Belarusian studies in Poland: Summer 2012

[Curt Woolhiser]

Southwestern College

3rd International Summer School of Belarusian Studies

Hajnówka, Poland


July 8-August 5, 2012



Dr. Maria Paula Survilla, Executive Director of the Center for Belarusian
Studies at Southwestern College (Winfield, KS) invites undergraduate and
graduate students to participate in the Center’s 3rd International Summer
School of Belarusian Studies from July 8 to August 5, 2012. The program,
co-sponsored by the Belarusian Historical Society (Bialystok, Poland), will
be held at the Belarusian Cultural Center and Belarusian Lyceum in the town
of Hajnowka, located in the Podlasie region of northeastern Poland, an area
of great natural beauty and home to Poland’s large ethnic Belarusian
population—an ideal setting for the study of Belarusian language, history,
society, and culture, as well as for the study of a broad range of issues
relating to cultural diversity and minorities policies in the EU.
Ambassador (retired) David H. Swartz will serve as the summer school’s
Program Director. Amb. Swartz was the first U.S. ambassador to Belarus. His
career also included service as Dean of the School of Language Studies at
the U. S. Department of State.



PROGRAM



Coursework will include intensive Belarusian language instruction
(beginning and intermediate levels and individual advanced-level tutorials)
and lectures in English and Belarusian on Belarusian history, literature
and culture, contemporary politics and society. The program will also
include a regional studies component, with lectures and events focusing on
the history, culture and current status of the Belarusian minority in
Poland, as well as of the Podlasie region’s other ethnic groups, including
Poles, Jews, Tatars, Lithuanians, and Russian Old Believers.



FACULTY

* *

The Summer School faculty will include instructors from Bialystok
University and the Belarusian Lyceum in Hajnowka, as well as visiting
instructors from a number of Belarusian universities. Additional guest
lectures on Belarusian history, politics, society and culture will be given
by leading researchers in the field of Belarusian studies from Europe and
North America.



ACCOMMODATIONS

* *

Participants will have a choice of hotel accommodations at the Belarusian
Cultural Center, or homestays with Belarusian-speaking families in Hajnowka.


  CULTURAL PROGRAM

* *

Coursework will be supplemented by a rich and diverse cultural program,
including visits to Belarusian minority cultural organizations and media
outlets, meetings with Belarusian writers and artists, films, concerts, and
excursions to important sites related to Belarusian culture and the other
cultures of the Podlasie region: the city of Bialystok, the recently
restored Orthodox monastery and Museum of Icons in Suprasl, the Bialowieza
(Belavezha) National Park (the largest and ecologically most diverse
remnant of the primeval forests of the Northern European plain), the
historic town of Bielsk Podlaski, the Holy Mountain of Grabarka (the most
important Eastern Orthodox pilgrimage site in Poland), the 17th-century
Great Synagogue in Tykocin, the Tatar mosque in Kruszyniany, and the
Borderland Center in Sejny, a unique institution dedicated to preserving
the rich multicultural heritage of the borderland region and promoting
dialogue and mutual understanding between its many ethnic groups and
cultures. In mid-July students will also have the opportunity to attend
Basovishcha, the annual festival of Belarusian rock music organized by the
Belarusian Students’ Association in the town of Grodek (Haradok) east of
Bialystok.



* *OPTIONAL TOUR OF BELARUS AND LITHUANIA



At the end of the program, from August 6-20, students will have the option
of traveling to Belarus on a guided tour including Hrodna, Slonim,
Navahrudak, Mir, Niasvizh, Minsk, Polatsk, Vitsebsk, Mahilou, Pinsk and
Brest. The trip will end with a tour of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius,
including important sites related to the history of the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania and the modern Belarusian national movement.

* *

PROGRAM FEES

* *

The program cost is $4200. This covers:


*4 hours of graduate credit in Belarusian language/area studies;

*Room and board at Hajnowka site;

*On-site expenses for program-related excursions.



Travel expenses from the U.S., Canada or Europe to Hajnowka are not
included. The cost of the optional tour of Belarus and eastern Lithuania at
the end of the program will be announced as details become available.



CONTACTS

* *

For further information and application materials, please visit the CBS
website (http://belarusiancenter.org/ ) or contact the Program Director,
Amb. David Swartz (david.swartz at sckans.edu) and/or Associate Program
Director, Dr. Curt Woolhiser (Brandeis University): cwoolhis at brandeis.edu.
Please note that the deadline for all applications is May 1, 2012.

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