for Russian & Post-Soviet StudiesThe Havighurst Center

2005

2006

Silk Road ExplorAsian:Pathway of Cultures

Miami University116 Harrison Hall

Karen DawishaDirector

Lynn StevensProgram Coordinator

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Director’s MessageLooking over the last year, I feel greatsatisfaction that we have been able to achievesome major objectives:

In curriculum development, the new major inRussian, East European and Eurasian studies wasapproved by Senate in December. The major willbe centered in GREAL with Margaret Ziolkowskias Program Advisor. We have expanded ourcourse offerings into Eurasia. This has proved

possible through the active participation of faculty not only in RussianStudies but also in Middle East and East Asian studies. In spring 2006we have 24 undergraduate courses across the curriculum in theseareas, with over 500 seats. Looked at from the perspective ofAmerican higher education, I feel very pleased that Miami is makingsuch a significant, and I believe unparalleled, contribution.

In development, we have written and received a number of internaland external grants that have allowed funds not otherwise availablefor the development of new courses. We received two importantexternal grants: with Stanley Toops in Geography, a Fulbright-HaysGroup Study Abroad grant, and with Margaret Ziolkowski and BobDiDonato in GREAL, a Department of Education Title VI grant forinternationalizing the curriculum. Lauren Schapker, the graduateassistant in the Center, was invaluable in writing these proposals.

In research, Havighurst faculty and associates continue to be veryactive. Our programs of conferences and seminars bring to the campusscholars of significant stature who are at the cutting-edge of theirdisciplines. Having the ability to share our own work with outsidescholars improves the quality of our work and exposes otheruniversities to the excellence of scholarly work done here.

In student development, having an active program of outsidespeakers provides students with a clearer idea of the broader academiccommunity. Because all of our programs are open to students andfaculty alike, many students have made valuable contacts andreceived good advise about graduate programs from visitors to thecenter. The summer programs in Novgorod (run by IrinaGoncharenko from GREAL) and the Center’s program in Moscow andSt. Petersburg, will be supplemented by a consortial arrangementwith OSU to send students for a semester to St. Petersburg StateUniversity. We have also continued to send graduates on to Mastersand Ph.D. programs in Russian Studies both in the U.S. and abroad.We are pleased to see so many Fulbright awards among our alums.

Last but not least, new faculty positions have allowed an expansionof the program. Searches have taken place for tenure-track positionsin Anthropology, Architecture, and Russian language andvisual culture. These will add to the junior faculty hires inComparative Religion, History, International Studies, PoliticalScience, and Russian.

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“Silk Road ExplorAsian”Spring 2006

January 23-April 24Havighurst Colloquia Series:

Merchants, Mercenaries & Monks Alongthe Silk Road

Harrison Hall 209, Mondays 12-1:30pm

January 23Elizabeth Wilson, Miami UniversityA Chinese Pilgrim on the Silk Road: Xuanzang’s Visit to India

February 6Edwin Yamauchi, Miami UniversityThe Silk Route—A Conduit for the Transmission of Religions Eastward

February 13Uli Schamiloglu, University of WisconsinIslam in the Golden Horde

February 21 (Tuesday, M/T switch day)Frederick Colby, Miami UniversityImagining International Islamdom through Ibn Battuta’s Eastern Adventures

February 27Adeeb Khalid, Carleton CollegeUnderstanding Soviet Islam: Religion, Nationality and Citizenship inSoviet Central Asia

March 6Richard Kalinoski, PlaywrightThe Armenian Genocide

March 20Michael Rouland, Miami UniversityTurkestan to Mecca: A Pilgrimage through the Russian Empire

March 27 (MIAMI UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM, 5:00PM)Eugene Wang, Harvard UniversityOther Times, Other Spaces: Imaginary Topography in Medieval China

April 3Alexander Knysh, University of MichiganIslam and Islamism in the Caucasus

April 10Devin DeWeese, Indiana University-BloomingtonSufism in Early Modern Central Asia

April 17John Schoeberlein, Harvard UniversityChanging Islam in Post-Soviet Central Asia

April 24Elliot Sperling, Indiana University-BloomingtonBuddhism in Tibet Post-1950: The Politics of Religion

Kygryzstan

Uzbekistan

January 22 & 24Wu shan Huang, Chinese PuppeteerAn artist-in-residence with the Department of Theater,Wu shan Huang will visit classes and give publicdemonstrations in the ancient Chinese art of puppeteering.

January 22: Oxford Lane Public Library, 2:oopm (see pg. 15 )January 24: Kelly Auditorium, Presser Hall, 9:30am

January 30Islamic ForumMacMillan Hall 212, 1:00-5:00pmThe Geography Department, the Center for American & World Culturesand the Havighurst Center are sponsoring this forum dedicated to thecross-disciplinary exploration of the historical and contemporarydomestic and political lives of Muslim peoples from the Silk Roadcountries.

Presenters and topics include:Vernon Schubel, Kenyon College, Sufism in UzbekistanNurten Kiliç Schubel, Kenyon College, 18th C. Women Uzbek PoetsWilliam Fierman, Indiana University, Language Policy in UzbekistanDilek Çindoglu, Bilkent University, Women & Work in Contemporary TurkeyGardner Bovingdon, Indiana University, Autonomy in Xinjiang, China

February 3William Craft Brumfield, Tulane UniversityBuriatiia: Architectural Crossroads in EurasiaArt 100, 5:00pmDr. Brumfield is Professor of Slavic studies at Tulane University, wherehe also lectures in the School of Architecture. He is the author andphotographer of a number of books on Russian architecture, mostrecently Landmarks of Russian Architecture: A Photographic Survey(1997) and his photographs of Russian architecture are part of thecollection of the Photographic Archives at the National Gallery of Art,Washington, D.C.

