Russian-Studies-News

NEWSLETTER SPRING 2010 S Contents GREETINGfrom Greeting from UF Russian Studies .................2 UF Hosts Slavic Studies RUSSIAN Conference in March ..........................................3 Russian Rockers in Gainesville: An Interview with Mumiy Troll’s STUDIES Ilya Lagutenko ......................................................4 Alumni on the Move: The Gator Nation Reaches Mongolia Dear Alumni and Friends of UF Russian Studies, (Christian Packard, Class of 2005) ..................6 On behalf of the entire faculty I different countries. (See page 3 for Russian Soprano Performs at UF ....................8 send warmest regards from UF highlights.) Russian Studies in Dauer Hall! With Faculty News .......................................................10 the 2009-2010 academic year now Most importantly, however, on the verge of completion, I can we continue to graduate Thank You for Your Support ...........................10 safely say the past 15 months have some of the most talented been among the most eventful in and adventurous students in Keep Your Classmates Up to Date ...............10 recent history. Our now-annual fall Florida. Four graduating seniors Alumni News .......................................................11 and spring celebrations -- “Russian completed honors theses with Fall Festival” and “Maslenitsa” “High Honors” or higher and Major Distinctions .............................................12 -- drew upwards to 300 people one, Rita Chernyak (Dual Major, each. In February 2009 UF Russian Russian and Journalism), received Studies faculty hosted a one-day the prestigious Russian Scholar symposium organized by yours Laureate Award, awarded annually truly, entitled “Up From the Ashes: to the nation’s top Russian majors National Identity and Imperial by the American Council of Aspirations in Putin-era Russia,” Teachers of Russian. For news which featured UF faculty (Finkel, about not-so-recent grads, please Gorham, Rylkova and the new see the feature article on page 6 Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and the “Alumni News” section on and Sciences, Dr. Paul D’Anieri) page 11. together with a group of outside guest speakers from Harvard, More special events are planned Princeton, NYU, Pittsburgh, and for 2010-2011 and we do hope the University of Pennsylvania. you might have occasion to join That same weekend UF hosted us. Do let us know if and when the U.S. national debut of Olga you’re passing through town, in Ionova, a soprano and rising star in any case, and send information Russian opera. You can read more about yourself that we can share in about Ionova in the interview on the next issue of the newsletter— page 8, conducted in Russian and either by using the form at the translated by Lindsay Nuesca, who end of this newsletter or sending graduated this year with a dual a separate e-mail message to me degree in Russian and Musicology. at [email protected]. It’s always good to see and hear from you, so More recently, UF Slavic Studies keep in touch! played host to the 48th Annual Southern Conference on Slavic До скорой встречи! Studies, which attracted to Gainesville over 150 scholars from —Michael Gorham over 17 different states and 4 2 | SPRING 2010 | UNIVErsity OF Florida | RUSSIAN STUDIES NEWSLEttER March 25-27, 2010 Gainesville, Florida SOUTHERN CONFERENCE on Slavic Studies The 48th annual meeting of the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies (SCSS) took place in Gainesville, Florida on March 25-27, 2010. The conference, hosted by the University of Florida, was held at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center. Two full days of over 40 thematic panels were complimented by a special plenary roundtable session devoted to: Gas Wars, Colored Revolutions, and Media Politics in Russia and the ‘Near Abroad’ Leading scholars of Russian and Ukrainian politics gave their assessment of the state of and prospects for relations between Russia, Europe, and the Russian “Near Abroad.” Roundtable participants include: Paul D’Anieri, Professor of Political Science and Dean of the Zachary Selden, Deputy Secretary General for Policy, NATO College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at University of Florida Parliamentary Assembly Ellen Mickiewicz, James R. Shepley Professor of Public Policy, Andrew Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Ukrainian Studies at Duke University the University College London School of Slavonic and East Lucan Way, Assistant Professor of Political Science at University European Studies and Senior Policy Fellow for the European of Toronto Council on Foreign Relations Following the plenary session, Professor Mark von Hagen delivered the keynote address, “History Wars: Memory and Geopolitics in Eastern Europe,” at the Friday night banquet. For details, please visit the conference website at: http://www.languages.ufl.edu/ events/2010-slavic/ . RUSSIAN STUDIES NEWSLEttER | UNIVErsity OF Florida | SPRING 2010 | 3 INTERVIEW WITH MUMIY TROLL'S ilya lagutenko by Rita Chernyak With over 2 decades of albums and performances behind them, Mumiy Troll has firmly established its place in the annals of Soviet and Russian Rock. The band rolled through Gainesville on November 13, for a one-night performance at “1982 Bar.” Rita Chernyak, a graduating senior with dual degrees in Russian and Public Relations, spoke with the band’s lead singer, Ilya Lagutenko. Chernyak has contributed regularly to The Gainesville Sun and other, on campus publica- tions and plans to pursue a career in law. 4 | SPRING 2010 | UNIVErsity OF Florida | RUSSIAN STUDIES NEWSLEttER How did you begin your career in And talking about Gainesville— Basically, you are not the stereotypical music? Why and how did you choose Gainesville has a big history of bands rock star, you know, going the wrong to come together as the rock band basically being here on the university way and the drugs. And basically, I’m you are today? campus; lots of bands started here. It’s happy to be that unique rock star kind Being a kid from the Soviet Union a very interesting experience. Let’s put of balancing between being really edge background, you don’t really have any it this way: We would prefer to play in and normal. illusions about the rock music [being] Gainesville than Miami, because Miami a part of your life, or [that] you can has its own. It’s not really a rock place. Do you like American food? make a living out of it. So, I guess, it So, we travel to a real-people place, not I’ll tell you what, you know, you go was a long and winding road for us to a touristy place. to people and they ask you what is make a decision. I did lots of studies Russian traditional food, and I say, “OK, and did lots of different types of work Which one do you prefer— dumplings and potatoes.” And [then] before we actually ended up being performing in large concert halls you remember, “When the last time you a 100 percent, full-time rock band. It or smaller venues? You have done had dumplings?” I guess with all this was a difficult decision for me and the both quite well, but do you have a globalization in a good way; you get band members—to basically give up preference? too many choices now. Burgers—I really whatever our day jobs were and to It all depends. I really take it easy like them, yes, I really like them. The nice concentrate on following this dream... because we have experienced playing meat on the grill; it’s really appealing The moment you realize your music is for millions of people at one place—all to me, a good piece of steak and good actually appreciated by someone else those free open air shows in Russia— piece of meat. So, I’m not really sure outside your band and your relatives literally millions of people around you. about all these American sauces, but then you think, “OK, I’m on the right And we play in small clubs back home some of them I like. You know, the really path.” for few people, like a dozen people. So, big Asian impact on America now. for me, I don’t really choose the place. I Sometimes we think maybe chicken Your current tour is in the United mean, whatever comes up. It’s not about noodle soup is more American. (Laughs) States and your performance is in my choice—It’s about the people that Gainesville. What made you want to come to the show. What surprised you about America? come to Gainesville and the U.S. in I guess the biggest surprise for me general? How do you define happiness and would be that America actually meets Let’s put it this way: We started to come are you happy with your musical lots of criteria which I heard about from to America quite often several years accomplishments as an artist? other people. I guess it’s [the] middle ago, and basically for economic reasons. I mean, you’ve got too many ambitions; class lifestyle idea. I mean, for me, a Because of the value of the dollar, we you never write your best song guy from modern Russia and Soviet could get more recording done here, ever, because it [might happen] background, we are used to the big even to compare it to Russia, because at tomorrow…. I wouldn’t say I’m happy difference in lifestyle ideas. The Soviet some point, Moscow especially, became on accomplishments because there are Union was so-called communist. It’s too expensive to live and to work… too many tasks you can put in front of totally different here, in America. I like Moscow at the moment, it looks like you, but I’m definitely happy that I’ve that. I definitely appreciate it. Because it’s for multimillionaires not for normal been given this chance to exploit this democracy may not work for other people, so that’s why we decided [to opportunity and I didn’t really give up countries, but it work here.

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