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FROM THE DIRECTORthrough concerts, public lectures, artdisplays, and training sessions for Kan-sas secondary school teachers, highlight-ing some of KU’s outstanding and uniqueresources in language and culturalstudies. Please see page 8 for more infor-mation. In addition, the Center will hostEugene Fishel for the 2007 Maria PalijMemorial Lecture, several films fromUzbekistan, and an exciting new annualtradition: a celebration of Maslenitsawith cooking (and eating), dancing, andmusic. We look forward to seeing you at all ofour activities in the coming semester.

Erik HerronDirector

The Fall 2006 semester concluded withsad news for the Russian, East Europeanand Eurasian Studies community at KU:the loss of Heinrich Stammler on Novem-ber 29, 2006. Dr. Stammler was a giantin the Slavic Studies field. He was thefirst chair of Slavic Languages and Lit-eratures at KU, an expert in comparativeliterature, literary history, and intellec-tual history, and an avid collector ofbooks. He was a great friend of REES;you may read more about Dr. Stammlerand his contributions to area studies onpage 9. We have a full slate of activitiesscheduled for Spring 2007, beginningwith the Balkan Semester. The BalkanSemester will focus on contemporaryand historical issues in the region

Spring 2007

NewsletterCENTER FOR RUSSIAN, EAST EUROPEAN& EURASIAN STUDIES

CONTENTS

Fall 2006 Brownbag Synopsis ........... 2

Kansas Summit on StrategicLanguages, Fall 2006.............................. 3

Spring 2007 Graduates ........................ 4

Faculty News .......................................... 5

Impressions of KU ................................. 7

Outreach ................................................... 7

Balkan Semester Calendar ................. 8

In Memory ofHeinrich A. Stammler .......................... 9

Maslenitsa ................................................ 10

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FALL 2006 BROWNBAGSYNOPSIS

Ray Finch, Assistant Director, CREES, examines thelegal and political problems of Mikhail Khodorkosky.

Maria Weir,PhD Candidate,Anthropology,KU, talks abouther experiencesliving inUzbekistanduring the 1990s.

Visiting scholar Marci Shore, Yale University, sharessome of her research regarding East Central EuropeanAvant Garde, 1910-1930.

The Fall 2006 semester included a full andvaried slate of interesting presentations duringthe weekly Laird Brownbag series. Topicsranged from the historical to the contemporary,from travelogue to the scholarly. This forumillustrates the interdisciplinary nature of ourCenter, and whether it is Laura Chaney andDanielle Price talking about their experiencesliving in Russia or visiting professor StephenWoodburn describing Zurab Tsereteli’s 9/11Monument, these discussions help to broadenawareness of the region among faculty, studentsand the general public.

A group of visiting Kazakh students shares their impres-sions of their country and the US with students in theREES 110 course. Their visit was sponsored by the KUDepartment of Economics.

KU Provost, Richard Lariviere greets theHerron family at the 2006 Holiday party.

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KANSAS SUMMIT ON STRATEGICLANGUAGES, FALL 2006

The recent “Summit on Strategic Languages”provided an opportunity for Kansaspolicymakers, legislators, educators, and mem-bers of the business community to engage in

dialogue on the study of critical languages(namely Arabic, Chinese, and Russian) inKansas. During the Summit, presentersdiscussed the urgent need to teach theselanguages and to build on Kansas initiativesthat are already underway. The Summit alsodemonstrated a pressing need for publicawareness and advocacy if these initiatives areto develop into regular programs. Of particularnote, the director of the Confucius Institute atthe Chicago Public Schools, Robert Davis,related his experience in building the Chineselanguage program in that school district, aprogram that is currently flourishing. I foundMr. Davis’ report extremely encouraging. Ihave always had a special interest in foreignlanguage acquisition for children and lookforward to pursuing emerging opportunities inKansas. As the librarian for Russian collectionsat KU, I also look forward to meeting withlibrary colleagues across the state to explorehow we can collaborate in support of the studyof these languages and the regions and culturesassociated with them. For me, the Summitwas informative and compelling. I will cer-tainly stay tuned for future episodes.

Jon Giullian speaks at the Summit.

Jon Giullian, Slavic Librarian, KU(785) 864-8854giullian@ku.edu

Erik Herron, Jacob Kipp and MelissaBirch exchange thoughts at theLanguage Summit 2006.

