UPCOMING ELLISON CENTER EVENTS APRIL 9: 11th Annual REECAS-NW Conference MAY 1: Czeslaw Milosz and the Future of Poetry Reed College, Portland, OR Acclaimed poets Edward Hirsch and Adam Zagajewski will offer a “Politics and Culture in the Post-Communist World.” joint presentation on the poetry of Nobel Prize winner Czeslaw 9:00 am–4:45pm. See p.15 or http://depts.washington.edu/reecas/ Milosz, touching upon the significance of Polish poetry and experi- REECASJACKSON SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL NE STUDIES,W UNIVERSITYSLETTER OF WASHINGTON SPRING 2005 events/conf2005/regconf05.html for more information. ences of being lost in translation. Kane Hall, Walker Ames, 7:00pm. APRIL 11: The Donald W. Treadgold Memorial Lecture MAY 5–8: Islam, Asia, Modernity Conference “Remaining Relevant after Communism: The Role of the Writer in The symposium will consist of a public lecture by Ziauddin Sardar, a Eastern Europe, 1989–2004.” Andrew Wachtel, Dean, The Graduate leading writer on the future of Islam, two days of panel discussions School, Northwestern University. Parrington Hall Forum, 3:30pm. that examine how the changing practices and politics of Asian Islam The Languages of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution A reception will follow. are studied, documented, taught and represented in the academy BY LAADA BILANIUK and the media and how these practices affect society, politics, art and culture in Asia. For more information, go to This past fall, the people of Ukraine APRIL 13: Hot Spots in Our World http://depts.washington.edu/asiaismo. carried out a revolution. Making news “Kosovo Final Status: Independence or Something Less.” Frederick around the world, hundreds of thousands Lorenz, Adjunct Professor, JSIS, UW. 7:00–8:30pm. For more of people took to the streets in Kyiv and MAY 19: Ellison Center Speaker Series information and to register, please call 206-897-8939 or visit other cities throughout Ukraine to “Afghan Communities in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Case Study of http://extension.washington.edu/ext/special/Jackson. protest the widespread fraud that gave Uzbekistan.” Natalya Khan, Visiting Scholar at the University of the run-off presidential election win to British Colombia. Communications 226, 3:30pm. APRIL 26: International Classroom Teachers Workshop Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych, Prime A three-part workshop on Russian Politics, Daily Life and Education, Minister at the time, was favored by the Whitworth College, Hixon Union Building, 4:00–7:00pm. MAY 19 – JUNE 12: Seattle International Film Festival regime of incumbent President Kuchma, See http://depts.washington.edu/reecas/events to register. www.seattlefilm.com for information on film schedules and tickets. and publicly backed by Russia’s President Putin and the Kremlin. His opponent, APRIL 30: Chechnya Roundtable and Film Seminar JUNE 28–29: Summer Seminar for Teachers Viktor Yushchenko, promised to eradicate Dr. Mikhail Alexseev, Assistant Professor at UC San Diego; Albina “Mystics, Eccentrics, Visionaries and Revolutionaries: People Who the widespread political and economic Digaeva, Chechen Refugee; and Raisa Talkhanova, director of the Changed the Course of History.” Kane Hall, Walker-Ames Room, corruption in Ukraine, to promote BBC Documentary Inside Chechnya will discuss the history and University of Washington, Seattle Campus, 9:00 am–5:00pm. democracy and to integrate Ukraine 1 current situation in Chechnya. Their comments will follow the See p.23 for more information and registration. more closely with Europe. showing of 3 documentaries about the region, including Inside During several research stays in Ukraine VERBOVSKYY © YURIY Chechnya. Smith Hall, Room 205, 10:00 am–2:00pm. For more information on these and other events, go to the Ellison over the last decade, I found many people The fifth day of protests in Kiev Center website: http://depts.washington.edu/reecas. pessimistic about the possibility of elimi- nating the corruption in the political and dissenters in the state-run media was having conveyed previous untrue state- economic systems in their country. In sign-language interpreter Natalya ments.3 Many other journalists and fact, protests occasionally occurred. For Dmytruk, who instead of conveying news reporters in the state-run media also example, in 2000, demonstrators called of Yanukovych’s supposed victory, told refused to report the government- Non-profit Org. for President Kuchma’s ouster when hearing-impaired viewers not to believe dictated falsities and joined the demon- U.S. Postage REECAS NEWSLETTER audio tapes allegedly implicated him in the rigged results, that in fact Yushchenko strations. Yushchenko’s once handsome P A I D 203B THOMSON HALL, BOX 353650 the murder of journalist and government was the true winner, and apologized for continued on page 2 Seattle, WA JACKSON SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES critic Georgii Gongadze. But these Permit No. 62 UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON protests failed to have much impact, thus reinforcing the public’s general sense of SEATTLE,WA 98195-3650 INSIDE THIS ISSUE disempowerment. Furthermore, socio- logical research showed that a large New Program in Prague ......................................................................................... 