DavisCenter-list April 2010

daviscenter-list@lists.fas.harvard.edu

1 participants
17 discussions

Seminar reminders (4/29 and 4/30) and correction (5/12)

by Davis Center

/*Please note the following seminar reminders (4/29 and 4/30) and *//*title correction (5/12)*//*: */*Thursday, April 29* *Literature and Culture Seminar* /"The Unknown History of Soviet Music"/ Simon Morrison, Visiting Professor of Music, Harvard University; Professor of Music, Princeton University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3^rd Floor, Room S354 4:15-6:00 p.m. *Friday, April 30* *Early Slavists' Seminar* /"The Beginnings of Modernity? Confession among the East Slavs in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Century"/ Nadieszda Kizenko, Associate Professor of History, State University of New York at Albany 1730 Cambridge Street, 3^rd Floor, Room S354 12:15-2:00 p.m. *Wednesday, May 12* *Comparative Economics Seminar * * * /"China: A New Player in the Petroleum Market"/ Øystein Tunsjø, Visiting Fulbright Scholar, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University; Senior Fellow, Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies, Oslo 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Room S354 12:30-2:00 p.m. To purchase a parking permit for the Broadway Garage (located on Felton Street, between Cambridge Street and Broadway), please visit Harvard University Parking Services at https://www2.uos.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/permit/purchase.pl. If you need to register a new visitor login in order to purchase a parking pass, choose "Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies" and enter department code 2020 on the online registration form. If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Parking Services Office at 617-495-3772. -- ---------------------------------------------------- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

Reminder: 4/28/10 and 4/29/10 special events

by Davis Center

/*Please note the following special events reminder:*/ *Wednesday, April 28* *Book Talk/Director's Seminar* /"Know Your Enemy: The Rise and Fall of America's Soviet Experts"/ (Oxford University Press, 2009) * * David Engerman, Associate Professor of History, Brandeis University; Center Associate, Davis Center Discussant: Andrew Jewett, Assistant Professor of History and of Social Studies, Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3^rd Floor, Room S354 4:15-6:00 p.m. *Thursday, April 29* *Book Talk/Central Asia and the Caucasus Seminar* /"The Spectacular State: Culture and National Identity in Uzbekistan"/ (Duke University Press, 2010) Laura Adams, Program Co-Director, Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus, Davis Center; Center Associate, Davis Center 1730 Cambridge Street, 3^rd Floor, Room S354 12:15-2:00 p.m. To purchase a parking permit for the Broadway Garage (located on Felton Street, between Cambridge Street and Broadway), please visit Harvard University Parking Services at https://www2.uos.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/permit/purchase.pl. If you need to register a new visitor login in order to purchase a parking pass, choose "Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies" and enter department code 2020 on the online registration form. If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Parking Services Office at 617-495-3772. -- ---------------------------------------------------- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

Seminar Calendar, May 1-15, 2010

by Davis Center

*Davis** Center** for Russian and Eurasian Studies * *Seminar Calendar May 1-15, 2010__* *__* */For upcoming events not yet published in this calendar, please visit our website: http://thyme.hmdc.harvard.edu/davis/index.php./* *__* *Wednesday, May 5* *Comparative Economics Seminar* /"Business Prospects in Russia: The View from Inside"/ Students from Moscow State University, Moscow 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Room S354 12:30-2:00 p.m. * * * * *Thursday, May 6* *Comparative Politics Seminar* /"The Politics of Regulatory Reform under Putin and Medvedev" / Mikhail Pryadilnikov, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Davis Center 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Room S354 12:15-2:00 p.m. * * * * *Wednesday, May 12* *Comparative Economics Seminar * * * /"China: A New Player in the Petroleum Market"/ Øystein Tunsjø, PhD candidate in International Relations, University of Wales, Aberystwyth 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Room S354 12:30-2:00 p.m. * * * * *Friday May 14* *Early Slavists' Seminar* /"Looking Anew at the Time of Troubles, the Smolensk War, the Southern Frontier, and the Late 17th-Century Turkish and Crimean Campaigns through the Prism of the Muscovite Command-and-Control Debate"/ Peter B. Brown, Professor of History, Rhode Island College 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Room S354 12:15-2:00 p.m. * * * * To purchase a parking permit for the Broadway Garage (located on Felton Street, between Cambridge Street and Broadway), please visit Harvard University Parking Services at https://www2.uos.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/permit/purchase.pl. If you need to register a new visitor login in order to purchase a parking pass, choose "Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies" and enter department code 2020 on the online registration form. If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Parking Services Office at 617-495-3772. -- ---------------------------------------------------- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

