transpired from when I first began theapplication process. I thought that the process would beharder, but it really was not that difficult. The first step iscompleting the initial online application portion. Includedin that application are two preliminary essays as well as threeletters of recommendation that must be submitted. Abouttwo months after I submitted my application, I had an on-campus interviewwith a Peace Corps recruiter. We discussed what I hoped to accomplish, whereI wanted to go, and how I saw Peace Corps fitting into my long term goals. Thenext day I was nominated to serve, and along came a litany of medical andlegal forms that had to be filled out. Finally, after waiting three months, Ireceived my invitation to work in Albania. The process of applying to thePeace Corps requires a great deal of patience. The results are not immediate, asone must wait for each stage to be completed, but the end result is incrediblyexciting. I know that joining the Peace Corps was the right decision, and I canonly imagine what the future holds after participating in this fantasticendeavor.
Peace Corps Opportunitywww.peacecorps.org
The Peace Corps has over 3,500 positions to fill this year in areas ofCommunity Development, Information Technology, Business, Health,Education/Teaching, Environment, and Agriculture. All majors arewelcome to apply! The application process takes 9-12 months. ApplyNOW in order to start working on your post-graduation plans.
The Peace Corps will be at Miami University November 1-2. Represen-tatives will hold general information sessions and conduct applicantinterviews (applications must be submitted prior to interview sessions).
For more information, or to schedule an on-campus interview, contactKatie O’Conner, Regional Recruiter
a t(800) 424-8580
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Russian, East European & EurasianFall 2006 Courses
ATH/GEO/ Peoples and Cultures of Russia and EurasiaRUS 306 Larson, TR 9:30-10:45 a.m., HRN 12
CLS 210.Z/ Russian Poetry in TranslationRUS 230.Z Torlone, MWF 2:00-2:50 p.m., IRV 040
CLS 310.A Greeks: Near East and Central AsiaNimis, TR 2:00-3:15 p.m., IRV 046
FST/RUS 263 Soviet & Post Soviet Russian CinemaChernetsky, MWF 1:00-1:50 p.m., BAC 134 and M6:00-8:00 p.m., IRV 40
HST/POL/REL/ Introduction to Russian & Eurasian StudiesRUS 254 Light, MWF 11:00-11:50 a.m., UPH 127
HST 360.I Russia's War and PeaceNorris, TR 11:00am-12:15 p.m., LWS 013
HST 360.R Central Asia in the 20th CenturyM. Rouland, MWF 9:00-9:50 a.m., UPH 005
HST 4005 Senior Capstone: Russian HistoryNorris, R 2:00-4:40 p.m., UPH 269
ITS 402.O Transition to DemocracySharafutdinova, T 3:00-5:30 p.m., HUG 158
POL 331 Development of the Soviet PolityGanev, MWF 2:00-2:50 p.m., HRN 313
POL 440/540 Havighurst Colloquium: Postcommunismand the Rule of LawSharafutdinova, MW 12:00-1:50 p.m., HRN 209
RUS 101 Beginners Russian LanguageGoncharenko-Rose, MWF 11:00 a.m.-12:10 p.m.,IRV 030 or MWF 2:00 p.m.-3:10 p.m., IRV 126
RUS H102 Great Russian NovelN. Rouland, TR 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m., MCG 419
RUS 201 Intermediate Russian LanguageChernetsky, MWF 9:00 a.m. - 9:50 a.m., MCG 214
RUS 257/ Russian Literature in TranslationENG 257-5 Ziolkowski, MWF 10:00-10:50 a.m., IRV 009
RUS 301 Advanced Russian LanguageZiolkowski, MWF 11:00-11:50 a.m., IRV 130
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The Havighurst Center for Russian & Post-Soviet Studies
116 Harrison HallM
iami University
Oxford, OH 45056(513)529-3303HavighurstCenter@
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