2006 WINTERHOLIDAYPARTY

Masha Kipp and CREES visitors Ivan Pisarev,Leysan Khakimova, Alexandra Belyakina, AnnaArkatova, and Margarita Karnysheva get close atthe CREES holiday party.

Margarita Karnysheva,Tatyana Wilds and Irina Six

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If all goes according to schedule, the followingstudents will be graduating with an MA in REESin May 2007.

BRIAN FRANKNATHAN AND LAURA GERTHVJEKO JADRICINGRID PEREZDANIELLE PRICEMAJOR BERNIE STONE

Bernie Stone:Favorite moment.....it will bereceiving my diploma.One year from now I hope tobe a veteran Muscovite, capableof verbally defeating even thesurliest of traffic police!

Ingrid Perez

SPRING 2007 GRADUATES

OUR CENTERHAS LONG PRIDED ITSELF ON THE

STRENGTH OF ITS ALUMNIAND THIS YEAR’S GRADUATES

ARE CERTAINLY NO EXCEPTION!

GRADUATES -- continued

Bernie Stone

Ingrid Perez: My favorite memoriesfrom the REES program aremembers of the faculty,particularly Dr. Mikkelsonand Dr. Tsiovkh. From allthe time I have spent in theprogram they have meant

the most to me. I’m sure I’ll never forget thembecause of the unselfish way they helped mewhen I most needed it. When I had doubts aboutmy ability to finish the degree, they both assuredme that I could do it. In one year, I hope to be starting somewhere inCanada on a PhD program in History, focusingmy research on the Stalin period. Someday, Ihope to become a fine scholar like the ones Iadmire most.

Danielle Price

Danielle Price:I have enjoyed myexperience as anM.A. student in theCenter for Russian,East European andEurasian Studies.I am grateful for myGraduate Research Assistantship as the EditorialAssistant for The Russian Review, which has givenme the opportunity to observe and be an integralpart of the publishing process in a prestigiousacademic journal. This position strengthened mywriting and researching techniques, preparingme for my research project focusing on childabandonment in the Russian Federation. I con-centrated on the failure of the Russian Federationto make every effort to ensure that these childrenare given the opportunity to grow up in a familystructure that would provide them with thesocialization skills they need to successfullyintegrate into society. My research has onlystrengthened my commitment to human rightsand in a year, I hope to be working as a paralegalfor an immigration or human rights law firm.

All of these students have been great citizens ofthe REES program and have worked hard bothacademically and professionally to make thisprogram a success. We will miss them dearlyand hope that they will keep us posted on theirfuture successes.

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Nathan and Laura Gerth

Anna Cienciala, Professor Emerita, published “TheKatyn Syndrome,” a review of Iazhborovskaia I.S. etal., Katynskii Sindrom v sovetsko-pol’skikh irossiissko-polskikh otnosheniakh (The KatynSyndrome in Soviet-Polish and Soviet-PolishRelations), Rosspen, Moscow, 2001, in the Jan 06edition of The Russian Review. She also published areview of A Biography of No Place: From Ethnic Border-land to Soviet Heartland, by Kate Brown, HarvardUniversity Press, Cambridge, MA, 2004 in The PolishReview, vol. LI, no. 2, 2006.

Paul D’Anieri, Political Science and Associate Dean,published Understanding Ukrainian Politics: Power, Politics,and Institutional Design with M.E. Sharpe (2006). D’Anieriseeks to explain how it is that, after each new begin-ning, power politics has trumped democraticinstitution-building in Ukraine, as in so many otherpost-Soviet states.

FACULTY NEWS

Dietrich Earnhart published “Pollution, Production,and Sectoral Differences in a Transition Economy,” inComparative Economic Studies, December 2006 (withLubomir Lizal) and “Direct and Indirect Effects ofOwnership on Firm-Level Environmental Perfor-mance,” in Eastern European Economics, forthcoming(with Lubomir Lizal).

Brian Frank:My experience at KU has been very rewardingand I consider my greatest memories at theuniversity regarding the graduate organizationand my opportunity to study in L’viv. The gradu-ate organization is a huge step forward in bring-ing CREES students together and contributedgreatly to forming friendships that will lastbeyond our studies. My summer in L’viv willalways be a cherished memory. Hiking in theCarpathians, living in the center of town andnumerous castles, what isn’t there to like? All ofmy professors were great, but my languageinstruction in Ukrainian was particularly excel-lent. Where will I be in one year? I know thatwherever I will be will be have a direct result ofmy education at KU. Thanks to all the staff atCREES, fellow graduate students and above allmy wife for all the support and patience.