Summer research assistant available

by Davis Center

Dear all, I am forwarding below an email from Valerie Sperling, one of our associates who teaches at Clark University, who has a student interested in working this summer as a research assistant. She is native Romanian, also fluent in French and English, but alas no Russian. If you are interested, feel free to contact her directly. Best, Lis -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Summer Research Assistant position? Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:14:24 -0400 From: Valerie Sperling <vsperling(a)clarku.edu> To: Lisbeth L. Tarlow <tarlow(a)fas.harvard.edu> Dear Lis, I have a wonderful student at Clark (she'll be a senior next year) named Oana Chimina, who is looking for work this summer as a research assistant. She's Romanian, and speaks/writes fluent English and French, in addition to her native tongue. She's a straight-A student with excellent research and writing skills, and an abiding interest in Russia and in international relations. She's just been accepted into our department's honors program, and will be writing a senior honors thesis on Russia and the EU next year. She would love to find a faculty member to work with this summer. She'll be living in Worcester, but has a car and would be happy to commute to Cambridge to work as a research assistant. She would appreciate being paid, but would even work for free if necessary -- she just wants an intellectual challenge, and to have something worthwhile to occupy her between the end of May and early August (when she plans to return to Romania for a month to visit her family). If the Davis Center has any scholars of Romania who could use an extremely bright research assistant this summer, or anyone who works with materials in French (or English) and could use Oana's help, I'd appreciate it if you could circulate this message to them. Oana can be reached best via email, at ochimina(a)clarku.edu. All best, Valerie -- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

World Day of Prayers Celebration 2010 at Harvard University Sanders Theatre May 6 2010

