Association for Students and Teachers of Color in Slavic Studies

[Jennifer Wilson]

Dear SEELANGers,

This past February, the Center for Russian and East European Studies (CREES) at the University of Pittsburgh hosted a symposium entitled "African-American Perspectives on Russian and Slavic Studies." Featured speakers included African-American scholars presenting their current research in Russian literature, high school teachers of Russian working with predominately African-American student populations, and African-American faculty and researchers discussing their experiences as underrepresented minorities in the former Soviet Union. The symposium generated thoughtful discussion on the challenges faced by students and teachers of color studying and traveling in Slavic countries as well as working as minorities in the field of Slavic Studies itself.

Shortly after the symposium, several of the participants felt that it would an important contribution to the field to set up a professional organization to continue the discussions that originated at the symposium and to bring more visibility to the issues faced by minorities in Slavic Studies. As such, we have expanded the organization to include not only African-Americans, but people of color in general working in the field.  We hope that this group, The Association for Students and Teachers of Color in Slavic Studies, will serve as an important resource for the entire Slavic community as we all seek to attract more minority students to our discipline.  

We have recently been approved as an ASEEES affiliate organization and will be having our first official meeting at the 2011 ASEEES convention in Washington D.C. If you are interested in becoming a member of the organization and/or would like to attend our meeting this year, please contact me. My name is Jennifer Wilson. I am a graduate student in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton University, and I am pleased to be the first president of the Association for Students and Teachers of  Color in Slavic Studies. For now, there are no membership dues, but we will be asking anyone attending our ASEEES meeting to contribute a small fee to cover meal costs. For your reference, our mission statement, complete officer list, as well as our membership requirements are outlined below.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Wilson
Princeton University

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Mission Statement

The Association for Students and Teachers of Color in Slavic Studies is dedicated to better connecting and expanding the network of minority scholars working in the profession.  The Association is committed to improving general understanding of the unique challenges faced by students and educators of color studying, teaching, and conducting research in and about the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.  The Association seeks to serve as a platform for discussions of race and ethnicity in the region. 

Officers

President: Jennifer Wilson (Princeton University)

Vice-President: Raquel Greene (Grinnell College)

Secretary: Jermaine Lloyd (Yale University)

Treasurer:  Sarah Valentine (University of California-Riverside)



Membership

The Association for Students and Teachers of Color in Slavic Studies welcomes all ASEEES members interested in 
the status of minorities in the field.

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