GRADUATES -- continued

Brian Frank

Ron Francisco has the Russian civil war coded on hisdata website: http://lark.cc.ku.edu/~ronfran/data/ Click on“historical civil wars.”

Jon Giullian published “Where Library Meets Vendor: A Comparison of Six Vendors of Russian Books,” p. 87-112 in Books, Bibliographies, and Pugs: A Festschrift to HonorMurlin Croucher. Gregory C. Ference and Bradley L.Schaffner, eds. Series: Indiana Slavic Studies. Bloomington, IN: Slavica, 2006. He also presented apaper at a conference in Bulgaria, which will come outin the conference proceedings.

Dale Herspring, KSU, published a book in October,2006 The Kremlin and the High Command, The Impact ofPresidential Leadership from Gorbachev to Putin. The thirdedition of his edited book, Putin’s Russia; Past Imperfect,Future Uncertain, is due out in December 2006, and hehas an article forthcoming in Problems of Post-Commu-nism, “Putin and the Russian Military.”

Major Matt Dimmick, KU REES MA (2005) isnow working as the Assistant Army Attache atthe US Embassy in Moscow. In this role, herepresents the United States Army and Depart-ment of Defense in contacts with the Russianmilitary. He provides analysis and advice onRussian military topics to members of the Em-bassy Country Team in support of U.S. foreignpolicy objectives and maintains liaison withcounterparts at the Russian Ministry of Defenseand its Ground Forces to facilitate military coop-eration and interoperability between U.S.forces and Russian military forces.

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Marc L. Greenberg, Chair, Dept. of Slavic Languages &Literatures, had several articles appear this fall: “Com-mon Slavic: Progress or Crisis in its Reconstruction?Notes on Recent Archaeological Challenges to HistoricalLinguistics” appeared in a Gedenkschrift for ProfessorHenrik Birnbaum in the periodical International Journal ofSlavic Linguistics and Poetics (Bloomington, IN), “TheSlovene Sound System Through Time” in Slovenskojezikoslovje danes/Slovenian Linguistics Today in a specialissue of Slavistièna revije (Ljubljana), and a joint paperwith Stephen M. Dickey, “Slavic *jazditi ‘to ride’ and itsImplications for the Development the Category of(In)determinacy” in Jezikovna predanost. Akademiku prof. dr.Jo•etu Toporišièu ob 80-letnici (Maribor)..

FACULTY NEWS -- continued

Dr. Greenbergand Dr. Tsiovkhdiscussimportantlanguageissues atthe Fall 2006Summit onStrategicLanguages.

Jon Giullian, slavic librarian; Lars Leon, head of accessservices and resource sharing; and Brian Rosenblum,scholarly digital initiatives librarian, presented “Issuesof Access” as part of a panel discussion during the Sofia2006 Fourth Bi-Annual Conference of Globalization,Digitalization, Access and Preservation of CulturalHeritage, held Nov. 8 in Sofia, Bulgaria. KU co-spon-sored the conference and Rosenblum also served as amember of the planning committee.

Eve Levin, History, delivered a lecture on “Medicine andEmpire: Russia’s Quasi-Colonial Experience” at theSimpson Center, University of Washington, Seattle.

During thesemi-annualStop Daymeeting, CREESfaculty, students,and staff listento the director’sreport.

Shannon O’Lear, Geography and Environmental Stud-ies, published the following two articles: with Paul F.Diehl, “Not Drawn to Scale: Research on Resource andEnvironmental Conflict,” Geopolitics 12:1, pp. 166-182,2007 (roundtable discussion centerpiece); and withAngela Gray, “Asking the Right Questions: Environmen-tal Conflict in the Case of Azerbaijan,” Area 38:4, pp. 390-401, 2006.

BILL COMER AND SHANNON O’LEAR ARE

AWARDED WITH THE 2006-07 CREESFACULTY SERVICE AWARD AT THE FALL 2006MIXER FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CREES MISSION.