February 7Jeffrey D. Lerner, Wake Forest University and University ofCincinnati Classics Margo Tytus Visiting ScholarIf These Bricks Could Talk: Decoding an Ancient Mystery fromAfghanistanMacMillan Hall 212, 5:30pmThe death of Alexander the Great marked the beginning of a period ofGreek diaspora into the lands he had conquered, from the easternMediterranean to Central Asia and India. The discovery of the Graeco-Baktrian site of Aï Khanoum in northeastern Afghanistan has providedinsight into the nature of Greek colonization in Hellenistic Central Asia.Co-sponsored with the Center for American and World Cultures, the

Department of Anthropology and the Classics Department aspart of “The Power of Language” Series.

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February 16Haik Kazazyan, violinwith the MU Symphony Orchestra, Ricardo Averbach, conductorHall Auditorium, 7:30One of the most prominent upcoming violin players in the world is the23 year old Armenian violinist Haik Kazazyan. He has won many prizesand awards, and is acclaimed by critics and the public. He will performthe Concerto for violin and orchestra in D minor written by fellowArmenian Aram Khachaturian.

March 29Wu Man, pipa playerAncient DancesHall Auditorium, 7:30pmWu Man is an internationally known player of the pipa,a lute-like instrument with a history of more than twothousand years. Ancient Dances, a multi-media work,combines Chinese calligraphy with pipa music, exploring theconnections between the two ancient Chinese traditions. Wu Man willtour with Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble in the US from Feb. 22-March2, 2006, and will take her Ancient Dances to Carnegie Hall,April 6-8, 2006. She received a Grammy Nomination for thebest world music for “You’ve Stolen My Heart” with theKronos Quartet. For more

March 20-April 15Institute for Learning in Retirement

Silk Road ExplorAsian: Pathway of CulturesLecture Series

Art Museum, Mondays at 3:15pm

March 20Mark Peterson, Assistant ProfessorAnthropology & International StudiesInvisible Travelers: Jinn and Genies on the Silk Road

March 27Sante Matteo, Professor, French & ItalianMarco Polo on the Silk Road: Did Spaghetti and the Renaissance Comefrom China?

April 3Stanley Toops, Associate Professor,Geography & International StudiesGeography of the Silk Road

April 10Karen Dawisha, Havighurst Professor of Political Science andDirector, The Havighurst Center for Russian & Post-Soviet StudiesEngendering the Silk Road: Communist Dreams, Post-Socialist Realities

April 17Michael Rouland, Havighurst Center Postdoctoral Fellow, HistoryContemporary Tajik film: Khudoinazarov’s LUNA PAPA

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information, visit her website at www.wumanpipa.org.TBABill Granara, Harvard UniversityDr. Granara, professor of Arabic at Harvard University, specializes inthe history and culture of Muslim Sicily. Part of the All Roads Lead toRome Silk Road Lecture Series hosted by the Department of French &Italian.

March 30-April 1Havighurst Humanities SymposiumArenas of Eurasian Identity: Performance, Culture &RepresentationMacMillan Hall, Room 212The symposium focuses on expressions of identity through performance.Papers will explore performance broadly understood from the overtdisplay and transmission of cultural forms to everyday modes ofparticipation in ritual, discourse, and public life. Speakers include:

Laura Adams (Princeton), Performing National Identity in UzbekistanJennifer Dickinson (Vermont), Narrator, Audience, and Performance inRural Ukrainian Story TellingStephen Kotkin (Princeton), Eurasia Before EurasianismTed Levin (Dartmouth), Havighurst Center Altman HumanitiesScholar-in-Residence, Kyrgyz Music and ManasNathan Light (American University of Central Asia), Gender and SacredPerformances in KyrgyzstanDavid Macfadyen (UCLA), Tuning the Family Piano: Some StatelyHarmonies in Recent Russian and Uzbek FilmInna Naroditskaya (Northwestern), Azeri Music & NationalismMichael Rouland (Miami), From Soviet Opera to Soviet Film: Replaying theLegend of the Silk MaidenTim Scholl (Oberlin), Caucasian ‘National’ Ballets in the Post-Soviet PeriodRichard Stites (Georgetown), Virgin Lands: The Movie

April 4Tengir TooHall Auditorium, 7:30pmTengir-Too is a Kyrgyz ensemble that plays traditional nomadicmountain music. The group takes its name from the eponymousmountain range better known by its Chinese name, Tien-Shan, or"Celestial Mountains." Their CD is Volume 1 in the new Music of CentralAsia series, published by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

April 20Bruce Grant, New York UniversityBrides, Brigands, and Fire-Bringers: Toward a HistoricalEthnography of Exchange, Violence, & Pluralism in the CaucasusAlumni Hall Room 1, 5:00pmBruce Grant is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at NYU. Hisresearch interests include the former Soviet Union, Siberia, the

Caucasus, Azerbaijan, and (post-) Soviet cultural politics.

April 22-29“Silk Road on the Slant Walk” FestivalCulture, music, art and food of the Silk Road will be found onthe Slant Walk, against a backdrop of pavilions representingSilk Road countries. The pavilions are being created by

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Study Abroad in RussiaLanguage Program in Novgorod

June 1 - July 4, 2006

A beautiful city on the banks of the Volkhov River,Novgorod was the first city founded in Russia (859A.D.). For centuries it served as a river port on thetrade route from Europe to Byzantium. Novgorod isalmost three centuries older than Moscow andabout five hundred and fifty years older than St.Petersburg. Among Russia’s many ancient cities,Novgorod is one of the greatest repositories ofmedieval art, with a multitude of beautifulchurches and monasteries (St. Sophia’s Cathedral isthe oldest in Russia).

The Program: The four week program at Novgorod State Universityoffers an extraordinary first-hand experience of Russian life. Coursework includes phonetics, grammar, conversation, writing and readingabout Russian culture and daily life. All the classes are taught bynative specialists in Russian as a foreign language. Included in theprogram are tours and excursions in Novgorod and in the Novgorodregion (Valdai National Park), and longer tours in Moscow, St.Petersburg and its environs(Peterhof and Pavlovsk).

Open to all—no previous knowledge of Russian required. OfferingBeginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Levels of Study.

