/*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
/*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
*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
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
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
*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
*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
**/*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
*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
/*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