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OUTREACH

In November 2006, CREES and CEAS held auseful and fun workshop “On the Air.” We all livein the era of electronic files and images,76 and themain idea of the workshop was to create a lessonenvironment that will combine languages and artswith social studies. Why not make a regularlesson more exciting and get students involved inthis creative process? Students can write a moviescript and actually film a short movie duringseveral class periods. They will be actors, artists,directors and critics. The social studies teachermay collaborate with the creative writing, art and/or foreign language teachers for this project. As aresult there will be a movie, play, TV report orother presentation that will be posted on the weband copied on CDs and DVDs. The guest speakers at the workshop were:Dr. Yaroslava Tsiovkh, the host of the movie”Ukraine and Ukrainians,” www.crees.ku.edu/teachers/Ukraine%20and%20Ukrainians.shtml andDr. William Tsutsui, the host of the “Postcardsfrom Asia,” www.ceas.ku.edu.

IMPRESSIONS OF KU

Alexandra Belyakina is a Carnegie visiting scholarfrom Tomsk (Russia) who is working towards a Ph.Dat Tomsk State Pedagogical University. Her researchinterests revolve around the methods of languageteaching, specifically examining how graduatestudents can best improve their foreign languagelearning efficiency. For the past four months, she hasworked closely with the language specialists in theApplied English Center at KU, spending considerabletime observing how KU teaches English to interna-tional graduate students.

“I am very happy for having had theopportunity to live and work at KU, where haveI met so many outstanding, highly-professionaland interesting people. This brief four monthvisit has allowed for significant professional andacademic growth. I will always remember thelively atmosphere, the friendly people, and thevery beautiful KU campus. I have made somany new friends here that I can’t wait to comeback someday.

I would like to give a big Russian thanksto all who supported me here, to the teachersfrom Applied English Center who hosted me attheir classes and shared their valuable teachingexperience, to the professors whose brilliantlectures I had an honor to attend, and those whogave me inspiration for my further research

work. I believe that the experience gained atKU will motivate both my research andteaching and will certainly make my teachingof foreign languages more successful.Spasibo!”Alexandra Belyakina

Dr. Yaroslava Tsiovkh speaks at theK-12 Workshop “On the Air.”

Tomsk visitor Alexandra Belyakina, had a chance tospeak briefly with former Secretary of StateMadeline Albright prior to her lecture on September27, 2006 at the Dole Institute of Politics.

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During the last hour ofthe workshop, theparticipants sharedtheir own ideas andmade their owninternational nesteddolls (depending onwhat country theparticipant was from).

OUTREACH -- continued

Dr. Taneri madeTurkish nested dollsat the workshop.

8MUSIC AND THE ARTS

1/09-4/15/07: “A Story of the Balkans throughMaterial Culture,” Lied Center Lobby and WatsonLibrary

1/27/07-3/11/07: “World HeritageSites in Croatia,” Kansas City Central Public Library

2/02/07: Film, “Fuse,” 318 Bailey Hall,7:00-9:00 p.m.

2/09/07: Concert by Merita Halili and the RaifHyseni Orchestra, Lied Center, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

2/24/07: Concert by Dialogos, Grace and HolyTrinity Cathedral, Kansas City, 8:00 p.m.Ticket information: (816) 561-9999 or:www.chambermusic.org

3/30/07: Film, “Time of the Gypsies,” 318 BaileyHall, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

4/20/07: Film, “Cabaret Balkan,” 318 Bailey Hall,7:00-9:00 p.m.

LECTURES AND BROWN BAGS

1/30/07: Ales Debeljak - “A Conversation withBalkans Expert Ales Debeljak,” 318 Bailey Hall, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

1/30/07: Ales Debeljak - “Representing the Balkans:Varieties of Ex-Yugoslav Pop Cultures,” Hall Center forHumanities, 4:00-5:30 p.m.

2/22/07: Maria Todorova - “Understanding theBalkans,” Kansas Union, Kansas Room, 4:00-5:30 p.m.

3/08/07: Roundtable - “Conflict Resolution in theBalkans-Lesson Learned,” 318 Bailey Hall, 3:30-5:00 pm

3/27/07: Stephen Dickey - “...More Than They CouldConsume Locally: History in the Balkans,” 318 BaileyHall, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

4/03/07: Darrell Kendall – “The EU Illusion: ACritical Analysis of Slovene Membership,” 318 BaileyHall, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

4/09/07: Cornell Fleischer – “The OttomanConquest of Constantinople as Restoration of EasternRome,” Pine Room, Kansas Union, 4:00-5:30 p.m.

