Winter 2017 Newsletter
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Winter 2017 Newsletter Letter from Chair Katarzyna Dziwirek Łysak, a former Polish Fulbright Our faculty are working lecturer at UW, came back this hard on their classes and fall to give a lecture based on research. Prof. Galya Diment’s his new book, From Newsreel to article on Nabokov and Epilepsy Posttraumatic Films: Classic appeared in the August issue of Documentaries about the Times Literary Supplement. Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Her article on Chagall's Holocaust theme will be Struggle with Fatherhood continued in February when the appeared in the August issue of department will cosponsor an Tablet. She also wrote an exhibit at the Allen Library introduction for a new entitled They Risked Their translation of Ivan Goncharov's Lives: Poles who saved Jews The Same Old Story, which will during the Holocaust. (More on be published late in 2016. Dear Friends of the Slavic this in the article by Krystyna Department, Untersteiner in this issue.) As far as Slovenian Contents Thankfully, the last six studies are concerned, we months have been fairly received two sizeable donations uneventful, at least as far as the which allowed us to establish a 1-2 Letter from the Chair department was concerned. Our Slovenian Studies Endowment new administrator, Chris Fund. (More on this in the 2 New Administrator Dawson-Ripley, has settled in article by Dr. Michael Biggins 2-3 UW Polish Studies nicely and the department in this issue.) We also hosted operates as smoothly as ever. two Slovenian scholars: Milena 3-5 Student News We had a number of events Blažić and Vesna Mikolič, who since we came back this fall, gave talks on Slovenian 5 Slovene Studies with particular emphasis on children’s literature and tourism 6 -7 Startalk Program Polish and Slovenian. discourse respectively. On the Polish front, we In October our 7-8 Ukrainian Studies hosted Agata Zubel, a Polish department cosponsored the US composer who was premiere of Pineapple, a film by 9-10 News from You commissioned to write a piece Russian disability activist and 11 Gifts for the Seattle Symphony and filmmaker Vladimir Rudak. Mr. who gave a talk about her Rudak also appeared at a 12 Gift Funds creative process. Dr. Tomasz question and answer panel. 1 Slavic News Winter 2017 Prof Gordana Crnković published a chapter in a book on the bass. Please join us as we postwar European novel entitled NEW welcome Chris Dawson-Ripley A Betrayal of Enlightenment: to our department! EU Expansion and the Estonian ADMINISTRATOR Border State. Our Russian -Eloise Boyle language instructor, Valentina Zaitseva applied for and In June the Slavic Department received a Global Business welcomed its new administrator, UW POLISH Center Grant from the UW’s Chris Dawson-Ripley. Chris is a Foster School of Business. The STUDIES graduate of UW, having earned Happy New Year! Szczęśliwego Funds will be used to create an -Krystyna Untersteiner a BA in Political Science and Nowego Roku! online module for Russian History. Before joining the Business language. Yours Slavic Department, Chris A few magical days with Agata truly’s article Smell in Polish: worked in the Physics Zubel, a Polish composer and Lexical Semantics and Cultural Department, and in the UW singer, took place in October. Values just came out in the School of Medicine latest issue of Slavic Linguistics Departments of Anesthesiology Journal. and Neurology. Chris brings his As I mentioned in a recent letter skills as a supervisor and fiscal sent to many of you, in 2018 the specialist to our department Slavic department will celebrate where he’s found a warm its 50th anniversary! We are welcome. busy planning a commemorative conference tentatively entitled Shining a Light on the Other Europe. I want to close by wishing you all a very good New Year: much success in your professional endeavors and much happiness, joy and A lecture hosted by UWPSEC fulfillment in your private lives. on the UW Campus focused on I hope you will stay in touch inspirations, approach to with us in 2017. compositions, and their vocal aspects. Later during the week, All the best, three concerts took place at Chris is enthusiastic about working with the dedicated, Benaroya Hall, including the accomplished faculty and premiere of Ms Zubel’s In the talented graduate students of the Shade of an Unshed Tear, an orchestral work recently Slavic Department. When not at work Chris can be found on the commissioned by the Seattle ice as he is an avid rec-league Symphony, and a performance hockey player and referee. He of Ms. Zubel’s composition also enjoys such pursuits as Chapter 13. reading, cooking and playing 2 Slavic News Winter 2017 In November, Tomasz Łysak, Coming Up in 2017 Ph.D., gave a lecture entitled STUDENT NEWS From Newsreel to In early 2017, we will be co- Posttraumatic films – Classic sponsoring an Exhibit and a Documentaries about Lecture/Panel Discussion: Fall Quarter Colloquim