Slavic Newsletter 2014
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12 новости wiadomości vijesti вести zprávy Department Newsletter Vol. 15 (Summer 2014) collective interests as foreign language departments, Letter from the Chair examine our administrative structures, and think about Karen Evans-Romaine opportunities for collaboration among departments. Discussions will continue next academic year in a careful This has been a year of tremendous change – for our and deliberative process with no pre-established outcome. department, for Van Hise foreign language departments, There have already been changes at the departmental lev- for the College of Letters and Sciences, and for the uni- el: a number of departments and programs in or associat- versity. We have a new chancellor, Becky Blank, an ed with Van Hise, in- economist specializing in the study of poverty, who was cluding Classics, He- most recently acting Secretary of Commerce. We have a brew and Semitic Stud- new dean, John Karl Scholz, from our own economics ies, Jewish Studies, Lin- department. And, for better or for worse, we have a new guistics, and the now department chair, dashing around the halls of Van Hise combined Comparative and various buildings on campus, keeping up as well as Literature and Folklore she can with the pace of change. We sorely miss our out- Studies or CLIFS, have going chair, Judith Kornblatt, who has embarked on a merged or restructured, new career, studying at the UW-Madison School of and discussions of other Nursing, while visiting Van Hise periodically to march up departmental reconfigu- and down its 18 floors of stairs and perk up our spirits rations or mergers are with her encouraging words and infectious smile. underway. Change can Van Hise departments have gathered regularly this inspire productive dis- year to discuss possibilities for change in our own build- cussions about our core ing, starting the year with a symposium entitled “Change mission and values, or Be Changed” and featuring the directors of variously about what knowledge titled schools of languages, literatures, and cultures from and skills we want our Karen Evans-Romaine (right) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Indiana students to take with Ewa Miernowska lead the Slavic University, and the University of Iowa. The dean’s office them when they gradu- department community in has appointed a task force on World Languages, ate, and it has been fas- dancing the polonaise in the Literatures, and Cultures, on which I serve, to explore our cinating and inspiring to corridors of Van Hise Hall during the annual awards ceremony. In this issue… 1 Letter from the Chair 8 Oakhill Prison Humanities Project 4 Faculty Updates 9 News from the Russian Flagship 6 Reframing Russian Modernism: 11 Updates from the Polish Program An International Workshop 12 Alumni News 14 State Street à la Gogol 43 learn from our colleagues and students, both within our Olson, whose piece appears in this newsletter. This department and among our peers in other language, litera- coming year Tomislav Longinović, who has already been ture, and culture departments. Changes are bound to con- working closely with Naomi, will take over faculty tinue next academic year. We’ll keep you posted. supervision of the project. Keep a look out for Mark This has also been a year of awe-inspiring accom- Kornblatt’s award-winning documentary film on the plishments by our faculty, staff, and students, and of ex- project, Dostoevsky Behind Bars, at film festivals where citing events. Next fall our de- you live. partment will welcome a new The outstanding teaching and outreach of our faculty member, Manon van de department has been recognized this year through several Water, who comes to us from awards. Professor David Danaher, back from his year- the Department of Theatre and long sabbatical, developed and taught for the first time an Drama, which has also been in Honors course entitled “Language and Worldview” and the process of restructuring. received a Distinguished Honors Faculty Award for his We are delighted that a col- outstanding teaching and mentoring of Honors students. league with whom our under- L&S Honors students will have the opportunity to take graduate and graduate students his course again next spring. Senior Lecturer Ewa Manon van de Water have taken courses can now Miernowska received a College of Letters & Science participate more closely in our department’s curriculum Mid-Career Award for her innovative and inspiring teach- and bring new expertise in contemporary Russian theater ing of Polish, both on the UW-Madison campus and by and theater education and outreach, including staging videoconference to students at the University of Illinois at productions. The College published a profile of Manon’s Urbana-Champaign; for her extraordinary outreach outreach work, from Wisconsin to Rostov, in March. efforts to the community, including the Polish Film Professor David Bethea and CREECA Associate Festival and other events; and for her outstanding mentor- Director and Slavic Department