2015-2016

Letter from the Director

D

ear Colleagues and Friends of CREEES!

In the new Chronicle you will read about the Center’s extraordinarily rich life in the course of the 2015-16 academic year. The field of Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies is not only vast but also incredibly diverse - and so is its representation at Stanford. As CREEES’s Faculty Director, I am honored to work with, and for, a community comprised of outstanding scholars – faculty, students, visiting researchers – and a highly engaged public, whose interests range from the current state of US - Russia relations, to the war in Ukraine, to European responses to the ongoing refugee crisis; from the historical legacy of Yugoslav emancipatory politics, to a consideration of alternative energy resources in the post-Soviet space, to the recent cultural developments in the Baltic states. All of us at CREEES are thrilled that, throughout the school year, the Center has continued to flourish as the place on campus where political analysts, humanists, social scientists, diplomats, and cultural workers cross paths on a daily basis, engage in lively discussions, and present their often path-breaking research and perspectives on the region. Eight CREEES graduate students received their Master’s degrees this spring. Eight international scholars – from Lithuania, Hungary, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Moldova, and elsewhere – were in residence at the Center, while teaching classes or doing research at the Hoover Archives. And, over sixty-five public events (lectures, seminars, readings, and performances) took place between September and June, organized by CREEES or co-sponsored with other SGS Centers and University departments. CREEES’s 2016 Wayne Vucinich Fellow was Ekaterina Klimenko from Saint Petersburg State Institute of Culture, whose research concerns inter-ethnic tolerance and public policy of migrant integration in Russia. With support from the U.S. Department of Education, CREEES introduced this year a new initiative for international experts, whose short-term visiting professorships at Stanford will focus on teaching students about various underrepresented topics in the fields of Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies. Our inaugural visiting lecturer was Dariya Orlova, from National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine, who taught a course on the mass media in the post-Soviet space. In November, Bechtel Auditorium was at full capacity for the 18th Annual Dallin Lecture, given by the highly regarded political analyst Lilia Shevtsova, on the topic of “Russia as a Global Challenge.” In March, CREEES hosted the 40th Annual Stanford-Berkeley Conference, which brought together some of the most prestigious scholars from both universities to discuss questions of Dislocation from a variety of historical and contemporary perspectives. In April, Stanford audiences had the pleasure of listening to Maria Stepanova read some of her award-winning poetry; attending an international symposium on the work and legacy of the influential Soviet filmmaker, Dziga Vertov; and, learning about renowned

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

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In This Issue

historian Serhii Plokhii’s recent scholarship on Ukraine’s past as well as the fall of the Soviet Union.

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Letter from the Director

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Visiting Scholars

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MA Class of 2016 Reflections

We very much look forward to greeting the 2017 class of CREEES Master’s students and to seeing you all at our future events.

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MA Program Highlights

Happy summer!

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Grant & Fellowship Recipients

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Incoming MA Class of 2017

10 Feature: The Current State of Post-Soviet Space 12 Event Highlights 15 Featured Student Programs 16 New Faculty Spotlight 17 Faculty Publications 18 Outreach Programs 19 Alumni Notes

Creees Staff Pavle Levi Director Jovana Knežević Associate Director Van-Anh Nguyen Program Administrator Ray Buckner Event and Communications Coordinator

• Contact Us 417 Galvez Mall, Encina Hall West Stanford, CA 94305 T 650-725-2563 | F 650-498-7006 [email protected] http://creees.stanford.edu

• CREEES is part of the Stanford Global Studies Division (SGS). CREEES is designated a National Resource Center for the study of Russian, Eastern Europe and Eurasia by the US Department of Education, and receives Title VI funds for educational and outreach activities.

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Visiting Scholars Tomas Balkelis, Vilnius University - Lithuania Project Title: “Violence, Nationalism and Revolution in the Baltic States, 1918-1920” Fellowship: Baltic-American Freedom Foundation Dates in Residence: December 2015 - November 2016

Igor Casu, Moldova State University - Moldova Project Title: “A Moldavian Holodomor? The Mass Famine in Soviet Moldavia, 1946-1947” Fellowship: Fulbright Dates in Residence: February 2016 - August 2016 Gábor Egry, Institute of Political History - Hungary Project Title: “Negotiating Post-Imperial Transitions, 1918- 1925. A Comparative Study of Local and Regional Transitions from Austria-Hungary to the Successor States” Fellowship: Hungarian National Research Fund Dates in Residence: January 2016 - April 2016 Ekaterina Klimenko, Saint Petersburg State Institute of Culture - Russia Project Title: “‘Migrant Integration’ in Post-Soviet Russia: Knowledge, Discourse, Policy” Fellowship: CREEES Wayne Vucinich Fellow Dates in Residence: March 2016 - June 2016 Daniel Orlovsky, Southern Methodist University United States Project Title: “Russian Revolution Centennial/The Provisional Government: Meaning and Practice of Power in 1917” Dates in Residence: January 2016 - June 2016 Dariya Orlova (Visiting Professor), National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, - Ukraine Course taught: Media, Democratization and Political Transformations in Post-Soviet Societies Dates in Residence: March 2016 - June 2016 Klaus Segbers, Freie Universitaet Berlin - Germany Project Title: “The Return of Violence: Challenges for European Security” Fellowship: Fulbright Dates in Residence: January 2016 - March 2016 Aurimas Švedas, Vilnius University - Lithuania Project Title: “Red Knights: The KGB between Myth and Reality” Fellowship: Fulbright Dates in Residence: January 2016 - June 2016

Perhaps one of the most memorable moments for me at Stanford was attending and giving a talk at the joint Stanford/Berkeley conference ‘Dislocation’ in April. Having some of the most notable scholars on population displacement around and hearing their feedback about my own research was one of the most satisfying and gratifying moments. I also truly enjoy here the Baltic movie series that shows not only most recent and hard-to-see movies from the Baltic states, but also brings together local Baltic community members and specialists who work on the Baltics. Overall, one of the most enjoyable experiences of being here is the lively intellectual life around CREEES brought by various talks and lectures of visitors from all over the world. The geographical and thematic coverage of these events is truly inspiring. --Tomas Balkelis Eastern Europeans are used to encountering kings and military heroes on their banknotes, thus, the Martin Luther King Jr. Research Center (and King’s role in the national pantheon) is a unique experience for us. However, ultimately it was not the value assigned to principles like freedom, equality, equal dignity, nor Clayborn Carson’s vast knowledge of social issues that impressed me, rather the palpability of how volatile history is and how relative historical time could be. Something impossible in the sixties is the norm a few decades later. --Gábor Egry It was about a week after I’d arrived at Stanford. I was sitting on a bench, opposite Green Library. A beautiful sunny day. I had a cup of coffee in my one hand and the first edition of Robert Park’s “The Nature of Race Relations” in the other. It was then that I realized how much I actually love this place. --Ekaterina Klimenko It was a great pleasure to work once again in the Hoover Library, such a special place for study of the Russian Revolution, and to attend the rich and vast array of seminars, kruzhki, lectures, symposia. Especially, I’ll miss lunches at the Business School with Norman Naimark and Paul Gregory and the natural beauties of the area. --Daniel Orlovsky

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

MA Class of 2016 - Reflections Our nationally recognized MA program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies allows students, who have strong backgrounds in the region, the flexibility to pursue their own academic interests while providing intellectual cohesion through curriculum that addresses historical and contemporary trends in the field.

