The Balkan Region and the Role of Greece
Tuesday, 01 April 2008, 12:00pm–1:30pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Dusan Sidjanski, President of the European Cultural Center and Special Advisor to the President of the European Commission
The collapse of the former Yugoslavia and the civil and ethnic wars which followed were among major factors which provoked the re-emergence of feelings of nationalism. Sidjianski will discuss the present situation in southeastern Europe with particular focus on Kosovo. The role of Greece will be discussed especially in relations with the European Union and Balkan countries.
Co-sponsored by the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, USA
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Book Launch: "Auntie Varvara's Clients" by Stelian Tanase
Tuesday, 01 April 2008, 4:00pm–6:00pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Stelian Tanase celebrates the American launch of his book, recently published by Spuyten Duyvil, in the framework of RCI's Translation and Publication Support Programme, at the prestigious Harriman Institute, where he meets his public. The book will be introduced by Bradley Abrams, Associate Director of the Harriman Institute.
"Stelian Tanase's Auntie Varvara's Clients deals with the subversive and self-organizational work of the Komintern agents in Romania, with the tribulations of the small, illegal and hardly popular Communist Party from Romania, and with the mafia-like pragmatics of these clandestinos.” –- Calin-Andrei Mihailescu (from the Introduction).
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"Creating Conditions for Peace and Stability in the Balkans: A View from Slovenia"
Wednesday, 02 April 2008, 12:00pm–1:30pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Franjo Stiblar, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, will present his new book The Balkan Conflict and It's Solutions, published in December of 2007.
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Frontiers of Humanitarianism: Concepts and Cases
Thursday, 03 April 2008, 9:00am–6:00pm
Room 1501, International Affairs Building
The Consortium on Security and Humanitarian Action is a joint endeavor of research centers at four New York area universities: the Humanitarian Affairs Program at Columbia University’s The School of International and Public Affairs; the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at The Graduate Center of The City University of New York, the Institute for International Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University, and both the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and the Center for Global Affairs at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at New York University.
The Conference is meant to examine the limits of humanitarian action, and in particular how political paralysis after conflict perpetuates human suffering. Many violent crises of the past have left a legacy of humanitarian needs that no longer make the headlines, and that defy a solution. Is humanitarianism no more than a fig leaf for political cowardice? Or has the time come for a political approach to humanitarian action, exploring new frontiers?
Panels include:
“Knowledge is Power: Social Science and Humanitarian Action”
Organized by the Ralph Bunche Institute, CUNY Graduate Center, with Michael Barnett, Craig Calhoun, Peter J. Hoffman, and H. Roy Williams
“Left Behind in the Caucasus"
Organized by SIPA, Columbia University, with Dirk Salomons, Dr. Arif Yunusov, David L. Phillips, Jennifer Sime, and Alexander Coole
“Politization of Humanitarian Aid in Colombia”
Organized by Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, Fordham University, with Arancha Garcia del Soto, Monsignor Hector Fabio Henao, Renata Segura, and Ana Maria Gomez
“Lessons Learned About Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Iraq”
Organized by the Center for Global Affairs at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, New York University, with Michael Oppenheimer, Major General William Nash, Paul Hughes, and Thomas Hill
Concluding Remarks: John Coatsworth, Acting Dean, SIPA.
Reception to follow
RSVP is requested by April 2, 2008. Please respond via: the conference invite
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Film: Mongol (2007, Kazakhstan)
Thursday, 03 April 2008, 6:30pm–9:00pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Central Asia Studies Program, Eurasia Initiative (EI) student groups with the support of the Harriman Institute, School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University present:
MONGOL (Kazakhstan, 2007)
Oscar-nominated epic adventure from writer-director Sergei Bodrov -
The first in a trilogy that spans the life story of Genghis Khan.
Introduction by Rafis Abazov, author of The Culture and Customs of the Central Asian Republics; Presentation by Eurasia Initiative (SIPA)
The event is free and open for public
For further info and questions, please contact Rafis Abazov at ra2044@columbia.edu
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"Have the Distinctions Disappeared? Serbian Village and Town from the 1950s to the 21st Century"
Friday, 04 April 2008, 6:30pm–8:00pm
Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading Room, 6th Floor Butler Library
Joel M. Halpern, Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, author of The Serbian Village Orasac.
Refreshments will be served.
Please RSVP via email at rjg26@columbia.edu, or via phone at 212-854-5627
This event is co-sponsored by the Harriman Institute and the Njegos Endowment for Serbian Studies.
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Graduate Student Workshop: Russia and the Ottoman Empire: Transregional and Comparative Approaches
Saturday, 05 April 2008, 10:00am–6:00pm
Graduate Student Lounge, Philosophy Hall, Room #301
Presented by the Harriman Institute, Project on Russia and Islam
See attachment for full program schedule.
Papers for this conference will be pre-circulated. Presenters will discuss their work for 10-12 minutes, but will not be reading their papers. Persons interested in attending this workshop who would like to receive copies of papers in advance should contact James Meyer at jhm2133@columbia.edu.
