Symposium: "African-American Perspectives on Russian and Slavic Studies"

[Peirce, Gina M]

The Center for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pittsburgh invites you to attend a special symposium event:



"African-American Perspectives on Russian and Slavic Studies"

Friday, February 11, 2011

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

4130 Posvar Hall

University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA 15260



African-American students and scholars are seriously underrepresented in the academic field of Russian and Slavic studies in the United States, to a greater extent than is evident in the study of other regions of the world. This symposium will explore the experiences of African-Americans who have studied, taught and conducted research in Russia or focusing on Slavic languages, literatures and cultures. It will open with a morning panel discussion by African-American scholars about their research on portrayals of "blackness" in Russian literature, including both children's and contemporary adult literature. The afternoon session will include a screening of the 2001 documentary film "Black Russians" on the lives of contemporary Afro-Russians in the post-Soviet period, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Kara Lynch of Hampshire College. Additional participants will include Russian language teachers (along with some of their students) from public high schools with predominantly African-American student populations, and African-American faculty from U.S. universities who have taught in Russia. The symposium will include interactive discussion among the speakers and audience on the unique challenges of studying and traveling, as part of an underrepresented minority, in a region of the world which has historically and recently had an uneasy relationship with racial diversity despite official Soviet-era pronouncements on the "friendship of peoples."



Due to space limitations, attendance at this event is limited to 40 participants, and pre-registration is required. There is no registration fee. For more information or to register, please contact Gina Peirce, Assistant Director, Center for Russian and East European Studies, University of Pittsburgh, at gbpeirce at pitt.edu<mailto:gbpeirce at pitt.edu>.



This symposium is sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Russian and East European Studies (with funding from the U.S. Department of Education), Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Global Studies Center, Institute for International Studies in Education, and School of Arts and Sciences; the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies; and the International Baccalaureate Program at Pittsburgh Schenley High School.

***********************************
Gina M. Peirce
Assistant Director
Center for Russian and East European Studies
University of Pittsburgh
4414 Posvar Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
www.ucis.pitt.edu/crees

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