Tom Koritschan

Apart from Stanford’s faculty, my main motivation in joining the REEES program was the chance to live near the Hoover Institution Archives and work with their holdings for a full academic year. After my arrival, I shifted my focus from early Soviet education to justice under socialism in Eastern Europe, which in turn led me to an unknown political trial from 1951. This topic turned out to be ideal for my Capstone project. It allowed me to draw from Soviet history, while at the same time pushing me to learn more about Eastern Europe and the judicial landscape of the time. I greatly appreciate the constructive critique, stimulating discussions, and revealing insights that I received from David Holloway, Norman Naimark, and Amir Weiner. Along with the other bright, kind, and interesting people I met, they contributed to the positive conclusion I am fortunate to draw. The REEES program provided me with unique experiences I can build on in a PhD program next year.

Ophelia Lai

I came to Stanford University upon completing my undergraduate degree in politics and East European studies in order to deepen my understanding of the culture and history of the region, and could not be more pleased with the ample opportunities here at Stanford to do just that. It has been a rewarding experience to move out of my comfort zone and write my Capstone on East European cinema, and I am grateful for the support and insightful suggestions of my advisors, Dr. Levi and Dr. Skakov. I’ve also discovered a love for history and digging around in archives thanks to Dr. Weiner and Dr. Jolluck. I have never been in a learning environment as open to and supportive of exploration and experimentation as that of Stanford. Most importantly, it has been a pleasure and privilege to study alongside the loveliest fellow CREEES-niki.

Amanda Lorei

I became interested in Russian literature as a teenager, which led me to study Russian language as an undergraduate while pursuing a degree in English at Stanford. My senior year I decided to pursue a Masters in REEES in order to engage my interest in Soviet-era literature. I focused on literature of the 1920s and 30s, and wrote my Capstone on Andrei Platonov’s socialist realism. My time at CREEES has enabled me to study a field I love and develop my language and academic writing skills.

Laura Marti

When I found that the REEES progam would offer me another year at Stanford, I was definitely interested. However, the chance to explore more of my academic interests was also incredibly appealing. I’ve spent time this past year investigating a topic that fascinates me— the stray dogs of Russia and Eastern Europe. I initially wondered what was so exceptional about this area of developed nations that allowed for dogs to thrive. My Capstone project focused on this topic. I was also able to explore my interests in public health through some of the courses I took this year. Following graduation, I will be working for a year before hopefully heading to veterinary school. I’m planning to continue looking at public health in Eastern Europe with relation to animal-borne diseases. My studies at CREEES will be invaluable for working in this region—my understanding of culture, language and history will allow me to critically look at issues in public health.

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MA reflections

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Ian McGinnity

Choosing to pursue my Master’s degree through the Stanford REEES program was one of the best decisions I have made. Over the course of an academically-accelerated year, I have had the opportunity to substantially deepen my knowledge of Russian area studies and develop meaningful relationships with Stanford professors, who were unceasing in their graciousness, time, and energy. Thanks to generous CREEES funding , I was able to continue my study of Russian in St. Petersburg during the summer quarter, conduct research interviews in Armenia in the fall quarter, and attend a week-long academic conference that discussed Euro-Atlantic Relations at Harvard University during the winter quarter. For my capstone I was fortunate enough to work with three professors –one in the Political Science department, one in International Policy Studies department, and one in the History department – to develop an interdisciplinary analysis of the informal and formal constraints of renewable energy development in Russia. The entire experience has prepared me to move to Moscow in July, where I will participate in the Alfa Fellowship. The year I spent as a student in the REEES program has undeniably been one of great personal and academic growth, and one that has established a strong foundation for future success in the Russian studies field.

Uve Poom

Before graduate school, I used to run the Unitas Foundation, an educational charity whose mission is to ensure that history is taught through the lens of human rights, so the Master’s program at CREEES was a natural continuation of my previous work. Nearing the end of the program, I can say that it has been an excellent way to further my understanding of the intersection of history and society in the region. My research focuses on the armed conflict and identities in Eastern Ukraine. Professors Yuliya Ilchuk and Amir Weiner both played critical roles in advancing my research project. In addition to excellent faculty at Stanford, I have been impressed with the number visiting scholars and experts who have been invited to Stanford in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine. Lastly, Stanford’s strengths in technology have also left a mark on my studies. Specifically, the “Language & Technology” course has been a brilliant supplement to my skill set that is otherwise centered on the humanities.

Margarita Velmozhina

I consider the CREEES program to be the best fit for my academic and professional interests because of its interdisciplinary nature. Coming to Stanford with an academic background in biology, I was eager to gain exposure to a variety of fields that examine Soviet history and developments in post-communist states. That is why I really particularly enjoyed taking Amir Weiner’s course “Soviet Civilization” and Patricia Young’s course “Transformation of Socialist Societies.” My Capstone project, which analyzes the health care reforms in post-Soviet Russia, is rooted in my academic endeavors at Stanford and my interest in public health. The program at CREEES also has spurred my interest in international affairs and prompted me to pursue a career with the American foreign service. This summer I will be participating in an intensive Chinese summer program at the Middlebury Institute in Monterey in order to improve my proficiency in the language and gain valuable skills needed for my desired career.

Isaac Webb

I chose CREEES because in just nine months, it gives students the opportunity to take intensive language and area studies courses while also engaging with Stanford’s professional schools and policy-oriented programs. In addition to taking Russian language and culture courses, I took a class at the law school and got involved with the WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice. I wrote a Capstone thesis on the Ukrainian government’s attempts to prosecute crimes committed during the War in the Donbas, taking stock of the history of war crimes trials in the Soviet Union. Bertrand Patenaude (Hoover), Penelope Van Tuyl (Handa Center), and Beth Van Schaack (Stanford Law School) contributed greatly to this project and helped make my year at Stanford tremendously intellectually rewarding. This summer, I will be working for Global Rights Compliance, a consultancy that is advising the Ukrainian government on legal reform. In the future, I look forward to attending law school and working on legal issues related to the former Soviet Union.