Living arrangements: Students live in home stays, with Russianfamilies, and have meals with their host families. Hotel stays may bearranged for anyone not wanting the home stay arrangement.

Credit: 6 hours of undergraduate credit; 4 hours of graduate credit.

Cost: (Fees and Novgorod tuition): $2950, plus Miami Universitytuition. The $2950 includes all expenses in Russia (room and board,excursions, instruction, touring in St. Petersburg) plus airfare from NYto St. Petersburg and return. Not included: Russian visa and formalinvitation fee from Russia (about $150). Prices subject to slight changes.Also required: $5.00 network services fee. Scholarships are availablefrom the Havighurst Center for students who have FAFSA.

For further information: please contact group leader:Irina Goncharenko, Dept. of GREAL, 127 Irvin Hall

phone: (513) 529-2526 Fax: (513) 529-1807gonchai@muohio.edu

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The Summer 2006 Fulbright-HaysSilk Road Seminar in Eurasia

Exploring the Silk Road: The Power of Travel, Exploration &Boundary Crossing as a Device for Promoting & Creating

Interdisciplinary, Interregional & International Studies

2006 Fulbright-Hays Silk Road Fellows

Afsaneh Ardehali & Gulen Cevik, ArchitectureThe Silk Road: Trade, Geography, Tradition & Place Making

Dilchoda Berdieva, Political SciencePolitics of Central Asia

Frederick Colby & Elizabeth Wilson, Comparative ReligionReligions of the Silk Road

Karen Dawisha, Political ScienceEngendering Communism, Nationalism & Fundamentalism:

Women Along the Silk Road

Yildirim Dilek, GeologyGeology and Geopolitics Along the Silk Road

Mary Frederickson, HistoryHistorical Inquiry on the Silk Road

Scott Kenworthy, Comparative ReligionReligions of Russia & Eurasia

Sante Matteo, French & ItalianFrom Marco Polo to Machiavelli

Stephen Nimis, ClassicsThe Greeks in the Near East & Central Asia

Yihong Pan, HistoryChina’s Cross-Cultural Encounters Along the Silk Road

Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, Political Science & International StudiesMafias, Clans & Oligarchs in Central Asia

Benjamin Sutcliffe, German, Russian & East Asian LanguagesRussia’s Imagined Orient: Caucasus & Central Asia on Page & Screen

Stanley Toops, Geography & International StudiesGeography of the Silk Road

These Miami faculty are embarking on ajourney along the Silk Road in summer 2006.Beginning in Western China, in the city of Xi’an,they will travel to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, andconclude their travels in Turkey. An importantelement of this trip will be the development of

Silk Road courses by the participating Miami faculty forthe University’s new major in Russian, East European, andEurasian Studies. The trip, funded by a Fulbright HaysGroup Projects Abroad grant from the Department ofEducation, will include Miami faculty from Architecture,

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Classics, Comparative Religion, French & Italian,Geography, Geology, History, InternationalStudies, Political Science, and Russian.

The trip will be preceded by aseries of lectures and seminars todevelop the curriculum for the seminar, and willbe succeeded by a series of new courses taught byeach faculty participant. An important part of the

study trip will be to conduct mini- seminars in five locations.Rather than travel ceaselessly, the group will stay for several daysin a particular location, and have academic seminars with localexperts. These seminars will focus on historical, cultural, andnatural aspects of the Silk Road and will enable us to link the localinstitutions with Miami University,building possibilities for collaborativework and establish study abroadopportunities for students interested inthe languages and cultures of Central Asia. Turkey

New Major!Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies

A new major is now being offered in Russian, East European andEurasian Studies. This interdisciplinary major allows students tostudy the history and culture of Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia,broadly defined as the territory of the former Soviet republics, frommedieval times to today. Drawing from a range of disciplines andapproaches, students have the opportunity to explore issues ofpolitical, social, and regional identity and cultural diversity, as wellas official and popular culture.

The program has 36 semester hours of requirements. Students musttake a core introductory course, Introduction to Russian & EurasianStudies, and complete Russian at least up to 202. Students mayselect from two tracks in the new major--History and Politics orLanguage, Literature and Culture.

In addition to the program requirements, students are encouraged toattend the Miami summer Russian language workshop in Novgorod,Russia, the Miami summer Cultural Workshop in St. Petersburg,Russia, or an approved academic study program in Russia, CentralAsia, the Caucasus, or Eastern Europe.

For more information, contact:Dr. Margaret Ziolkowski, Program Advisor

Department of German, Russian & East Asian Languages (GREAL),172 Irvin Hall, 513-529-2526.

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Past EventsFall 2005

Fall semester marked the beginning of the Havighurst Center’s 2005-2007 theme: “Silk Road ExplorAsian,” which will focus on thehistorical and contemporary cultures that lie along the Silk Roadtrade routes that connected China, Eurasia the Middle East andNorthern Europe.

The year began with the Havighurst Colloquia Series. The fallColloquia, organized by Political Science Assistant Professor VenelinGanev, focused on Politics and Institutions in Central Asia. Guestlecturers included Liuba Kurtynova-Derluguian (Northwestern),Mehrdad Haghayeghi (Southwest Missouri State), Georgi Derluguian(Northwestern), Kelly McMann (Case-Western), Henry Hale (GeorgeWashington), Laura Adams (Princeton), Kathleen Collins (NotreDame), Sophia Moestrup (World Bank Group), and LawrenceMarkowitz (Wisconsin).

In September, the Department of French & Italian hosted Dr. RobertDainotto from Duke University, who presented the first in a series ofSilk Road lectures entitled All Roads Lead to Rome. Dr. Dainatto’slecture, Orientalism, Mediterranean Style: Michele Armani and theLimits of History, explored Armani’s work on Sicily’s history of 200years of Muslim rule.

Also in September, the Brill Science Library held their Follow theSilk Road Library Orientation. At several stations throughoutthe library, images and samples provided information about thegeology, geography, and culture of the Silk Road, while introducingstudents to the various services offered by Brill Science Library.