4/10/07: Cornell Fleischer – “Dissing Empire:Ottomanist Thoughts on American Disasters in theBalkans and the Middle East,”318 Bailey Hall, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

4/16/07: Andrew Wachtel – “The End of theBalkans,” Malott Room, Kansas Union, 4:00-5:00 p.m.Discussants: Stephen M. Dickey, Marc L. Greenberg,Nathan Wood

4/17/07: Ray Finch - “Slobodan Milosevic: A Histori-cal Portrait,” 318 Bailey Hall, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

4/19/07: Walter Zev Feldman - “Ashkenazic Iden-tity and Ottoman Rule: the Case of Klezmer Music,” BigXII Room, Kansas Union, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

BALKAN SEMESTERSPRING 2007

SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

5/01/07: Organ Music of Croatia byChristopher Krampe, Bales Organ Recital Hall,07:30 p.m. - 09:00 p.m.

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HEINRICH A. STAMMLER

Professor Heinrich A. Stammler,died November 29, 2006, at theage of 93. He was born Dec. 15,1912, in Jena, Germany, the sonof Wolfgang and HildegardeStammler. He attendedHumanistisches Gymnasium atHanover and Greifswald,Germany. He then went on tothe Universities of Greifswald,

K-14 TEACHER TRAINING

4/14/07: Workshop: “Conflict and Creativity inthe Balkans,”318 Bailey Hall, 9:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.Presentations:Dr. Marc L. Greenberg, “Language and Identity inthe Balkans”Dr. Elif Andac, “When East Meets West: The OttomanLegacy in the Balkans”Dr. Barbara Phipps, “Diversity in Bulgarian Educa-tion”Tatyana Wilds, “How to Make Your Own MartenitsaDoll” Prague and Munich, where he received his Ph.D.

in 1937. He was attached to German embassies inMoscow and Sofia, Bulgaria. He immigrated tothe United States in 1953. Professor Stammler was an assistant professor atNorthwestern University in Evanston, Ill., from1954 to 1960. He became an associate professor atKansas University in 1960, where he taught fornearly 40 years. In 1962, he became the first chair-man of the newly created Department of SlavicLanguages and Literatures. His fields of researchand special interests were Slavic literary and intel-lectual history, comparative literature and Easternchurches. During his distinguished academiccareer, he published numerous books and academicarticles in the U.S. and Europe, and was a visitingprofessor at various universities in the UnitedStates and abroad. He also wrote poetry, includinghaiku, and was a translator. Professor Stammler was a member of AmericanAssociation for the Advancement of Slavic Studies;American Association of Teachers of Slavic andEast European Languages; Bulgarian StudiesGroup; McGahan American-Bulgarian Foundation;Conference on European Problems; Association ofRussian Scholars in America; Polish Academy ofSciences and Letters in America; Religious Booksfor Russia; Joseph Conrad Society; Czech Societyfor Arts and Sciences in Exile; German-BulgarianSociety; and Macedonian Institute of Sciences andLetters, Sofia. He married Ursula Hoffman on Jan. 23, 1960, inChicago. She survives, of the home. Other survi-vors include a daughter, Andrea Lewis and hus-band Patrick, Olathe; a son, Christopher andKathren, Grand Junction, Colo.; and three grand-children, Annika, Aidan and Elijah. (From theLawrence Journal World.)

Dr. Stammler

HEINRICH A. STAMMLER 1912 - 2006

Professor Heinrich Stammler enjoys the company ofNorman Saul (left) and Alexander Tsiovkh (right) at theFall 2006 CREES Mixer.

We regret to announce the loss of ProfessorEmeritus Heinrich Stammler, who passed awayon 29 November 2006. In November 2003,CREES held a library dedication for ProfessorStammler, who had generously donated hun-dreds of rare editions from his personal libraryto help make the CREES library a focal point forSlavic studies research. His thoughtful and generous donation hasserved to further interest and understanding inEastern Europe and Russia, and has encouragedothers to contribute to maintaining the traditionof excellence at CREES. Professor Stammler willbe sorely missed. A memorial service will be held on February10 and 10:00 a.m. in Danforth Chapel.

The University of KansasCenter for Russian, East European& Eurasian Studies1440 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 320Lawrence, KS 66045-7574

www.crees.ku.edu

REES MA graduates Major Ray Hackler (2005) andColonel Randy Stagner (1992) compare notes after arecent parachute jump.