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

MA Program highlights Isaac Webb publishes capstone research in Foreign Affairs

Tom Koritschan presents capstone research at social science conferences

Recent CREEES graduate Isaac Webb published an article on June 1, 2016 in Foreign Affairs, based on his capstone research. Isaac’s article “Ukraine’s Uneasy Justice,” offers insight into the politics behind a recent high profile prisoner exchange, which returned Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko to her country after nearly two years in Russian detention, in exchange for two Russian soldiers, Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, who had been convicted by a court in Kiev of an unusual set of charges, including waging “aggressive war” and “terrorist activity leading to the death of a Ukrainian serviceman.” Webb argues that the government in Kiev has instrumentalized terms like “terrorism” and “aggression” for political gain in these cases. By focusing on these as violations of state sovereignty, he argues, Ukraine has largely ignored international humanitarian law, and neglected then 1.6 million displaced residents of the Donbas, who are the real Yerofeyev and Alexandrov during a hearing in Kiev, April 2016. victims in need of justice. court Credit: Reuters.

The annual conferences of the Western Social Science Studies Association (WSSA) in Reno, NV and the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REECAS) of the University of Washington provided Tom Koritschan with a fitting occasion to present a draft of his Capstone project (“Uranium on Trial: Mines and Minds in Czechoslovakia, 1945–1955”). The conferences allowed Tom to work on the structure of his argument; in particular, he appreciated discussions with scholars Mark Cichock, Robert Niebuhr, and Glenis Young. Beyond the use for his personal research, Tom valued the opportunity to engage in current debates within the field and wishes to underline his gratitude for the financial support from CREEES, Stanford Global Studies, and the WSSA.

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Euro-Atlantic Week at Harvard University by Lorraine Vitek (‘18)

In February, three CREEES MA students, Ophelia Lai, Ian McGinnity, and Isaac Webb, attended a training module on Euro-Atlantic issues organized at the Davis Center at Harvard University by the University Consortium. During the week, students from the US, Europe and Russia participated in workshops and listened to presentations on some of the most pressing topics in US-European-Russian relations. Andrey Sushentsov of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), a visiting faculty member at Harvard, presented on the new standard in bilateral relations as well as the conflict between Russia and Turkey. Other presentation topics included different facets of the Ukrainian conflict, Participants of Euro-Atlantic Week. Source: aseees.org Russian strategies in the Syria crisis, and both the historic Cold War as well as the prospect of a new one. The University Consortium was formed by a group of six European, Russian, and American institutions with the support of the Carnegie Foundation to address the rising tensions between Russia and the West. The Consortium’s goal is to “cooperate in training a new generation capable of enhancing understanding among these critical international players.” Through conferences, workshops, and collaborative research the consortium aims to promote dialogue and cooperation between faculty and students on either side of the Atlantic and come up with policy-based solutions for cooperation between Russia and the West. The presentations at the Euro-Atlantic module held at Harvard, as well as the opportunity to meet students and faculty from both sides of the Atlantic, prompted Isaac Webb to comment, “Euro-Atlantic week at Harvard was an excellent opportunity to hear Russian students’ perspectives on U.S.-Russian relations and to learn from some of the best scholars and policy-makers in the field. The University Consortium is a terrific and necessary initiative that I hope to be a part of in the future.”

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Grant & Fellowship Recipients CREEES awards grants and fellowships to undergraduate, graduate and professional school students for language study and research related to the REEES region.

Academic Year 2015-2016 Graduate Student Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships Megan Donahoe (History MA ‘16), Russian Amanda Lorei (REEES ‘16), Russian Laura Marti (REEES ‘16), Russian

Window, E-Estonia showroom

Ian McGinnity (REEES ‘16), Russian Margarita Velmozhina (REEES ‘16), Chinese Isaac Webb (REEES ‘16), Russian Lori Weekes (REEES ‘16), Estonian

Undergraduate Student FLAS Lacey Wickersham (Slavic Languages and Literatures/ International Relations ‘17), Russian Tabriz National Library

Summer 2016

CREEES Graduate Travel/Research Grants

Summer FLAS Fellowships

Jinyi Chu (Slavic PhD, 3rd Year) Russian Modernist Inventions of China: Tolstoy and Gumilev St. Petersburg, Moscow, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tula

Margarita Velmozhina (REEES ‘16), Chinese,

Nicholas Levy (History PhD, 4th Year) Over‐Developed Socialism? Growing Industrial Cities in the Era of Deindustrialization Russia, Poland, Ukraine

Lenora Murphy (Slavic PhD candidate), Russian,

Middlebury Institute of International Studies, Monterey, CA Derzhavin Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

Globalizing Eurasia Grant Ali Aydin Karamustafa (History PhD, 4th Year)

Lukas Dovern (History PhD, 4th Year)

Ali Aydin Karamustafa’s dissertation project, “Geographic Identities in the Caucasus during the Last Age of the Eurasian Empires,” examines the cultural history of the Caucasus in the 18th and 19th century. His research seeks to better understand the spectrum of cultural identities that existed in this historical setting by relying on both manuscript and print versions of several popular stories in their Turkish, Persian, Russian and Armenian varieties. He is interested in how language and story-telling informed identity and conceptions of geography and space in the period preceding nationalism and modern borders. He is conducting research in Armenia, Iran and Italy.

In his project, “Investing in Socialist Poland: Communism and the Globalization of Finance,” Lukas Dovern draws on the example of the People’s Republic of Poland and its ties to capitalist financial institutions, to research the role of international finance in the Cold War Transnational in approach and scope, his dissertation investigates how Western financial institutions—including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and Western private banks—directly or indirectly influenced the fate of this socialist country in the middle of a divided Europe. Lukas is currently traveling Central and Eastern Europe to work in archives in Germany (Koblenz, Frankfurt, Berlin), Poland (Warsaw), and Russia (Moscow).

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

Incoming MA Class of 2017 Joel Beckner is a graduate of Wheaton College, Illinois, with a B.A. in International Relations. Shorty after graduating he received his commission in the US Army and has served in various capacities in Germany, Iraq, and South Korea. Joel is now a Foreign Area Officer, has studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and subsequently spent 15 months traveling throughout Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Joel plans to focus his studies on the emerging Arctic and the implications of this phenomenon for Russia and NATO. Melanie Dalby graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a BA in political science and in Russian studies. As a member of UCLA’s Russian Flagship program, Melanie recently completed a capstone year Russian language study abroad program in Almaty, Kazakhstan, as well as a two month study in Vladimir, Russia. Her undergraduate thesis analyzed Russian foreign policy on state sovereignty, particularly in cases regarding the United Nations Security Council. A FLAS recipient, Melanie plans to continue studying the issue of foreign policy divides between the United States and Russia, especially regarding former Soviet states. David Ernst graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 2010 with a BA in Government in History. He subsequently worked as a research assistant at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC on strategic futures in the Middle East and Central Asia for contracts with the Department of Defense. Later, he worked as a paralegal in the Department of Justice in a unit devoted to prosecuting violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He is a recipient of an academic year FLAS grant for Russian. Ivan Jiang graduated from Bates College with a B.S. in European Studies. During his undergraduate studies, he also studied economics and mathematics, and aspires to combine his knowledge of various disciplines to evaluate business opportunities in Post-Soviet countries in a more holistic way. Besides Russian history, he is also very interested in the ethnic policies of the Soviet Union and their impact. He has lived in Hamburg and St. Petersburg, improving his knowledge of German and Russian.