October proved to be the busiest month. In earlyOctober, the Miami University Art Museum hostedspeaker Scott Ferris, who spoke on the artwork ofRockwell Kent, a famous American artist who lived inRussia. The October 6 lecture was the culmination ofthe Art Museum’s Rockwell Kent exhibit, which ranfrom August 30-October 22.

On October 23, the University’s Global Rhythms and student choir,conducted and directed by Ethan Sperry and Srinivas Krishnan,presented Hands Full of Beauty, a performance featuring guestartists from many countries along the Silk Road.

On October 24, Mikhail Gorbachev came to Miami University asthe Richard T. Farmer School of Business Jack R. AndersonDistinguished Lecture Series speaker. Prior to his publicevening lecture at Millett Hall, President Gorbachev an-swered questions from students in Dr. Karen Dawisha’scourse on Political Systems of Eastern Europe, a one-timeoffering specifically tailored to

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coincide with Gorbachev’s visit. The questions focused the events ofGorbachev’s time in office and on his decisions regarding the with-drawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe.

Carlo Krieger, Luxembourg Ambassador to Russia, was aguest of the Havighurst Center on October 25. At a fireside chat inBishop Hall, Ambassador Krieger reflected on Gorbachev’s talk andexplored certain questions that still remain about Gorbachev andRussia’s future.

From October 27-30, the Center, with the assistance of HavighurstPostdoctoral Fellow Costica Bradatan, held its 5th InternationalYoung Researchers’ Conference on “Thinking in/after Utopia:East European and Russian Philosophy Before and After theCollapse of Communism.” The conference featured three keynotelectures by senior scholars Catherine Nepomnyashchy (Columbia),Mikhail Epstein (Emory), and Vladimir Tismaneanu (Maryland) aswell as papers by Clementa Antonova (Oxford), Costica Bradatan(Miami), Eva Cermenova (Indiana), Aurelian Craiutu (Indiana),Letitia Guran (William & Mary), Ivars Ijabs (University of Latvia),Natasa Kovacevic (Florida), Jonathan Larson (Michigan), JeffreyStevenson Murer (Swarthmore), Serguei Oushakine (Princeton),Veronika Tuckerova (Columbia). The working papers can be found atwww.muohio.edu/havighurstcenter

To conclude the conference, participants were treated to a recital ofRussian music by Miami University cellist Pansy Chang, perform-ing works by Stravinsky, Schnittke, and Rachmaninoff with renownedpianist Peter Miyamoto (University of Missouri at Columbia).

In late October and early November, the Department of Classicshosted the Altman Humanities Conference: Alexander’s Afterlife:Power, Empire & Masculinity in the Wake of Alexander theGreat. Richard Stoneman (University of Exeter), Andrew Stewart(UC-Berkeley), and Daniel Seldon (UC-Santa Cruz) gave lectures onAlexander’s legacy in Russia and Eurasia and in world history.

In late November, the Havighurst Centersponsored Afghani musical group EnsembleKaboul. Dubbed by the BBC as “the best exemplars ofAfghanistan’s traditional music,” Ensemble Kabouldelivered an exciting and enthusiastic performancefor their Miami audience as part of Silk RoadExplorAsian.

As the last event of the season, the Havighurst Center held its annualOpen House on December 8. Brave souls who venturedinto the winter’s first snow storm were treated to a samplingof cuisine from countries along the Silk Road trade routes.

Student Perspective: Stephen SolomonRussian Cultural Workshop

Summer 2005

The summer 2005 Havighurst CulturalWorkshop in Russia was by far the mostinsightful and educational portion of myjunior year. Before arriving in Russia, I hadspent the academic year in Luxembourg andspent weekends and breaks travelingthroughout Europe. It was not until going toRussia did I find the experience I had beenlooking for all year.

Before leaving for Luxembourg, I had takentwo courses taught by Havighurst faculty,which sparked my interest in the Soviet Union and its collapse. InEurope, one of the things at the forefront of my mind when travelingwas looking for evidence of the Soviet Union and the division ofEurope, but I found very few. Even in Prague, where one wouldexpect to find remnants of the Soviet system that existed not twentyyears before, most traces of communism were erased, to be replacedby a kitschy version of what had once been. It was not until arrivingin Russia, where the remnants of communism still line the walls of themetro, that I was able to find and explore the pieces of the SovietUnion that still exist.

The Havighurst Workshop had the right balance between formallectures and informal exploration of the cities we were in. Forexample, one of the first things we did in St. Petersburg was to go onan extensive walking tour of the architecture of Nevsky Prospekt, ledby Dr. Sergio Sanabria. This tour not only informed us of the greatarchitectural history of St. Petersburg, but also familiarized us withthe city so that we could be comfortable navigating it on our ownlater. In fact, the interdisciplinary focus of the trip allowed us toappreciate the amazing places we were visiting on many differentlevels. Tamara Mikhailova introduced the group to a history of theHermitage Museum, which we then visited. Dr. Ben Sutcliffeintroduced the group to two prominent Russian contemporarywriters. This multi-faceted approach brought richness to our trip thatI had been trying to achieve all year throughout my travels inEurope, but which only came to pass when I found myselfsurrounded by Havighurst faculty in Russia.

Spotlight on Miami FacultyPublications on Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Costica Bradatan, Havighurst Postdoctoral Fellow,PhilosophyIn 2005, Dr. Bradatan published “A Time of Crisis – A Crisis of (theSense of) Time. On the Political Construction of Time,” in EastEuropean Politics and Societies. He is currently working on acollection of essays on East European and Russian philosophy: TheState of Ideas. Post-Utopian Reflections, to be submitted to IndianaUniversity Press, including his own paper on “Jan Patocka’s SocraticArt of Dying.” A paper entitled “A Romanian, All Too Romanian Lookat Being. Notes on Constantin Noica’s ethno-ontology,” will appear inThorsten Botz-Bornstein & Jürgen Hengelbrock (eds.), Re-ethnicizethe Minds? Tendencies of Cultural Revival in ContemporaryPhilosophy.