by Davis Center

Dear Sir or Madam, It is with great pleasure that I write to inform you about the unique performance and American premiere of the play "Budzyn.” This first-ever performance is being produced as a tribute to Holocaust victims celebrating the World Day of Prayer 2010 at Harvard University. At the conclusion of the performance, there will be a prayer ceremony to celebrate unity and diversity in working for a world of peace and justice, and to commemorate the recent tragedy for Poland with the loss of the President Mr. Lech Kaczynski and government officials as well. The Mayor of Cambridge, Mr. David P. Maher, Harvard University Associate Provost for Arts and Culture, Mrs. Lori Gross, President of the New England Holocaust Memorial, Mr. Rick Mann, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Marek Lesniewski-Laas, Consul of Israel in Boston, Mrs. Rony Yedidia will honor us with their participation. The production will feature the Irving Fine Society Singers & Ensemble performing music by Holocaust victim composer Edwin Geist, dances by choreographer Cherina Eisenberg and special artistic collaboration of famous actress Barbra Streisand. This performance, which unites more than 40 people from 8 years old to 88 years old, working together on stage, will take place on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 8:00 P.M. at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University. Please visit our website at www.budzyntheplay.com <http://www.budzyntheplay.com/>. We would be extremely grateful if you could spread the word about this meaningful event. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need more information. Sincerely, Sasha Yakhkind Public Relations Director budzyntheplay(a)gmail.com 617-816-0131 ............................................................................... * “Budzyn”* *based on a recollection by Henry S. Newmann* *produced and directed by Guila Clara Kessous* *adapted by vanda Gyuris* *assistant directed by betty rosen* * * *A tribute to Holocaust victims* *Celebrating the World Day of prayer 2010* * * *Thursday, May 6, 2010, 8:00 P.M.* *Sanders Theatre at Harvard University* *45, Quincy Street* *Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138* *Tickets: $12; students: $8* *Ticket Reservations: 617-496-2222* * http://www.budzyntheplay.com *Please send email inquiries to budzyntheplay(a)gmail.com <mailto:budzyntheplay@gmail.com>* * * This first-ever performance is being produced as a tribute to Holocaust victims and to mark the World Day of Prayer 2010, celebrating unity in diversity and working for a world of peace and justice. The production will feature survivors, performers, musicians and dancers featuring music composer Edwin Geist performed by The Irving Fine Society Singers & Ensemble.  “Budzyn” awakens our consciences to the question of theatrical representation dealing with religious identity. The story takes place at the Nazi controlled Budzyn labor camp in Poland, where the commander was well known for subjecting the prisoners to particularly cruel tortures and told as seen through the eyes of one of its survivors, Henry S. Newman,  The commander, knowing that the young Mr. Newman had studied dramatic arts in order to become a director, asks him to organize a small performance with the prisoners in order to entertain him. The catch, however, was that if the Commander didn't laugh, he would humilate Henry in front of the other prisoners before cutting his throat and assuring that he die in slow agony.  Visionary director Guila Clara Kessous uses all forms of art to transmit the testimony of this survivor while overcoming the simple reference to the Shoah by attacking the crucial question of theatrical representation. * * SYNOPSIS The voices begin on April 19, 1943. It is Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto and the Nazis occupy a young family. Only Henry and Benjamin remain together; the rest are lost, forced to exist only in memory. The two young brothers are taken to the Labor Camp Budzyn near Krasnik in Poland run by a cruel and vulgar Kommandant Feix. We find out that Henry has studied to become a stage director at the university and is soon asked by Feix to direct a play for his own enjoyment. The catch: Feix presents Henry with an ultimatum; either create a play that humors him and live, or fail to capture the commander’s attention and perish. Henry struggles with limited resources and time to cultivate a play from scratch. The night before the play is supposed to premier for the camp twelve prisoners are hung and it is up to Henry to save those still alive. Can he succeed? Will he live on, or will he fall victim to the war’s atrocities and become a memory? NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR: What intrigues me in this testimony is the fantastic use of theater as a communication tool. This commander, who has full power over his prisoners, who has the right to keep them alive or dead and who takes full advantage of his position savagely to satisfy his drive for violence by playing all sorts of sadistic games, is somehow aware of his own inhumanity. He lacks opportunities to laugh as well as the power of distraction because he is “bored”. I am fascinated by the idea that this commander, who spends his time imagining new refinements in the way he is going to condemn to death his next victim, could feel bored. In one way, through his request to Henry, he is trying to regain access to what he has lost and what he knows the prisoners keep: a piece of humanity. The ability to laugh, to forget the exterminator and exterminated, is only accessible through the experience of staging. Once again, it is thanks to the dramatic arts that Henry is able to survive, as he writes, “To hear people laugh in this unholy place was the greatest gratification anyone could ask for.” If there is one thing I have restrained myself from doing since I began working with the theme of the Shoah, it is to speak for the survivors. My work is to engage with the survivor’s testimony and attempt to use theater to reconcile historical truth with artistic impression. My work is first of all a work of transmission and not of appropriation or even of creation. Creativity is only good if it adds to the veracity of the testimony. After the work that I have done with Elie Wiesel and the numerous discussions I was able to have with the concentration camps’ survivors, I sensed an emotional paradox. It is a kind of lassitude mixed with a profound desire to go forward in fixing the Shoah’s place in societal and historical consciousness once and for all. Rosian Zerner, a Shoah survivor and former vice president of the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust, confided to me that "We no longer want to lock ourselves up in a past history. We want to live, contribute to the society, enjoy the company of our children and our grandchildren, telling them what happened, commemorating the Shoah but not wallowing in the pain of memory. Our experience has to reach beyond the Jewish community in order to enable us to touch as many people as possible." I wished to open this theatrical event on this theme in order to reach a wider audience and escape the idea of an episode of a Jewish story lived by Jews and performed for a Jewish public. By performing this play during the World Day of Prayer, my goal is to reach beyond the idea of community to present the idea of universality. The prayer that will end this performance isn’t addressed to a divine power but to ourselves, as responsible humans with a duty to be responsible towards one another…. - Guila Clara Kessous, PhD Producer & Director Download press packet at www.budzyntheplay.com under the Press Section -- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