Benjamin Kim was born in Boston, MA and raised in Columbia, SC. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in 2005. During his 11 years of service in the Army, Ben has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as an Infantry platoon leader and company commander, respectively. Ben currently serves as an Army Foreign Area Officer (FAO) in training based at the US Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. He will be stationed in Europe until January 2017. After graduate school, Ben hopes to serve in the arena of defense cooperation or as a military attaché at an embassy. Seulgi Ko studied Russian language and Economics at Incheon National University in South Korea. She joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea in 2012 and was posted to the Korean Embassy in Ukraine as a Third Secretary from 2013 to 2015. During this time, she developed a keen interest in Russo-Ukrainian relations. Her academic interests include Russo-Ukrainian relations, Ukraine’s role between Russia and Europe and the geopolitical situation surrounding Ukraine. Upon completion of her MA program at Stanford, she plans to pursue a diplomatic career in Russia and throughout the Eurasian region. Caitlyn Littlepage studied International Relations and Russian Language as an undergraduate student at Stanford and enters the CREEES Master’s Program as a coterminal student. A FLAS recipient for Russian Language, her academic interests include contemporary security crises along the eastern flank of NATO, nationalist narratives in Eastern Europe, and collective memory of conflict. Bri Mosteller graduated from Stanford University, where she double majored in Slavic and International Relations, with specializations in international security and Russian and European studies. During her undergraduate career, she engaged in research on the persistence of violent conflict, Stalin’s foreign policy in Finland and Italy, Russian military modernization, and the politics of folklore and revival in Russia. As a recipient of the Beagle II Award, during the summer of 2016, she is conducting field research across Europe, from Poland to the Netherlands, studying the politics and

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Class of 2017 • continued from previous page ideology of the modern Esperanto movement. Bri’s academic interests include trends in Russian nationalism, the evolution of Russian military doctrine, and the modern Cossack movement.

Victoria Pardini graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2014 with degrees in history and political science. As part of her senior research, she focused on feminist dissident thought in the Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev. During her year at Stanford, she hopes to continue this work through a contemporary lens. During the 2015-2016 academic year, she was Fulbright Program English Teach Assistant in Russia, where she worked with students at all levels of education in Ukhta, Komi Republic. A FLAS recipient for the upcoming academic year, she also has worked in research and public relations at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the United States Senate, respectively.

Katherine Schroeder graduated from the University of Washington in 2015 with a degree in International Studies and a minor in Russian. When she was fifteen, she received a NSLI-Y grant to travel from her rural hometown in Central Washington to Gatchina, Russia, which began her lifelong passion for Russian studies. Her senior thesis focused on online protest groups in post-Soviet Russia. She was a summer FLAS recipient in 2014 to Kazan, Russia, which allowed her to collect data for her thesis and study Russian language. Katherine also spent nine months in Ufa, Russia with a Fulbright English Teaching Award. While in Ufa, she taught pre-law students and researched constitutional law with Russian faculty.

Ryan Wauson graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a BA in Russian Studies. During his undergraduate career, he studied in Moscow, Russia and wrote his undergraduate thesis on Leon Trotsky and Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s failed struggles for power. After graduating, Ryan studied Russian language and culture in Almaty, Kazakhstan for a year as part of the Russian Flagship Program. His academic interests include power dynamics within Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, ideology as an adaptive tool of control, and the influence of media in forming public opinion in the Russian body politic.

visiting scholars (continued from page 3)

Another stay at creees, in stanford. and once again, it was soothing and constructive, and demanding in terms of thinking about new approaches and new impressions. the relaxed, but not lenient atmosphere at creees was a big plus, as was my interaction with the ir workshop in the stuart lounge. the visits at the salad bar at the business school cafeteria played in important role in structuring my days. keep going, and thanks for offering the opportunity to me. --Klaus Segbers

Igor Casu, Tom Koritschan, and Tomas Balkelis

I like very much Stanford, first of all because I have found here at the Hoover archives invaluable documents from the Moscow-based archives I otherwise could not access. Second, the people here are very friendly and Stanford has the best campus I ever seen. --Igor Casu Being a visiting scholar and teaching at Stanford has been an immensely stimulating and enjoyable experience. I’ve been so impressed by the energetic academic life and multitude of various events offered on campus. Most of all, I’ve been happy about the opportunity to discuss post-Soviet media studies with Stanford students. Every class with them was thought-provoking and rewarding. --Dariya Orlova

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

stanford scholars ref the current state of po I am writing this summary of the post-Maidan transformation of the Ukrainian society not as the Western scholar but as a Ukrainian national whose family has been divided by the internal and external events of the past two years. The war has entered every single Ukrainian family, traumatized the entire country, consumed its resources, destroyed the infrastructure, and brought distrust of the state’s ability to perform its functions. The Ukraine conflict has also upended the sense of security and stability in the European Union. Therefore, the effective and fast resolution of the hybrid warfare in Eastern Ukraine is a condition for peace in the entire region. At the same time the broad involvement of Ukraine’s citizenry in domestic reforms is needed to consolidate the divided society around universal issues. The results of the national polls, which demonstrate that the church and the volunteers are the most trustworthy institutions, are alarming. During 2015-2016, in the absence of rapid reforms and due to the further corruption of the political elites, the most active and engaged citizens have developed anti-state, anarchic attitudes making the return of an autocratic regime possible. When Western leaders impose the “stability paradigm” on contemporary Ukraine, they in fact legitimize the concentration of power in the hands of one leader, as demonstrated by the recent case of Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko appointing his loyal allies as the Prime Minister and the General Prosecutor. Ending on a positive note, Ukraine as a state has survived another turbulent year, not so much due to strong vertical power but thanks to the collective efforts of its people. --Yuliya Ilchuk

Certainly one of the major issues – or set of issues – in “post-Soviet space” at the present revolves around the struggle for the Ukrainian future. By this I mean such matters as Moscow’s intentions in Ukraine; the fate of Western sanctions in response to Vladimir Putin’s annexation of the Crimea on March 18, 2014, and instigation of the ongoing Donbass crisis; the implementation of the Minsk II agreement; and, not least, the Ukrainian government’s uneven attempts to deal with problems of corruption and mismanagement in politics, the economy, and society. My view is that the successful outcome of Ukrainian efforts to create a society based on democracy and the rule of law would have a significant positive impact on the region as whole, including Russia.