Karen Dawisha, Director of the Havighurst Center andHavighurst Professor, Political ScienceIn 2005, Dr. Dawisha and Dr. Ganev were invited to be guest editorsof a special issue on the role of ideas in postcommunist politics in thejournal East European Politics and Societies. The special issue wascomprised of articles presented at the Havighurst Center for Russian& Post-Soviet Studies Summer 2004 conference in Luxembourg onthe same topic. Dr. Dawisha published an introduction to the specialissue “The Role of Ideas in Postcommunist Politics: Reevaluation,”with Venelin Ganev, in East European Politics and Societies and“Communism as a Lived System of Ideas in Contemporary Russia,” inthe same issue. In 2006 she has an article on “Political Learning andPostcommunist Elections,” written with Stephen Deets, scheduled forpublication in East European Politics and Societies, and she isfinishing an article on “The Twentieth Century’s Legacy to theTwenty-First: Is Communism Dead?” for a book edited by CraigJenkins on Deprivation, Violence, and Identities: mappingContemporary World Conflicts.

Venelin Ganev, Assistant Professor, Political ScienceDr. Ganev published the following texts: “State-Building inPostcommunism: A Reversed Tillyan Perspective” in Communist andPost-Communist Studies; “Triumph of Neo-Liberalism Reconsidered:Critical Remarks on Ideas-Centered Analyses of Political andEconomic Change in Post-Communism” and “Introduction to theSpecial Issue on “The Role of Ideas in Postcommunist Politics:Reevaluation,” with Karen Dawisha, in East European Politics andSocieties; and “Foxes, Hedgehogs and Learning: Notes on the Pastand Future Dilemmas of Postcommunist Constitutionalism,” in AdamCzarnota, Martin Krygier and Wojciech Sadurski, eds., Rethinking the

Rule of Law After Communism. Dr. Ganev’s article on “Elections,Corruption and State-Building in Bulgaria” will appear in January2006 in The Journal of Democracy and his manuscript Preying Onthe State: State Formation in Postcommunist Bulgaria, 1989-1997was recently submitted to Cornell University Press.

Scott Kenworthy, Assistant Professor, Comparative ReligionThe following articles by Dr. Kenworthy appeared this year: “Religionin the Russian Empire: Orthodoxy, Missions, and non-Russians alongthe Volga” in Modern Greek Studies Yearbook: A Publication ofMediterranean, Slavic, and Eastern Orthodox Studies; “AreSecularization and Dechristianization Inevitable?” in Omul deCultura in Fata Descrestinarii [The Cultured Man in the Face ofDechristianization]; and “Clergy” in the Modern Encyclopedia ofRussian, Soviet, and Eurasian History. The following articles arecurrently in press: “Orthodoxy and the Social Gospel in Late-Imperial Russia” in Religion and Society in Central and EasternEurope (2005); “Memory Eternal: The Five Hundred Year Jubilee ofSt. Sergius of Radonezh, 1892” in Vladimir Tsurikov (ed.), TheTrinity-Sergius Lavra in Russian History and Culture, Readings inRussian Religious Culture vol. 3; and “Mircea Eliade’s Reinvention ofHimself in North America” in Mapping the Future: Permanence andChange. For an introduction to his forthcoming article on the SocialGospel, “Orthodoxy and the Social Gospel in Late-Imperial Russia,”visit the online journal Religion and Society in Central and EasternEurope at http://rs.as.wvu.edu/kenworthy.htm.

Stephen Norris, Assistant Professor, History Dr. Norris’ article “Images of 1812: Ivan Terebenev and the RussianWartime Lubok,” which appeared in National Identities, looks at thepopular prints produced during the Napoleonic invasion,particularly the images produced by Ivan Terebenev, and how theyserved as an important source for articulating a sense of Russiannationhood. Another article, “Tsarist Russia, Lubok Style: NikitaMikhalkov’s ‘Barber of Siberia’ (1999) and Post-Soviet NationalIdentity,” appeared in the Historical Journal of Film, Radio, andTelevision. It examines the first Post-Soviet blockbuster, Barber ofSiberia, and the wide-ranging discussions the film produced inRussia. Both of these articles are spin-offs of Dr. Norris’ major work,A War of Images: Russian Popular Prints, Wartime Culture, andNational Identity, 1812-1945, which will appear in October 2006from Northern Illinois University Press. The book examines howtsarist patriotic posters (known as the lubok) served as the primaryvisual source for the construction of Russian national identity. Theseprints also inspired Soviet poster artists, who used the lubok style to

produce their own posters after 1917. In addition, his article “TheCapture of Kars” will appear in Joan Neuberger and ValerieKivelson, eds., Picturing Russia: Essays on Visual Evidence.

Doug Rogers, Havighurst Postdoctoral Fellow,AnthropologyIn 2005, Dr. Rogers had two articles appear in print: “Moonshine,Money, and the Politics of Liquidity in Rural Russia” in AmericanEthnologist and “Introductory Essay: The Anthropology of ReligionAfter Socialism” in Religion, State, and Society. Two other articleshave just been accepted and should appear in 2006: “HistoricalAnthropology Meets Soviet History” in Kritika: Explorations inRussian and Eurasian History and “How to be a Khoziain in aTransforming State: State Formation and the Ethics of Governancein Post-Soviet Russia” in Comparative Studies in Society andHistory. He continues work on a book manuscript, with the workingtitle A Vernacular Ethics: Work, Prayer, and History in the RussianUrals.