alumna Jennifer Tishler ing of students of Polish language and culture. Two of our have won a $90,000 grant from STARTALK, funded by graduate students won awards: Colleen Lucey received the US Department of Education, to support the Pushkin the L&S Teaching Assistant Award for Outstanding Summer Institute, now about to start its third summer, Service, in recognition for her extraordinary teaching and this year with students from Pritzker College Prep and mentorship of UW-Madison students and her teaching Noble Street College Prep in Chicago and West Russian literature at the Oakhill Correctional Facility. Anchorage High School in Alaska. Russian teachers will Melissa Miller received the L&S Teaching Fellow Award, include our own graduate Teaching Assistants and ESL which recognizes outstanding teaching and potential for lecturer Anna Nesterchouk, a graduate of our School of mentorship of other teachers. She will guide new TAs in Education’s department of Curriculum & Instruction, a pre-service workshop during the week prior to the founder of the Madison Community Russian School, and beginning of the Fall 2014 semester. In addition, a specialist in working with school-age students. Their Melissa Miller was elected to the UW-Madison Teaching resident directors, watching over them in a UW dormitory Academy. Professor Andrew Reynolds and graduate and taking them on outings, include our own Russian ma- Teaching Assistants Matthew McGarry and Nicholas jors and a Russian Flagship student headed to Petersburg Rampton received the UW Housing Honored Instructor next academic year. This program continues to inspire Award, for which they were selected by student high school students from mainly minority backgrounds nomination. Professor Reynolds’s 20th-Century Russian to study Russian through everyday Wisconsin life, from Literature survey course was recognized by survey walks to Babcock Ice Cream to outings to Wisconsin respondents to the student newspaper, the Daily Cardinal, Dells, to the far-from-everyday example of Pushkin’s po- as a course that “will change your views” – something I etry. In addition to 20 hours/week of Russian-language think we all aspire to as teachers and members of the instruction, PSI students take a weekly class on Pushkin’s campus community. life and work, polish their academic writing in English Our faculty have been reaching out to the scholarly under Professor Bethea’s tutelage, engage with other high world as well. David Danaher’s book, Reading Václav school students on UW-Madison summer programs, and Havel, will be published this year by the University of become better prepared for college life through six weeks Toronto Press and soon afterward in Czech translation. of living and studying on our beautiful campus. Professor Halina Filipowicz’s book, Taking Liberties: Our outreach efforts on the Oakhill Project continue Gender, Transgressive Patriotism, and Polish Drama, to grow, thanks to the grants Professor Emerita Judith 1786-1989, will be published this year by Ohio Kornblatt received this time last year. You can read more University Press. Information on the book can be found about this unique project from graduate student Naomi at: http://www.ohioswallow.com/book/Taking+Liberties. 2 65 Professor Tomislav Longinović has been named a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Research in the Humanities, where he spent this past spring and will spend the next three springs, writing and participating in IRH seminars. Faculty have worked together at a number of conferences and symposia this past year. Alexander Dolinin and Andrew Reynolds both presented, together with Mark Lipovetsky and Irina Prokhorova, at a conference at the University of Michigan in September 2013 in honor of the Ardis publishing house, which played such an important role in our scholarly lives (and which I fondly remember visiting as frequently as I could while a Michigan graduate student), and the legacy of its founders, Carl and Elendea Proffer. Articles from this conference appeared in issue 125 of the New Literary In total, nine UW-Madison Russian students received Review (Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie) in Moscow. Irina recognition from ACTR for their entries in the essay contest. Shevelenko, organizer of last year’s symposium in honor of Judith Kornblatt, organized yet another symposium in outstanding student in the sciences. We also celebrated May, Reframing Russian Modernism, featuring presenta- the many accomplishments of our Russian majors and tions by three of our faculty and guests from coast to Russian Flagship students: eight Russian Flagship coast and from Russia and Finland. Professor Shevelenko students won highly competitive Boren Scholarships and will edit a collection of articles from this conference next two won Foreign Language and Area Studies scholar- year. You can read more about the symposium in this ships to support study at St. Petersburg University next newsletter. academic year. Five undergraduate students and one Our students continue to teach and amaze us.