--Norman Naimark

News media have been facing ever more challenges across the world, from established democracies to authoritarian countries. The post-Soviet space, with an exception of Baltic states, has largely been a tough place for media and journalists. The situation got even worse in many post-Soviet countries recently, as various NGO reports indicate. The decline of media freedom has been most notable in Russia following annexation of Crimea and conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Belarus and Central Asian post-Soviet states keep having one of the most repressive media environments in the world. Recent developments, including propaganda wars, have exposed engrained problems that have been common for most of the post-Soviet countries despite some crucial differences between them. Instrumentalization of media by power elites has been a pivotal commonality that is still shaping political and media landscapes in these countries. Most worryingly, such an instrumentalization seems to be accepted and legitimized by many journalists themselves, especially in Russia, which makes prospects of media liberation or even movement towards increased freedom in the near future very unlikely. --Dariya Orlova

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flect on ost-soviet space The Russian annexation of Crimea and Russian policy in Eastern Ukraine signify a rejection of the post-Soviet settlement. They force us to look anew at the breakup of the Soviet Union and the efforts to create a post-communist international order, to ask what went wrong, whether things could have developed differently. That is a task for historians and political scientists. But recent events also confront us with the task of defining a new order in which the states in the post-Soviet space can live in peace and security with the Europe and the West — an important and difficult challenge. --David Holloway I witness an emergence of an interesting and theoretically sophisticated body of work on divergences and concurrences between the postcolonial theory and postcommunist studies, especially by scholars from the Baltic states and Poland in particular. Moreover, there is a rise of studies in which the former Soviet Central Asia is treated as a notable case study that offers alternative socialist genealogies of subalternity and provides a unique symbiosis of emancipatory and oppressive drives of the Stalinist and Soviet projects. In general terms, there is a slight but cumulative deviation from the Russocentric tradition, which has been dominating the Slavic studies field, and it offers a number of analytical and interpretive benefits.

The lack of institutional integrity was a hallmark of the Soviet polity. The ability of the supreme leadership to interfere at will in the activities of each organization and association and reshuffle its cadres created a political landscape bereft of both institutional autonomy and buffer zones between political power and the population. If one hoped that the collapse of totalitarian pillars—command economy, single-party dictatorship and mass state terror— would restructure public life in the successor states, this was not to be. Freer media, travel and economic activities punctured holes in the isolation of individuals, even before the Soviet collapse. And yet, the conscious refrain of post-Soviet rulers from establishing formal parties rather than personality-based electoral movements, the absence of genuine protection of property rights, and rubberstamp judiciary and legislative branches make this feature the most enduring legacy of the Soviet era. You can take the dictator out of the totalitarian world; you can’t take the totalitarian world out of the dictator. --Amir Weiner

--Nariman Skakov

In the United States, the Afghan war is largely forgotten. Following President Obama’s announcement that combat operations would end in 2014, American media and policy-makers have turned the page. Afghanistan has scarcely figured at all in the presidential campaign. Central Asia does not have the luxury of forgetting. For states that share borders with Afghanistan – Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan – persistent violence and political turmoil in Afghanistan pose an increasing threat. Taliban attacks on Afghan government positions have crept toward these borders. But they are not the only armed group destabilizing the Afghan north: regional elites are locked in often violent competition, and a growing number of militants have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State. Meanwhile, the flow of Afghan narcotics continues to cut a corrosive swath through the region. Afghanistan’s deepening crisis, which has displaced 1.2 million people internally, is unsettling its neighbors to the north, where authoritarian elites are seizing on anxieties about Afghan militants and refugees to further tighten the screws. The war is far from over, and its regional effects more difficult to contain.

--Robert Crews

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

Event Highlights The following represents a few of the year’s highlights. For a complete list of events, visit creees.stanford.edu/events

Fall Quarter

Winter Quarter

Spring Quarter

Photographs of Prague, August 1968 Martina Winkler, University of Bremen

Divided Past‐Divided Future: History Teaching as Continuation of Wars by Other Means Dubravka Stojanović, University of Belgrade

Translating Cultures: Balkan Responses to the European Migrant Crisis Tomislav Longinović, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Anti-‐Jewish Violence in Tsarist Lithuania: A Comparative Approach Darius Staliunas, Lithuanian Institute of History Czechoslovakia, 1968

Russia, Ukraine and the West: Causes and Consequences of the Current Conflict Matthew Rojansky, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars “Neoliberals” and the “Vertical of Power”: The Politics of Education and Science Reform in Russia in 2000­‐2014 Igor Fedyukin, National Research University–Higher School of Economics Art and Protest in Putin’s Russia Lena Jonson, Swedish Institute of International Affairs Taxes, Liberty, and Anxiety: Russia and the World from the Eighteenth Century to the Twentieth Yanni Kotsonis, New York University

The Gates of Europe: The History of Ukraine Serhii Plokhii, Harvard University

David Ransel during Q&A

From the Delvig House to the “GasScraper”: The Fight to Preserve St. Petersburg David Ransel, Indiana University 40th Annual Stanford-Berkeley Conference: “Dislocation”

18th Annual Dallin Lecture: Russia as a Global Challenge Lilia Shevtsova, Brookings Institution and Chatham House –The Royal Institute of International Affairs

Film Screening: “Karski & The Lords of Humanity” (2015) Katherine Jolluck, Stanford University Interventions in Cultural and Knowledge Production and Activism: Resisting Violence in Everyday Life in Bosnia and Herzegovina Jasmina Husanović, University of Tuzla Film Screening: “Plastic Jesus” (1971) Lazar Stojanović, Director

Dr. Karla Oeler presenting at “Dislocation”

Lilia Shevtsova delivering Dallin lecture

Time Backward: Putin’s Russia in Search of Identity Maria Stepanova, Writer

Chernobyl: 30 Years After Yuilya Ilchuk, David Holloway, Edward Geist, Magdalena Stawkowski The Paradox of Ukrainian Lviv: A Borderland City between Stalinists, Nazis, and Nationalists Tarik Amar, Columbia University Book Presentation: “Comrade Baron: A Journey Through the Vanishing World of the Transylvanian Aristocracy” Jaap Scholten, Writer

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Event Highlights 40th Annual Stanford-Berkeley Conference: “Dislocation” Prompted by the current migration crisis in Europe, the theme of this year’s conference was “Dislocation,” a topic broad enough to bring together scholars working in various disciplines, time periods, and geographical spaces. Scholars examined the dynamics of dislocation in its various modalities, whether pertaining to individuals, groups, or entire populations. Both historical and contemporary perspectives were represented as were a variety of disciplinary approaches. UC Berkeley was represented by Stephan Astourian, Michael Dean, Ruprecht von Waldenfels, and Jason Wittenberg. Stanford University was represented by Tomas Balkelis, Robert Crews, Yuliya Ilchuk, Karla Oeler, and Amir Weiner.