Michael Rouland, Havighurst Postdoctoral Fellow, HistoryDr. Rouland’s published or forthcoming articles include “Creating aCultural Nation: Alexander Zataevich in Kazakstan” in ComparativeStudies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East and “Music acrossthe Kazak Steppe,” in Jeff Sahadeo (ed.), Everyday Life in CentralAsia. He has published reviews on films for the KinoKultura onlinejournal on contemporary Central Asian cinema: OvliakuliKhozhakuli’s Oedipus (2005), Ernest Abdyzhaparov’s VillageAuthorities (2004), and Serik Aprymov’s The Hunter (2004). Asymposium paper Dr. Rouland presented at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley in September was published in their Caucasusand Central Asia Newsletter as “Beyond the New Wave: The Returnto Folklore in Serik Aprymov’s The Hunter.” Lastly, he has writtenseveral encyclopedia and review articles: a review of Stéphene A.Dudoignon, ed., Devout Societies vs. Impious States? TransmittingIslamic Learning in Russia, Central Asia and China, through theTwentieth Century was published in Ab Imperio, and three entrieson women in film and popular culture in the new Encyclopedia ofWomen and Islamic Cultures.

Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, Assistant Professor, PoliticalScience and International StudiesDr. Sharafutdinova published a chapter “Opportunities and Limits ofSelf-creation and Identity Politics: Tatarstan’s ParadiplomaticProject” in the edited volume Emerging Meso-Areas in the FormerSocialist Countries: Histories Revived and Improvised?, publishedby the Slavic Research Center in Hokkaido University. She is using

her postdoctoral fellowship at Notre Dame University to revise herbook manuscript Perils of Democracy Under Crony Capitalism.Her article “When Do Elites Compete? The Determinants ofPolitical Competition in Russian Regions” is forthcoming in thejournal Comparative Politics.

Benjamin Sutcliffe, Assistant Professor of Russian, GREALDr. Sutcliffe recently published “Uncertainty in the Social andLiterary Contexts of Nina Sadur” in the volume The Oeuvre of NinaSadur, based on a 2004 conference at the University of Pittsburgh.He also published reviews of the books Western Law, RussianJustice: Dostoevsky, the Jury Trial, and the Law by GaryRosenshield and The Word That Causes Death’s Defeat: Poems ofMemory by Anna Akhmatova by Nancy Anderson, as well as areview of the web site LearningRussian.com.

Margaret Ziolkowski, Professor of Russian, GREALDr. Ziolokowski published a major new book in 2005 entitled AlienVisions: The Chechens and the Navajos in Russian and AmericanLiterature.

Silk Road Events@ Oxford Lane Public Library

15 South College Avenue, 523-7531

January 22Wu shan Huang, Chinese Puppeteer

General Public2:00pm

March 4 & April 1Folktales Along the Silk Road

Grades 1-42:00-3:00pm

April 5-26, WednesdaysCool After School: Travel the Silk Road

Grades 3-53:00-4:00pm

April 9Silk Road Family Festival

General Public2:00-4:00pm

May 8Adult Book Discussion Group

The Silk Road Journey with Xuanzang, Sally Hovey Wriggins7:00pm

Contact: Karri Marshall, Oxford Lane Library 523-7531 ext. 222

Spotlight on Miami AlumniWhitney Savage

Masters in Russian Studies, St. PetersburgWhitney graduated from Miami with a B.A. in Political Science and is cur-rently pursuing her M.A. in the highly-regarded International Masters inRussian Studies at the European University in St. Petersburg. As we go topress, Whitney and her fellow Alum Megan Hudson are taking the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Russian Far East.

After being here for a month, I have come to the conclusion that inorder to survive day to day life in Russia, as with anywhere new, youhave to be flexible and take it all in stride. This is also applicable tothe International Masters in Russian Studies Program (IMARS) at theEuropean University.

At the beginning, I had to keepreminding myself that it [IMARS] is not runlike Miami University. Whenever you areviolently reminded of the bureaucraticnature of simple everyday tasks, it is easy toescape from all of it within the endlessrooms of the Hermitage or by catching aballet at the Marinskii Theatre (with yourstudent discount). Once I accepted thatthings here are not run in a way to which Iam accustomed, I was able to fully realizethe incredible experience of spending anentire year living in a foreign country suchas Russia.

Aside from the university and school work, living in St.Petersburg has already been an incredible experience. There havebeen good moments and bad, the latter of which I have chalked up toas being apart of the “adjustment period.” There are optional lan-guage classes offered at the university which group you together with2 or 3 other students at comparable levels. Obviously, I am enrolled.The small class setting and relaxed atmosphere have made learningthe Russian language a much more pleasant experience than I hadanticipated. The majority of other IMARS students came with afoundation in the language but the fact that I had no suchfoundation was not a huge issue. The IMARS program allows thosewith an interest in Russian politics, society and culture an opportu-nity unlike any other. I would absolutely recommend the programand am very much looking forward to the rest of my time here.

The program at European University offers courses in both English andRussian. Interested students should contact the Havighurst Center or go tohttp://www.eu.spb.ru/en/imars/.

Spotlight on Miami AlumniYana Pleshivoy

Investigating Speech Pathology in RussiaYana is a recent gradate of Miami University, where she received a B.A./B.Sin Russian Studies and in Speech Pathology and Audiology. She is currentlyin St. Petersburg, Russia on a ten month Fulbright Fellowship.

My interest in both speech pathology and theRussian language emerged when I volunteered asan English as a Second Language tutor to newlyimmigrated Russian children. I further continuedmy passion of interacting with the disabledpopulation by working at a summer program fordevelopmentally disabled and autistic children,volunteering at a Neuropsychological and FamilyTherapy clinic in Fairfax, Virginia, working as astudent clinician at the Miami University Speechand Hearing clinic, and also working as a privatehome therapist with an autistic boy.

Yet, an experience that was most educational and challenging for mewas the research fellowship I received from the Havighurst Center totravel to St. Petersburg and Moscow as a participant in theHavighurst Center 2004 Summer Research Workshop, led by Dr.Karen Dawisha, Professor Tamara Mikhailova, Professor StephenNimis, and Professor Stephen Norris. For ten months of 2005-06, theFulbright Grant allowed me to return to St. Petersburg. There Iexpanded upon my previous research by exploring the basis forclassification of communicative disorders treated by Russian speechpathology professionals, the potential biological, environmental, andsocial causes of such disorders, and existing treatment alternativesavailable to patients. Moreover, I have been interested in discover-ing the social, political, and economic environment in which speechpathology operates and how it directly reflects the treatment ofdisabled individuals. In addition to my primary field work, I havetaken graduate speech pathology courses at The Herzen State Peda-gogical University to enhance my existing language proficiency andattained fluency in the technical terminology utilized throughout theprofession.