MON, Apr 26, 57:30 pm: reception and panel discussion, ³What Makes a Life Significant?² in memory of William James

by Davis Center

*What Makes a Life Significant? A panel discussion in memory of William James Monday, April 26th, 2010; reception at 5 pm, discussion at 6 pm CGIS South Concourse and Tsai Auditorium * A little over a century ago, the Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James gave a public lecture entitled "What Makes a Life Significant?" In honor of the hundredth anniversary of his death and to celebrate his enduring influence, we have invited a panel of distinguished scholars to revisit the question posed in that lecture from a range of historical and contemporary starting points. What do we, in the 21st century, think "makes a life significant"? What can the academy contribute to an exploration of that question? James Kloppenberg (Charles Warren Professor of American History) will introduce and moderate a star-studded panel that includes philosopher Sissela Bok (Senior Visiting Fellow, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies), Louis Menand (Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of English), and Cornel West (Class of 1943 University Professor at Princeton). The panel will begin at 6:00 pm, but we invite you to join us at 5:00 pm for an "afternoon tea" reception and an opportunity to view an exhibition of rare materials from Harvard's Houghton Library and Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments. Venue: Harvard's Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS) South Building, lower level (1730 Cambridge St, Cambridge MA); the reception will be held in the Concourse, and the panel discussion will take place in the Tsai Auditorium. This event is open to the public; please feel free to forward this posting widely. For information, please contact: Jennifer Shephard Special Initiatives Program Manager Division of Social Science - FAS University Hall 3 South Harvard University Cambridge MA 02138 1.617.495.7906 http://socialscience.fas.harvard.edu jmsheph(a)fas.harvard.edu -- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

Russian Language Table

by Davis Center

*Wednesdays April 21, 28 and May 5* *Russian Language Table* An hour-long weekly Russian-only conversation forum for anyone from beginner to native 1730 Cambridge Street, 3^rd Floor, Lounge area outside room S354 5:00-6:00 p.m. Table administrator: Alex Groce, Ph.D. Candidate in Slavic Languages and Literatures, amgroce(a)fas.harvard.edu -- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

CANCELED: 4/22/10 Occasional Seminar with Mark Solonin

by Davis Center

**/*Please note the following seminar cancellation:*/ *Thursday, April 22* *Occasional Seminar * /"The Cask and the Hoops: Why Did Stalin's Army Collapse during the First Days of Operation Barbarossa?"/ Mark Solonin, Author 1730 Cambridge Street, 3^rd Floor, Room S354 12:15-2:00 p.m. To purchase a parking permit for the Broadway Garage (located on Felton Street, between Cambridge Street and Broadway), please visit Harvard University Parking Services at https://www2.uos.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/permit/purchase.pl. If you need to register a new visitor login in order to purchase a parking pass, choose "Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies" and enter department code 2020 on the online registration form. If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Parking Services Office at 617-495-3772. -- ---------------------------------------------------- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

Russian Bells of Lowell House

by Davis Center

*The Russian Bells of Lowell House* *April 15 -- 21, 2010* * * Events Associated with the Visit Of Father Roman, Master Bellringer, >From the Danilov Monastery in Moscow Master Classes on Bellringing with Father Roman Lowell House Bell Tower (*/harvard students only/*) Friday 16 April: 6-7pm Saturday 17 April: 4-5pm Sunday 18 April: 1-3pm (Extending regular Sunday ringing) Tuesday, April 20 from 7-8 pm Lowell House Junior Common Room -- *open to the public* "What Every Lowellian Should Know About the Historic Bells of Lowell House" A Head Bellringer's Retrospective as the Bells Ring Again in Moscow, /Father Roman/ -- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

4/19/10 seminar title addition

by Davis Center

/*Please note the following seminar title addition:*/ *Monday, April 19* *Comparative Economics Seminar * * * /"Think You are Gutsy? Try Setting Up Your Own Business in Russia"/ Evgeniya Shamis, Fellow, Eisenhower Foundation; Founder and CEO of "Personnel Touch" Training and Consulting Bureau, Moscow 1730 Cambridge Street, 3^rd Floor, Room S354 12:15-2:00 p.m. To purchase a parking permit for the Broadway Garage (located on Felton Street, between Cambridge Street and Broadway), please visit Harvard University Parking Services at https://www2.uos.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/permit/purchase.pl. If you need to register a new visitor login in order to purchase a parking pass, choose "Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies" and enter department code 2020 on the online registration form. If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Parking Services Office at 617-495-3772. -- ---------------------------------------------------- Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor, Suite 301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.495.4037 Fax: 617.495.8319 http://www.daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu

14 years

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DavisCenter-list April 2010