Stephan Astourian “Dislocations/Relocations: The Armenian Century (1915-2015)” Tomas Balkelis “Population Displacement in Lithuania in the 20th Century” Jason Wittenberg “International Norms and Ethnic Cleansing: the Case of Poland”

• Karla Oeler “Dislocating Art: Eisenstein's Method” Ruprecht von Waldenfels “Tell me where you live, and I'll tell you who you are: Using Translations for Comparative Concepts of Meaning and Linguistic History” Yuliya Ilchuk “Donbas Disintegrated: War Poetry and Poets From Both Sides of the Frontline”

•

Michael Dean “'For Our Slavonic Future': Envisioning Czech Settlement Between America's West and the Slavic East, 1859-1873" Amir Weiner “The Mental and Institutional Dislocation of the Security Services in 1954 and 1990-91” Robert Crews “Legacies of the Soviet War in Afghanistan”

Symposium: “Vertov and After” by Swati Guild and Samantha Chan, MFA Program in Documentary Film and Video, Department of Art & Art History On April 8th Stanford hosted the day-long symposium “Vertov and After,” which featured scholarly presentations by Professors Nariman Skakov of Stanford and Robert Bird of the University of Chicago as well as a special screening by Jean-Gabriel Périot of his film, “A German Youth” (“Une jeunesse allemande”), which utilizes exclusively archival material to tell the story of the Red Army Faction’s trajectory from cultural critics and activists to armed insurgents. The symposium was an exciting opportunity to explore Vertov’s legacy through the present day and to reflect on new avenues for scholarly research on one of Soviet cinema’s founding practitioners. After opening remarks from Pavle Levi, Director of CREEES and Professor of Film and Media Studies, Nariman Skakov presented on representations of ethnic minorities in Vertov’s filmography and treated the audience to rarely seen clips from “For You the Front,” one of several films that Vertov made in Kazakhstan in the 1940s. Robert Bird’s presentation addressed images of the female Soviet subject in another of Vertov’s lesser known films, “Three Heroines,” which tells the story of the USSR’s first all-female flight team. By looking closely at how ethnic and gender subjectivities are portrayed in Vertov’s films, this new scholarship promises to expand our understanding of how his cinematic interventions articulated a complex, multifaceted Soviet identity.

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

baltic studies @ stanford:

Visiting Scholar Presentations 2015-2016

by Liisi Esse, Assistant Curator for Estonian and Baltic Studies,

Klaus Segbers: 2/5  The EU in Crisis: How Serious is It?

The Baltic Film Series at Stanford concluded this May after eight film screenings that Stanford Libraries and CREEES hosted during fall and spring quarters. The screenings featured Baltic and Nordic films focusing on various aspects of the history and culture of the Baltic countries.

Tomas Balkelis: 3/4 “Population Displacement in Lithuania in the 20th Century” at the 40th Annual Stanford-Berkeley Conference: “Dislocation”

Stanford Libraries and CREEES host successful Film Series Stanford Libraries

The film series was well attended, attracting an average of between 100 and 200 people per screening. The most popular film “Land of Songs” (2015), a Lithuanian cultural documentary by Aldona and Julian Watts, a brother-and-sister filmmaking team from San Francisco, was shown in December 2016 and brought together more than 300 students, faculty, staff and Baltic community members. Other highlights of the series included “Those Who Dare” (2015), an Icelandic-Baltic documentary that outlines the Baltic nations’ struggle for the restoration of their independence in 1986–1995; “The Master Plan” (2016), a joint Baltic documentary exploring the methods through which Russia influences the domestic policy of the Baltic states; and “The Fencer” (2015), a Finnish-Estonian-German historical drama that was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as the Best Foreign Language Film and made it to the shortlist of nine films in the same category at the 88th Academy Awards. Various experts on the region’s history, culture and film industry introduced the films at the screening events. Several screenings were attended by directors and other people associated with the films, such as Mr. Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson, foreign minister of Iceland from 1988–1995 who played a crucial role in the re-independence process of the Baltic countries and appeared as the central character in “Those Who Dare.”

Gábor Egry: 4/1 The Trauma That Never Was? Politics of Memory, Cultural Trauma, Everyday Ethnicity: Trianon and the Holocaust in Historical Perspective Hakan Kirimli (FSI-SHC International Visitor): 4/12 Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate: A Symbiotic Alliance or Veiled Rivalry? Ekaterina Klimenko: 4/29 Diversity Management in Post-Soviet Russia: “Ethnicizing” the National, “Culturalizing” the Social Dariya Orlova: 5/13  Between Professionalism and Activism: Ukrainian Journalists in Search of Professional Identity. Implications for Democratization of Post-Maidan Ukraine Igor Casu: 5/17  A Moldavian Holodomor? The Mass Famine in Soviet Moldavia, 1946-1947 Aurimas Švedas: 5/24  The Punishing Sword of the Revolution: The KGB Myth in the Soviet Era and Nowadays

The Baltic Film Series was co-sponsored by Stanford Libraries and CREEES. Several of the screenings were also supported by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania in Los Angeles and Mr. Dennis Lee Garrison, Honorary Consul of Lithuania in San Francisco.

“The Fencer” Film Screening

Screening of “Land of Songs”

Klaus Segbers presenting on The EU in Crisis

“Land of Songs” director, Aldona Watts

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Student programs Stanford US-Russia Forum (Surf) by Ravi Patel, SURF President For the past three years, the Center for Russian, Eastern European, Eurasian Studies at Stanford has worked closely with the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum to create opportunities for CREEES students to expand their understanding about Russia and the region today. This collaborative research program brings together 40 Russian and American university students from across both countries to explore areas of mutual interest. CREEES alumnus Kenneth Martinez (2010) is an organizer of the project, and Ian McGinnity (REEES ‘16) served as a delegate representing the U.S. in this year's program. The program began with an opening conference that took place in September in Russia. Among the meetings held in Moscow, the delegation met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dvorkovich, U.S. Amb. John Tefft, and Mr. Alexey Korjouev at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of North American Affairs. The delegation also traveled to Tyumen, a region in Western Siberia. There, the delegation was hosted in the regional parliament and held meetings with leaders in government, business, and academia. The delegates, representing more than a dozen universities from Russia and the U.S., spent the academic year working on research in public health, entrepreneurship, and a range of security and business-related issues before traveling to Stanford in April to present their findings. The Russian Consul General, Sergey Petrov, also hosted the delegation for an opening reception at the Russian Consulate in San Francisco. In addition to presenting their research at Stanford, the delegation had discussions with Secretaries George Shultz and William Perry, as well as Dr. KR Sridhar, Founder and CEO of Bloom Energy, Amb. Michael McFaul, Dr. Francis Fukuyama and others. As part of the conference, the delegation also spent time at Fort Ross, a historic Russian settlement on the California coast, where they carried out community service projects. For more information about SURF, please visit usrussia.stanford.edu

SURF Delegates attending roundtable

SURF Delegates planting birch tree

Benjamin Gardner-Gill and Rebecca Cheng with Estonian language lecturer, Leelo Kask