Reaching the conclusion of my time spent abroad, I am now applyingto Ph.D. programs and will have the opportunity to contribute anddisseminate my findings and insights to the broader community ofprofessionals in the United States. My main goal is to advance aninternational awareness of speech pathology as a field and the lawsand organizations that support it.

Spotlight on Miami AlumniMark Simakovsky

Investigating Russian Policy in the CaucasusMark Simakovsky graduated from Miami, enrolled in Georgetown’s MAprogram and is now a Fulbright Scholar at the Georgian Foundation forStrategic and International Studies. This is his account of a meeting heattended in Ukraine.

I am finally winding down a long and tiresome tripto Kiev, although I have to admit much of it wasself-imposed from a wild Kiev nightlife. Althoughthe promises of the Orange Revolution may not befulfilled, the country still enjoys itself after hours,as if there is no tomorrow.

I flew into the country with the Georgian presidential administrationdelegation (I’ve done some consulting help for the administration),and set about attending the two day Community of DemocraticChoice Summit. Set up by Yuschenko and Saakashvili in August, thisnew regional initiative seeks to jump-start the EuroAtlanticaspirations of the two “colored revolutionaries” and to garner newpatrons in New Europe. The Summit was an introspective look atpower politics, and the three-and-a-half hour Presidential Summitwas quite a marathon, with speakers from every President, OSCE,U.S., UN, EU-- pretty much everyone (except a Russian delegation).

I spent an extra week in country to expand on my own research,trying to use the post-revolution experience in Ukraine and its ownEuroAtlantic aspirations and Russian influence in comparativeperspective to Georgia. Sprinkling in a few interviews here andthere, I decided to do a little tourism on the latter half of the trip andget to know the country of my ancestors. My grandfather was bornin Ukraine, near Poltava, and this trip opened up my interest in awhole new nation state with a quite strong mentality of its own. Ialso slipped into the student forum at Shevkenko University whereU.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice popped in for an hour to givea lecture and have a discussion with university students.

Although Kiev may feel like a Russian city (more Russian thanUkrainian is spoken here), it definitely feels culturally unique and seton its own trajectory toward Europe. The March elections, however,will likely see some sort of Grand Coalition with the defeatedRegional blocs of Yanukovitch setting back promised reforms.

As I travel to new countries in this region, it becomes more difficultto focus solely on my narrow research topic, as each new countrybrings a new set of issues and challenges. But there will be time forresearching all of that later.

Spotlight on Miami AlumniMichael Dennis

Life Among Rebels and Refugees: A Day in PankisiGorge with Europe’s Forgotten People

Michael Dennis is currently a Ph.D. student in Government at The Universityof Texas, Austin. He specializes in ethno-nationalist and religiously-fueledmilitary conflicts and social mobilizations in the former Soviet Republics,particularly in the North Caucasus and Central Asia. He earned a Master ofArts in Political Science at Miami University 2003. The following is anexcerpt of a longer article he sent to the Havighurst Center.

The Caucasus region, with its majesticmountains, rich history, and legendarycuisine and hospitality, has attractedintrepid travelers and scholars forcenturies. It was for this reason that Ichose to spend my summer break studyingChechen in Tbilisi, Georgia. Of course,language study was not my sole objective;the large refugee community dispersedthroughout Georgia presented me, as a

researcher of Chechen politics, with a unique opportunity to observefirst hand the plight of what I believe are Europe’s forgotten people.Indeed, during the current iteration of hostilities beginning in 1999,Russia has persecuted a savage war against the tiny republic. In doingso, the Russians have ignored even the most basic standards of humanrights and decency, laying waste to entire villages and cities,conducting “cleansing” operations to round-up suspected militants, andcommitting whole-sale murder of countless innocent civilians, many ofthem ethnic Russians.

I determined early on that one of the best ways to understand theconflict was to visit the Chechen refugee communities dispersed in fivesmall villages in the Pankisi Gorge. The gorge has a reputation oflawlessness and was reputedly one of Osama bin Laden’s hideouts in theimmediate aftermath of September 11th. Russia has long vocalizedaccusations against the Georgian government for allowing militants toutilize the gorge as a rest and re-supply area for the guerrilla campaignin neighboring Chechnya. As I would find out, Russia’s claims are notentirely preposterous.

The State Department discourages Americans from traveling throughthe gorge for these very reasons, but my professional curiosity andpersonal experience in conflict regions overrode these concerns. Ofcourse, I did try to prepare myself: I wore clothes that blended in and,most importantly, I asked a young Chechen refugee man I had metwhile living in Tbilisi to come along. I believe that this request provedinvaluable for my safety.

My new acquaintance had been registered in the Pankisi village of Duisiand suggested we start there and later explore the surrounding areas.However, when I arrived at the marshrutka (a mini-van used

throughout the former Soviet republics as amode of commuter transportation) station, Ithought I might have made a poor decision.With my new contact was another young manwho, despite his now slender build, lookedidentical to the rebels I had seen numeroustimes in pictures. His hair was cropped shortand he wore a scraggly beard. His skin wastanned dark and he greeted me coolly. My acquaintance said that he wasa friend and that he was “very sick” from his neck down to his leg andthat he would join us on our adventure. Having read about the numberof kidnappings in the region, I was immediately on guard.

When we reached Akmeta we stopped and met up with a ScandinavianNGO assigned to help the Chechen refugees. This particular groupestablished and operated a community center in Duisi, which providedlanguage and computer skills to adults and children alike, and providedthe village’s only television, a valuable distraction for the masses ofunemployed. I had arranged for the group to take us into the gorge, arequest I had initially posed to UNHCR but was denied because of securityconcerns. However, the chief of staff was less than pleased with my twonew friends and told me that I would be wise to be careful; in her words,very careful.

