Summer Adventure Series

What does summer look like for a student? What about for a professor? Well, this summer we sought to answer these questions by beginning our Summer Adventure Series! Each year we see our students and faculty embark on wonderful, unique, and often provoking journeys across Central and East Europe -- and beyond!

See below a few instances of the Adventure series, and check out our "Summer Adventures" page to keep up to date with other stories!

Dr. Hashamova in Bulgaria and Estonia 

"The first half of the summer offered more work than rest with three presentations on Bulgarian diaspora schools, identity politics, and multicultural nationalism delivered in Sofia and Tallinn. My co-editor Gulnaz Sharafutdinova and I finalized our volume prospectus, Sub-Altern Russia: Ecological Selfhood and Counter-hegemonic Narratives, drafted the introduction, and received an advanced contract from U of Wisconsin Press, a step closer to the finish line. Aside from these excitements, short trips to various places in Bulgaria provided real respite, and more fun is waiting ahead, a planned vacation."

 

Dr. Siragusa's Talks in Bordeaux

 

I attended the "Indian Citizenship Act at 100: Indigenous Rights, Indigenous Futures" held at Bordeaux between 19 and 22 June 2024. The event was supported by The Universite' Bordeaux Montaigne, VCU Humanities Research Center, Obama Institute, and The University of Nebraska Lincoln. It was simply spectacular -- I learned so much from all the speakers, who engaged with the Indian Citizenship Act from various points of view. It was inspiring for me to learn about the developments of the Act and its impact on the tribes in Northern America, whilst bringing in a comparative perspective with my presentation, entitled "From equality to equity: how to imagine Indigenous futures within language revival movements in Northwest Russia." Likewise, Dima Arzyutov (a fellow faculty member at the Slavic Department) gave a presentation on Novaya Zemlya. I trust he will share his story, too!"

 From the Chair: Dr. Brintlinger's Summer Adventures

In May Prof. Brintlinger travelled to Warsaw, Poland for some meetings and to give a talk at the University of Warsaw on Chekhov and the Anglo-American short story. She met with all our Warsaw Fulbright alumni—Jarek Szczepański, Wojciech Lewandowski, and next year’s Fulbrighter Marko Babić—as well as the folks at the Polish Fulbright commission and other friends and colleagues across the city. A highlight was the fantastic special exhibit at Polin entitled "(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt." The exhibit is on through the end of December so if anyone plans a trip to Warsaw this year, she highly recommends it. She also attended screenings at the DOCS Against Gravity Film Festival and scouted tours and locations for next year’s Global May Hungary study program (that despite its name goes to both Budapest AND Warsaw).

Prof. Brintlinger’s next stop was in Rome, where she checked in with the faculty of the Guarini Institute for Public Affairs and presented her new book, Why We (Still) Need Russian Literature in a conversation with John Cabot University faculty on the JCU terrace, overlooking the Tiber River. Like other scholars of Russia who can no longer go to that country—it’s dangerous for Americans during this war and Prof. Brintlinger has also been personally banned by the Russian Federation—she next headed to Helsinki, where the Slavonic collections at the Finnish National Library satisfied her “archival appetite.”

Have an adventure to share? Connect with Ernst.150@osu.edu and share your Summer Adventure.

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