SGS Global Internship Program by Denise Chu, Global Internships Program Manager This is the second year that CREEES collaborated with the Stanford Global Studies (SGS) Internship Program to offer summer internships for undergraduate students interested in Eastern Europe. The applicant number increased significantly, from 9 in 2015 to 40 in 2016, which shows our students’ high demand for internship opportunities in the region. However, due to funding availability, we were only able to award four students after a competitive selection process. Marina Kalliga (Junior, International Relations) and Stone Kalisa (Freshman, Undeclared) are placed for research internships in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both students will be mentored by Professor Sabina Čehajić-Clancy (former Fulbright Scholar at Stanford) of the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology University and will work at the Post-Conflict Research Center, an NGO. Marina will research the role of moral exemplars on intergroup reconciliation processes; Stone will examine intergroup reconciliation as an emotion regulation process. Marina visited Sarajevo for three days last summer with the Stanford BOSP Overseas Seminar in Croatia; it will be Stone’s first time in Bosnia. This year, the Program expanded to Estonia! The Museum of Occupations in Tallinn will host two students - Benjamin Gardner-Gill (Freshman, Undeclared) and Rebecca Cheng (Freshman, History). Their work will pertain to the collection, processing, study and presentation of the history of the occupations of Estonia during 1939–1991, the resistance movement and the return of independent statehood. This will be both Ben’s and Rebecca’s first visit to Estonia. They have completed coursework on Estonian history, language, and culture in preparation for their internships. The internship period is two months from July 1 to August 31, during which the students immerse themselves in the research environment and local culture. They will present their experiences in the fall. In the future we hope to have more funding available to fulfill students’ strong interest in conducting internships in the region.

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

New faculty spotlight Yuliya Ilchuk

Slavic Languages and Literatures

I joined the Stanford faculty the autumn 2015 after spending a semester at Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute where I worked on my research project on the art and politics in Donbas during the war between Russia and Ukraine. I was delighted to find a vibrant research community at Stanford University, which is actively engaged in intellectual exchange and collaboration through CREEES. The events organized by CREEES helped me think of my research project on Ukrainian cultural hybridity in broader terms as I learned more from similar experiences that have occurred in other parts of Central and Eastern Europe. Cultures in-between and in transition have been always of great interest to me. My current book project, “Nikolai Gogol: Performing the Hybrid Self,” demonstrates an uneasy relationship at one time and a productive one at another between Russia and Ukraine. In 20162017, I hope I will be able to approach the problem of Ukrainian hybridity from the Western perspective and focus more on Galician multilingual and multicultural history.

Srdan Keca

MFA in Documentary Films Program, Art &Art History Department

Srdan Keca joined the Stanford faculty in 201516 as Assistant Professor of Documentary Film and Video in the Department of Art & Art History. Prior to coming to Stanford, Keca made documentaries, essay films and video installations in the space of his native former Yugoslavia, the UK, and the Middle East. After studying physics at the University of Belgrade, he moved on to documentary filmmaking at the Paris-based Ateliers Varan. He received his M.A. from the UK National Film and Television School (NFTS) in 2011. His projects include Mirage, an experimental documentary exploring the marks of displacement and longing in the city of Dubai; A Letter to Dad, an essay-film about family, war and forgetting; and Museum of the Revolution, a multi-channel video installation on one of the most prominent architectural projects of socialist Yugoslavia, which never got built. This installation was displayed at the 2014 Venice Biennale of Architecture. During his first year at Stanford, Keca taught courses in Film and Video Production, Film/Video Writing and Directing, Advanced Video Production, and led the Documentary M.F.A Thesis Seminar. He was also an organizer and participant in the symposium held at Stanford, “Vertov and After” (see page 13).

Stanford University Libraries Welcomes New Slavic Curator

This coming September, Margarita Nafpaktitis will join Stanford University Libraries as the new Curator for Slavic and East European Collections. Margarita comes to Stanford from UCLA, where she has been Librarian for Slavic and East European Studies, Librarian for Linguistics, Research Library Instruction Coordinator (2011-2016) and Interim Western European Studies Librarian (2015-2016). Prior to beginning her position at UCLA, she was an Assistant Professor of Slavic and East European Studies at the University of Virginia (2004-2011). Nafpaktitis holds a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Michigan (2003), and two Master's degrees, in Russian Literature and in Slavic and East European Area Studies, from The Ohio State University (1994). She is currently the chair of the Subcommittee on Digital Projects and on the executive board of the Committee on Library and Information Resources of the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES, 2014-2016), and an inaugural member of the advisory board of the ASEEES Digital Humanities Affiliate Group (2016). She has published articles on Russian literature and graphic arts of the 1920s and translations of Polish contemporary fiction, essays, plays and poetry. Outside of work, Margarita enjoys spending time reading and translating, developing her skills in book arts (design, hand binding, letterpress), sewing (avidly and optimistically, if not always successfully), and cooking vegetarian-friendly versions of Greek, Russian and Polish cuisine.

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Faculty Publications

Ali Yaycioglu

David Holloway

Yuliya Ilchuk

“Révolutions de Constantinople: France and the Ottoman World in the Age of Revolutions,” in: French Mediterraneans: Transnational and Imperial Histories, edited by Patricia M.E. Lorcin and Todd Shepard (Lincoln, NE: Nebraska University Press, January 2016), pp. 21-51.

“The Soviet Union and the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Cold War History, published on line, January 2016, pp. 1-17.

“Hearing the Voice of Donbas: Art and Literature as Forms of Cultural Protest during the War” in Nationalities Papers, forthcoming in 2016.

Gregory Freidin “Sideli dva nishchikh, ili kak delals russkaia evreiskaia literatura: Babel i Mandelshtam,” Isaak Babel v istoricheskom i literaturnom kontekste: XXI vek. Gosudarstvennyi literaturnyi muzei: Moscow, 2017. pp. 419-451.

Steven Zipperstein “Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History,” accepted for publication by W. W. Norton and scheduled to appear fall 2017.

“Moral Reasoning and Practical Purpose,” in Sidney D. Drell and George P. Shultz, eds., Andrei Sakharov: The Conscience of Humanity (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 2015), 115-129.

“How Ukrainian Peasants Were Taught to Read: Reading Culture in Eastern Ukraine in the Late Imperial Period,” in Ukraina Moderna: An International Intellectual Journal, Volume 22 (Special Issue “The History and Culture of Reading”), 2016, pp. 167-184. Translation of Serhii Zhadan’s “A Conversation with the Chaplain” in DoveTales, an International Journal of the Arts (Special Issue “Family and Cultural Identity”), 2016, pp. 240-241.

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

Outreach programs As part of its mandate as a Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center (NRC), CREEES engages in a series of collaborative outreach programs focused on internationalization of curricula at K-12 schools and community colleges. These efforts, collectively known as EPIC (Education Program to Internationalize Curriculum), are a cross-campus collaboration with other Stanford Global Studies centers and programs, including Stanford’s other two NRCs – the Center for East Asian Studies and the Center for Latin American Studies, the Graduate School of Education, the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), Lacuna at the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis (CESTA), and the Stanford Language Center.