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Georgian Modernism, 1910-1920
Monday, 07 April 2008, 12:00pm–1:30pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Mzia Chikhradze, Visiting Scholar, Harriman Institute
The beginning of the 20th century in Georgia was singed by great artistic enlivening. Independent Georgia provided a fruitful soil for artistic freedom of different art movements, groups, newspapers, publishers? Tbilisi of that time became the center of multinational and intercultural communications, where the joint efforts of the artists of various nationalities gave birth to the unique artistic phenomenon, which is called Georgian or Tbilisi Modernism.
The lecture presents a short survey of the artistic-cultural life of Tbilisi of that period, which touches on different artistic and cultural events, like: the futurist books issued in 1910-1920s, which was a good example of intercultural, international cooperation of artists and literary men; the most important exhibitions of that period; the important art works of outstanding Georgian artists; the artistic cafes of Tbilisi and the cultural-bohemian life going on there and etc.
The smooth and interesting development of Georgian modernism was artificially interrupted by intervention of the Soviet Army in Georgia in 1921. Unfortunately, that was the beginning of cultural isolation for Georgian artistic forces and the doors to the West were firmly closed to Georgian art. Soon Georgia was drawn in the terror of bolshevism. It was the end of the free flourishing art and it was the beginning of the tragic destiny of Georgian Modernism and the modernist artists.
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"(Un)flexible Loyalties, Evolving Identities"
Monday, 07 April 2008, 6:30pm–8:00pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Participants:
Oto Luthar, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Dejan Djokic, Goldsmith College, London
Dr. Pieter Judson, Swarthmore University
Gordon N. Bardos, Harriman Institute
Co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Slovenia and the SIPA Balkan Social Club
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“Banking, Entrepreneurship and Microfinance in Russia”
Tuesday, 08 April 2008, 12:00pm–1:30pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Gail Buyske (International Banking Consultant)
In this presentation Dr. Buyske uses her six years as chairman of the board of the Russian Small Business Credit Bank, KMB, as the launching point to examine microfinance, Russian entrepreneurs and Russian banking.
Despite microfinance’s appeal as a tool to help the poor help themselves, she argues that its poverty-alleviation image hampers its growth potential. The gap between microfinance supply and demand can only be breached with substantial commercial participation, yet it is difficult for bankers and microfinance specialists to understand the synergies in their work. Russia provides a different model, because microfinance was introduced as a tool to create new businesses and contribute to growth.
This approach can be seen in KMB, founded in 1999 to serve micro-and small enterprises, which had become one of the world’s largest MSE banks by year end 2005.
Also one of the first MSE banks to be acquired by a commercial investor, KMB demonstrates the synergies between microfinance and commercial lending.
KMB’s growth also illustrates the evolution of Russian entrepreneurs, which I argue are more developed and dynamic than is usually appreciated. Furthermore, although Russian banks are often considered the culprit in the perceived underdevelopment of entrepreneurs, I trace the encouraging banking sector changes that have occurred since 1998 as market considerations have gradually been trumping politics.
If market forces are allowed to continue to evolve, Russia’s unique experiences could help to write a new and positive chapter on development.
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SVITLO I SPOVID:
LIGHT AND CONFESSION
Tuesday, 08 April 2008, 7:00pm
TARAS CHUBAI - Live in concert!
James Memorial Chapel
Union Theological Seminary
3041 Broadway, at 121st Street
New York City
Taras Chubai, the son of legendary 1970s underground poet Hryts’ko Chubai, is one of the most well-known and respected musicians in popular Ukrainian music today. In a rare, intimate setting, he will be performing songs he has written to the poetry of his late father and of leading writers in Ukraine today (e.g. Viktor Neborak, Kostiantyn Moskalets, Yurii Andrukhovych).
A free event, open to the public.
English language translations of the poetry will be available.
Seating is limited – first come, first served.
The event is part of the Contemporary Ukrainian Literature Series cosponsored by the Ukrainian Studies Program at the Harriman Institute and the Kennan Institute.
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The Thirteenth Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities(ASN): “Nation, Identity, Conflict and the State”
Thursday, 10 April 2008, 9:00am–Saturday, 12 April 2008, 6:00pm
International Affairs Building
This year’s convention features over a dozen panels focusing on southeastern European history and politics.
For more information, please visit the ASN Homepage
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"Utopia and Reality in Soviet Architecture and Unknown Works of George Leshava"
Tuesday, 15 April 2008, 12:00pm–1:30pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Lena Kiladze (Visiting Scholar at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and
Associate Professor Georgian Technical University/School of Architecture)
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McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld
Tuesday, 15 April 2008, 7:00pm–8:30pm
Lindsay Rogers Room, 7th Floor International Affairs Building
The Committee on Global Thought and The Harriman Institute present a talk by author Misha Glenny about his investigation of worldwide organized crime.