5 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED portion of Ukraine’s population remained politically noncommittal.2 Observing the October Election in Belarus ............................................................. 6 The Donald W. Treadgold Papers ........................................................................... 9 In the fall of 2004, things changed. The Indispensible Knowledge: Rebuilding Russian Studies ....................................... 10 manipulation of the November 21st Islam, Asia, Modernity Symposium.................................................................... 11 election was too blatant. Internet news A Summer in Tajikistan ....................................................................................... 12 sites, and two television stations that had Nicholas Poppe Symposium on Inner/Central Asian Studies Call for Papers.......... 15 held out against government control, were key in disseminating news of the REECAS Northwest Conference ........................................................................... 15 large discrepancies between the official Nine Months Later: Lithuania in the EU .............................................................. 16 results and exit polls. They also reported Ellison Center News ............................................................................................ 18 instances of disappearing ink, ballot Exploring Chornobyl’s Complexities On-Site and in the Classroom ........................ 19 stuffing, people bussed station to station Visiting REECAS Scholars ................................................................................... 22 to vote multiple times and other electoral Summer Seminar for Educators ........................................................................... 23 process transgressions. One of the first Upcoming Ellison Center Events ......................................................................... 24 university of washington the henry m. jackson ELLISON CENTER seattle, washington school of international continued from page 1 studies, outreach centers face, disfigured by the attempt on his life Despite frigid temperatures, the protesters as well as western cities. Moreover, Kyiv, by dioxin poisoning in September, was a were festive and defiant. the site of the most massive public poignant symbol of what was at stake: As the world watched, the massive protests support for Yushchenko, is in the very the choice between a more open and fair and political negotiations ultimately center of the country, and is difficult to government versus the existing trend of prevailed against the fraudulent election characterize with simple linguistic or Soviet-style control of information, and a new, more carefully monitored cultural labels. including efforts to eliminate problematic election was held on December 26th. The issue of language affiliation, which dissenters such as Gongadze and Yushchenko won this election by a com- has been the focus of my research, bears Yushchenko. fortable 8% margin, and was inaugurated closer discussion, as it has been a key 2005 summer seminar for educators of grades 6 and up Popular musicians joined the call to President on January 23, 2005. This win dimension of political controversy. break people from their complacency was a triumph for the democratic process During Soviet times in Kyiv, it was rare to towards the increasingly authoritarian and a major challenge to authoritarian hear anything but Russian. Even now, regime and to demand human rights. regimes throuhout the post-Soviet Kyivans use Russian in public more often Mystics, Eccentrics, Visionaries A rap song, “Razom nas bahato, nas ne region. But support for Yushchenko was than Ukrainian, although the use of podolaty” (together we are many, we will not unanimous, and one of the biggest Ukrainian has been on the rise since and Revolutionaries not be defeated) resounded among the challenges of the new government will be independence.5 Ukrainian has begun to protesters, and became recognized as mediating the social divisions within lose its previous connotations of the “Hymn of the Orange Revolution.” Ukrainian society. backwardness as it has been promoted in People Who Changed the Course of History Middle-aged people even confessed to Why did so many Ukrainians—44% of education, the media,