EPIC Fellows Program

The centerpiece of EPIC is a year-long Fellows program established in collaboration with Foothill College and the College of San Mateo. This competitive fellowship program offers local community college faculty the opportunity to develop a project aimed at internationalizing their courses. This past year, nine faculty members from these colleges worked on projects to integrate global topics into their courses materials, spanning regions and subject areas from U.S. foreign policy, refugees, and biology, to 2015-16 EPIC Fellows transnational literature, climate change and the relationship between ethnicity and diet. The EPIC fellows worked particularly closely with SPICE and Lacuna, a digital annotation platform that allowed instructors and students to read, interpret, and discuss course materials from multiple perspectives and in innovative ways. On May 14, 2016, over 75 community college faculty and administrators from across California convened at full-day symposium at Stanford to hear about these projects and to discuss the challenges and opportunities of incorporating global issues into the community college classroom.

Robert Rakove presents at Summer Teaching Institute on Imperialism

Stanford History professor and former CREEES director, Robert Crews, gave a keynote address, “Globalism and Subversion,” during which he observed, “In universities, in community colleges, in K-12 education we are pressed in a lot of different ways to think very narrowly along national terms. All of us here today share more than ever a very important burden to think globally in the way we think about our curriculum.”

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING WORKSHOPS As part of EPIC, SPICE offered two professional development workshops for community college instructors aimed at incorporating recent area studies research and materials into their courses. At the workshops, instructors heard from Stanford experts on various global and international issues and worked on pedagogical strategies with SPICE curriculum developers. December 4, 2015 Exploring the Immigrant Experience through Primary Sources Speaker: Gordon Chang, Professor of American History, Olive H. Palmer Professor in Humanities, and Director, Center for East Asian Studies February 19, 2016 Workshop on Governance Speaker: Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Mosbacher Director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.

TEACHING INSTITUTES FOR K-14 TEACHERS Through SGS, CREEES has partnered with the Graduate School of Education’s Center to Support Excellence in Teaching (CSET) to offer professional development seminars for K-14 history and social science teachers. Stanford Global Studies Saturday Series: Exploring Islam February-May 2016 K-14 teachers attended 4 Saturday sessions, led by Stanford scholars, which explored how to deepen students’ understanding of Islam and how to navigate controversial claims about the relationship between Islam and violence, gender, and American foreign policy. They were also introduced to source materials on diverse Muslim societies and cultures, and considered ways to integrate the study of Islam into their curricula. Stanford Summer Teaching Festival: Examining Global Change in the Era of Imperialism June 13-17, 2016 Stanford faculty presented to K-12 teachers on issues related to imperialism around the globe, including in Soviet Union. In sessions led by experts from CSET, teachers then drew upon this content knowledge to collaboratively develop new lessons that encourage critical discussion in their own classrooms.

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Alumni Notes 2008

Bridget Gongol is working full time and completing a postbacc in Biology and Chemistry at Northwestern.

2009

Chris Jones • I’m en route to Afghanistan, where I’ll be Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer, managing the State Department’s countrywide network of American cultural centers. In the past I’ve served in Peru and Azerbaijan, in jobs ranging from cultural outreach to visiting imprisoned Americans. It has been a great career so far - happy to discuss it with any students who have interest! John Moore • My wife Beatrix and I are very happy to be in Vilnius, Lithuania at this very exciting time! This is a very busy time when there is a dramatically increased level of both U.S. and NATO defense interest in the Baltic Region. We truly enjoy working with our Lithuanian allies here and it has been an honor and a privilege to learn so much from them. My time at Stanford was absolutely instrumental in getting me ready for this. I am not the only Stanford alumnus here either, I serve with Jonathan Herzog here, a diplomat, and a Stanford History PhD!

2010

Ben Knelman is CEO of Juntos Global, Inc. Kenneth Martinez • I just returned from the United Nations in Vienna where I worked on a special initiative of the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. I recruited participants from seven of the eight countries whose ratification is required to bring the treaty into force (China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the U.S.) and supervised joint research that was presented at the Ministerial Meeting at the 46th Preparatory Commission on the 20th anniversary of the treaty’s creation. This was a first-of-its-kind initiative, giving a platform for young researchers to speak at an event attended by the foreign ministers and deputy ministers of more than 40 countries to reinvigorate the dialogue on bringing the treaty into force. I have also been working on similar projects in Russia (SURF) and Pakistan (US-PAK). My colleagues on these projects and I are expecting an exciting and busy fall and winter.

Lauren Nelson • I just finished my second year teaching Russian at Pritzker College Prep in Chicago, IL. I taught 183 juniors. Thirty of those students will be attending intensive summer programs at UW Madison or UPitt. This summer I’ll be traveling to England and Iceland and preparing for the IB Russian program we’re introducing during our next school year.

2011

Maria Mammina is Program Specialist, Eurasia Program at Open Society Foundations in New York, New York. She works on grant making and research for the anti-corruption, human rights, and independent media portfolios in the Central Asian region. Caitlin Montgomery is currently Financial Translator at Interfax in Moscow, Russia. Anna Whittington is currently a PhD Candidate in History at the University of Michigan.

2012

Maya Rostowska • After Stanford I spent 2 years working in a think tank in Warsaw, Poland. I then moved back to London, where I did a short course in shooting and editing. I started an internship at the BBC and then a job at Newsnight, the network’s flagship current affairs programme. I’ve been there since April 2015. Zachary Witlin is an Analyst at the Eurasia Group.

2013

Dennis Keen • I’ve lived in Almaty, Kazakhstan since the summer after I graduated. In the last year I’ve started a successful walking tour business (WalkingAlmaty.com) and an English school (California Academy) with my now-wife (we got married two weeks ago). I’ve also started hosting my own travel show, Discovering Kazakhstan, on a state channel called Kazakh TV. Laura Weigel • I recently traveled to Almaty, Kazakhstan to film a short promotional video about the federally funded UW-Madison Russian Flagship Program: Continued on page 20

Alumni - Stay Connected! Share with us your news: [email protected] Connect with other CREEES alumni and current students by joining our LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/in/creees

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CREEES Chronicle | 2015-2016

Alumni Notes • continued from previous page www.russianflagship.wisc.edu. The video will be available online sometime this summer.

2014

Jacob Parsley • After graduation I worked at a Washington, D.C. law firm on cases based in the Russia/Eurasia region, and started a new position with NASA in April 2016.

Robin Swearingen • I help manage two $9 million, 4-year USAID economic growth and trade projects in Eurasia: Moldova Business Regulatory, Investment, and Trade Environment (BRITE) and Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (REC).

2015

Charles Powell was a finalist for the Presidential Management Fellowship in 2016. He currently works as the Hebert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow at the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Alyssa Haerle • I founded my own social enterprise in February 2016, the Kern Innovation & Technology (KIT) Community. I am using my Capstone research project from Stanford on tech startup communities in Russia to apply to the Central California startup scene.

Caroline Schottenhamel • After extensive traveling in Cambodia, Vietnam and New Zealand, I have recently started working as an advisor in the Bavarian State Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Family and Integration.

Luke Rodeheffer • I work for a startup in New York where I research cybercrime and cyberthreats emanating from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. I am very happy to have managed to get into the cybersecurity field at this

Center for Russia, East European & Eurasian Studies Stanford University 417 Galvez Mall, Encina Hall West, Room 203 Stanford, CA 94305