When we arrived in Duisi, we walked through the village, where myfriends seemingly knew everyone. Along the main road (a gravellypath), there were groups of men of all ages huddled around, crouching inthat common Caucasian style, or engaging in athletic endeavors--pull-upcontests, wrestling, mock boxing, etc. The people I met were generally

cordial--not effusively friendly, butbecause I was with two other Chechensthis made me a tacit guest. We continuedour walk down the “street” and to adilapidated house. We walked around backand they motioned me toward a short opendoor into the musty blackness. I paused asfears of being kidnapped welled up. Ididn’t have many options, so I steeled mynerves and entered.

It turned out to be the home of my first acquaintance’s universityprofessor, a lovely woman whose genial nature and hospitality belayedthe horrors she had personally endured. I was served tomatoes, cucumberand dill salad, bread, chai with chunks of calcium floating in it (whichembarrassed her so much that she sent one of the kids to the store forjuice), and a curdled milk/cheese/salt dish. The young man who was“sick” soon left and I learned that he was indeed a former rebel fighterand had been hit in the back by a Russian sniper and the bullet traveledinto his leg. We continued to speak in my then halting Chechen about therich history and culture of her people and both she and my acquaintancewere surprised and impressed with my breadth and depth of knowledge of

their people. I often wonder if it was this which convinced them I was nota spy. After an hour or so the woman opened up, without prompting,about what had happened and she had no shortage of stories of familymembers killed or kidnapped in the middle of the night, of sufferingRussian air bombs while huddled in dank basements despite flying whiteflags, and so on. When they finally decided to leave their ancestral homeand essentially all their worldly possessions (sadly, even her preciousbooks which were seized by Russian border guards) they were stilltargeted by Russian aerial bombs as they crossed the Georgia village,Shatili. Because there were rebels fighters dispersed among the masses ofrefugees, Russian fighter planes strafed entire groups including thosealready in Georgia, a blatant violation of Georgian sovereignty. Laterwhen I visited Shatili there were still clusters of charred-black trees. Ileft her with a promise to return and articulated my frustration withwhat has happened and continues to happen in Chechnya. Finally, Iasked her one last question – what could I do to help? Not just herparticular family but also the Chechens in general. She told me that Ihad helped. Puzzled, I asked in Chechen, “how?” “Because you came here.Because you obviously know the history of my people and what ishappening, you have helped.” Still confused I pressed further, “how?”“Because you are here, right now, you have given me hope. I have nothad hope in a long time. That is helping.”We hugged, and I left.

I believe that this trip, although fraught withpotential safety concerns, did generate somepositive contributions. First, in a parochialway it allowed me to make some potentiallyuseful contacts for future research, especiallyfor my doctoral dissertation. In doing so, itelucidated the invaluable importance of foreignlanguage aptitude in conducting comparative

social science research. Second, it revealed the dangers inherent inconducting research in conflict areas. True, this is work which must bedone to further the theoretical and empirical social science literature;however, prospective scholars must understand the dynamics of thesituation and calibrate their decisions based on a security environmentwhich could degenerate rapidly. Precaution should be taken, but suchconcerns should not preclude fieldwork.

In short, the trip to Pankisi and later to the village of Shatili along theborder with Chechnya, proved a mixed bag. On the one hand, I waspersonally and professionally satisfied with the results of my languagetraining and time spent with the Chechen people. Having studiedChechnya for the last six years from afar, I was finally able to put ahuman voice to the stories and glean a better understanding of thecomplexity of the issues I study. On the other hand, I was not prepared forthe emotional impact that hearing these personal stories of tragedy hadand my consequent feelings of utter impotence in helping. Conflictscholars should consider the emotional impact of their work as seriouslyas they should security concerns. I should note that the acquaintanceswho accompanied me to Pankisi became my closest friends during mytrip and I still correspond with them.

Russian, East European & EurasianSpring 2006 Courses

ARC 301/401 Studio Design: Silk Road ProjectSergio Sanabria

ATH 384 Anthropology of Capitalism in Russia-DougRogers

ATH/REL 404 Anthropology of Religion & Secularism inEurasia-Doug Rogers

HST/POL/ Introduction to Russian & Eurasian StudiesREL/RUS 254 Stephen Norris

HST 360Q 2oth Century Film in Russia, China and FranceMichael Rouland

HST 375 Russia & the USSR from 1855 to presentStephen Norris

HST 409 Islam in Central Asia-Michael Rouland

HST 434/534 China and the Silk Road before 1600Yihong Pan

ITL/ENG 364 Asian Influences & Classical Renaissance inItalian Culture-Sante Matteo

PHL 310H/RUS 250F Dostoevsky-Costica Bradatan

PHL 410/510 Politics of Time-Costica Bradatan

POL 332 Post-Soviet Russian Politics-Karen Dawisha

POL 430I Politics of Central Asia-Dilchoda Berdieva

REL 470/570 Havighurst Colloquia: Merchants, Mercenaries,HST 360/POL 440A & Monks-Rick Colby, Scott Kenworthy, Liz Wilson

RUS 101 Intensive Beginners Russian Language (sprint)Benjamin Sutcliffe

RUS 102 Intensive Beginners to Russian Language II(sprint)-Benjamin Sutcliffe

RUS 102A Beginner’s Russian Language IIIrina Goncharenko

RUS 102A Beginner’s Russian Language IIIrina Goncharenko

RUS F103 Eastern European Vampire TraditionMargaret Ziolkowski

RUS 202 Intermediate Russian LanguageMargaret Ziolkowski

RUS/ENG 256 Russian Literature-Benjamin Sutcliffe

RUS 302 Advanced Russian Language-Paul Mitchell

RUS 311 Reading in Russian-Paul Mitchell

THE 280B-H Drama & Performance Along the SilkRoad-Howard Blanning

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