Auschwitz-Birkenau The THEY RISKED THEIR Summary lecture shed light on the LIVES: POLES WHO SAVED -Nathan Marks aesthetic choices and film JEWS DURING THE This autumn quarter there were genres: newsreel, posttraumatic HOLOCAUST at total of three Slavic Graduate film, scientific film, and first Exhibit: February 4 - 27, 2017, Student Colloquia. The first person testimony in Allen Library North Lobby colloquium took place on representations of liberation of (during Library hours) October 14th. The title was the Nazi camp Auschwitz - Lecture/Panel Discussion: “What I did over the summer Birkenau. Dr. Łysak spent AY February 15, 2017, 7:00-8:00 flashback.” At this first 2010/11 at our Slavic at Communications, Room colloquium we discussed our Department as a Fulbright 120 summers, what we did, with panelists Lila Cohen, including research projects, Regional Director of the teaching projects and travels of American Jewish Committee some of the graduate students and Mariusz Brymora, Consul and faculty that were present. General of the Republic of The second colloquium of the Poland in Los Angeles. The autumn quarter took place on discussion will be followed by November 11th. Veronica the official opening of the Muskheli, a PhC in the Exhibit at the Library department of Slavic Languages The event is co-sponsored by: and Literatures gave a talk AJC Seattle,Consulate General entitled “A Post-Soviet Village Scholar co-sponsored by the of Poland in Los Prose Tale: Klyucharyova’s “A UW PSEC. We enjoyed seeing Angeles,Consulate of Poland in Year in Paradise” as a Critique Tomasz back in Seattle after Seattle, University of of Solzhenitsyn’s “Matryona’s such a long time. Washington Jewish Studies and House”.” The talk addressed the University of Washington Polish current concerns about the death Studies Endowment Committee From the fundraising point of of the Russian village, in view, we are very proud to JOIN US: regards to the young author’s announce that our Endowment If you are interested in joining suggestion that the idea of Fund reached $250,000!! our organization, learning about Russian “paradise” needs to be To give to the UW Polish our activities, or subscribing to reevaluated while looking for Studies Funds, go to: Make a our newsletter, please contact us answers in Russian folklore. gift - University of Washington at The third talk of the quarter took nd https://www.washington.edu/giv [email protected] place on the 2 of December. ing/make-a-gift and search with The talk was given by Alison keyword: Polish Knight, an M.A. student in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. The talk was entitled "On Reading, Empathy, and Why Unlikeable 3 Slavic News Winter 2017 Women Still Matter". The talk Election Day, I decided to type of reading to build empathy was on the topic of unlikeable broaden the talk a little to skills. I then addressed that women in literature and even include the real-world although Tolstoy did give Anna film and why they matter and ramifications for dismissing nuance and rounded out, she are very important in a cultural, women that we do not like still died at the end of the novel, social and political context. personally. The students had as many transgressive women in Please see the write up on this read Vladimir Nabokov’s fiction have. We discussed how talk posted below. analysis of Anna Karenina, so I this problem persists, and many included his rules for what novelists (Claire Messud, Rivka makes a good reader, paying Galchen, and Margaret Atwood, special attention to his to name a few) who write denunciation of the idea that a women who are unlikeable are reader should be able to identify questioned as to why they with the protagonist. An would would do that. As important aspect to the Galchen noted, “[T]here’s the distinction to make was that whole tangle of a book’s while characters did not need to popular reception, which be our favorite humans, there is includes mass media and its a difference in not relating to a reporters: Is a character’s character and having a character “likability” being conflated with not read as authentic or the artistic success of a work?” On Reading, Empathy, and believable. Nabokov mentioned and states that this happens Why Unlikeable Women Still that a reader must have much more often with female Matter imagination, which we explored characters as well as those -Alison Knight as an ability to engage with the written by women. We should As one of Professor Diment’s text and to empathize. From the be embracing depictions of TAs for her course on Anna view of Nabokov’s own writing, women, real women with flaws Karenina, I gave a lecture to the it can be seen how one can of all sorts, when we encounter class on the importance of engage with the characters in a them (as well as fully-fledged unlikeable women, which I then story without relating to them- characters from other gave again at our Slavic after all, one must engage with marginalized groups) because graduate student colloquium.