This was another year filled with fun, informative, and spirited events and celebrations! We hope you will join us at future events or find time to get involved. You can find all our current events at
Lectures and Talks
The 14th Annual Hongor Oulanoff Memorial Lecture featured Dr. Edyta Bojanowska (Yale University) speaking on “Imperial Comparisons in Tolstoy’s War and Peace.” On September 26, 2025 we expect Dr. Eric Naiman (University of California, Berkeley) to give a “diptych” lecture:
"The Heart of the Whole: Two Experiments in Eccentric Criticism"
"Dostoevsky's Pochti-tel'nost'"
"The French Connection in Anna Karenina"
Learn more about the Hongor Oulanoff Memorial Lecture on our Lectures Page. More details on this event and other are available at the Slavic OSU Events Page.
The Inaugural Kenneth E. Naylor Symposium on Southeast European Studies, held in April 2025
The Kenneth E. Naylor Symposium aims to foster community and strengthen connections among scholars working in and on the area of Southeast Europe. This interdisciplinary event will highlight diverse approaches to understanding the region, its peoples, and cultures. By offering a platform for intellectual exchange, the symposium creates valuable opportunities for scholars to advance the field through collaboration, including scholarly dialogues, joint projects, and publications. The inaugural Kenneth E. Naylor Symposium, scheduled for April 4, 2025, will showcase emerging scholars who will present their research and explore its contributions to the broader field of Southeast European Studies.
In June 2024, Dr. Sunnie Rucker-Chang was appointed as the new Kenneth E. Naylor Professor and transformed the lecture series into the new Naylor Symposium. Dr. Rucker-Chang is an Associate Professor at the SEELC.
See more about the speakers on this page.
Events
The Twice Annual Autumn/Spring Talent Show - Kapustnik!
Once a semester, the Slavic Department hosts the Slavic Talent Showcase (also known as Kapustnik), where undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty are invited to show off their special talents. Some of the more popular events have been skits, singing, dancing, and films. Offered in the second half of each semester, all are invited to participate, attend, and try some delicious Slavic and East European food. For more information about upcoming Talent Shows, please contact the Slavic Department.
February 21, 2025 Ukraine Sheltering in Place Reception
On Friday, February 21 we gathered for Ukraine: Sheltering in Place, a reception featuring poetry, music, and poster presentations marking the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighboring sovereign nation, Ukraine. Ukraine: Sheltering in Place brought together poets Luisa Muradyan and Julia Kolchinsky and pianist Olena Mladenova, all Ukrainian-born artists currently living in the U.S.
The exhibit Ukraine: Sheltering in Place featured artwork by Olga Morozova and her students at the Kyiv National University of Technology and Design, made in Kyiv during the first year of the war on Ukraine in 2022. This installation hung in Sullivant Hall on The Ohio State University campus from February 17-28, 2025. Poster presentations at the reception featured Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme (GAHDT) graduate students from the special grants initiative Armed Conflicts and Im/mobility: The Courage, Creativity, and Resilience of People Remaining in Conflict and Disaster Zones. The two-year Armed Conflicts and Im/mobility project explored conflict and disaster zones across the globe, but the impetus for it came in great part from the February 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Learn more on the event web page.
February 5, 2025 Through the Flames: Poetry Reading and Discussion with Ognjenka Lakićević
Our very own Dr. Matthew Boyd spoke with contemporary Serbian poet and musician Ognjenka Lakićević about her poetry in a virtual event hosted by the Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies.
Ognjenka Lakićević was born in Belgrade, Serbia, where she lives today. She has published five collections of poetry in Serbian, with a sixth in preparation, and she is a frequent contributor to major publications in the Balkans. She is a member of the alternative rock group Autopark, who have been active since 2000. Her work incorporates her passionate opposition to anthropocentrism, patriarchy, and violence and discrimination of any kind. She also practices family psychotherapy.