Commentator: William Finnegan, Staff Writer, The New Yorker
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Photo Exhibit: In Search of a New Kalmykia:
“The Dogs are Barking and the Caravan is Moving”
Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 6:00pm–7:30pm
12th Floor International Affairs Building
Join the Harriman Institute in celebrating the opening of the exhibit, "In Search of a New Kalmykia: The Dogs are Barking and the Caravan is Moving," with the artist, Delia Bachankaeva.
Kalmyks trace their triumphal origin to their hero Genghis Khan and to the era of his empire. The caravan of Kalmykia has never stopped moving since 1608, when it took off from the steppes of Western Mongolia and embarked on a journey to the European part of Russia. The nomadic group of 270,000 people settled near the Caspian Sea in the southwest of Russia. This region became known as the Kalmyk Khanate.
On its journey through time, the caravan encountered Tsarism and Communism. In December 1943, Stalin abolished Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Without any advance warning, Stalin ordered the deportation of Kalmyks en masse to Siberia where half of them perished. The Soviet government divided the Kalmyk territory and transferred it to the adjacent regions. Kalmyks did not return until 1957, when Khrushchev came to power. During the next twenty years Kalmykia became an economically thriving region in southern Russia. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union turned Kalmykia into an underdeveloped region with a crumbling infrastructure.
Despite years of forced assimilation, Kalmyks try to revive and maintain their cultural and religious origins to withstand current economic and political hardships. Situated between Orthodox Christians and the Muslim populations of the Caucasus, Kalmykia is the only Buddhist region in Europe. Today the Kalmyk caravan is taking a rest as the nation contemplates its past and waits for the winds of tomorrow. Although the Kalmyk caravan has shrunk in size and resources, babies are still born and the Buddhist prayer wheels turn once more…
About the Photographer
Delia Bachankaeva is in her third year of undergraduate studies at Barnard College. She moved from Kalmykia to the United States seven years ago. She is majoring in economics and her educational work is concerned with socio-economic status of populations from the Caucasus and Central Asian regions. Delia completed a four-year art program in Kalmykia. In her summer project, she employed her interest in visual art to capture images from ordinary lives in the remote regions of Russia.
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Ethics in Translation in Global Contexts: Lessons from Africa
Thursday, 17 April 2008, 12:00pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Wangui Wa Goro (London Metropolitan University)
This event is co-sponsored by the Institute of African Studies
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Lacunae: Area Studies and the Inner Eurasian Space
Thursday, 17 April 2008, 12:30pm–2:30pm
Room 1134 International Affairs Building
A conversation with Gulnar Kendirbai and leading scholars of Eurasia.
Discussants include :
David Ludden (New York University)
Richard Bulliet (Columbia University
Charles Armstrong (Columbia University)
Jane Burbank (New York University)
This event is presented by the Organization for the Advancement of Studies of Inner Eurasian Socieites (OASIES), in conjunction with the Harriman Institute, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, and the Middle East Institute of Columbia University.
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Odd Bedfellows: Sierra Leonean Diamonds, Ukrainian Arms
Friday, 18 April 2008, 8:45am–Saturday, 19 April 2008, 4:00pm
International Affiars Building, Room 1501
The Odd Bedfellows: Sierra Leonean Diamonds and Ukrainian Arms conference seeks to explore topics such as the journey of arms, particularly simplified lightweight arms from Eastern Europe, to the hands of child soldiers and rebel warriors in Sierra Leone during the 1990s civil conflict. This conference seeks to understand the lessons learned from NGO workers, scholars, governments and the global community, as they struggled to confront the violence associated with the illicit trade of arms and how students of international relations can explore new approaches to peace and security in conflict zones.
Panelists include:
**Ambassador Bockari Stevens, Ambassador of Sierra Leone to the United States
**Taras Kuzio, University of Toronto, Expert on Illicit Arms in Eastern Europe, Kuchma Era
**Prosecutor Stephen Rapp, Prosecutor for President Charles Taylor Trial
For more information, please contact Keisha Toms via email at oddbedfellows@harrimaninstitute.org, or via telephone at 347-285-1271
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“Ukraine’s Foreign Policy and U.S.-Ukrainian Relations”
Monday, 21 April 2008, 12:00pm–1:30pm
Room 1219 International Affairs Building
The Harriman Institute Ambassador’s Forum presents:
H.E. Oleh Shamshur, Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States
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Medieval Georgian Art and Architecture
Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 12:00pm–1:30pm
Room 1219 International Affairs Building
Maka Dvalishvili, Visiting Scholar, Harriman Institute
A general overview of the historical and cultural development of Georgian culture throughout the Medieval period - starting with the first Christian missions on the territory of Georgia (1st-4th centuries); the proclamation of Christianity as the State religion; characteristics of Georgian Medieval architecture and murals, its structure and cycles of development; stylistic analysis in conjunction with the Byzantine, and Eastern Christian medieval art.
This lecture will examine Georgian manuscripts, painted icons, Medieval Georgian metal work, and Cloisonné enamel.
This is a second lecture in a three part lecture series presented by Professor Maka Dvalishvili. Prof. Dvalishvili is an art historian, a lecturer at Tbilisi State Academy of Art, and currently holds an adjunct professor post at the Harriman Institute.
The three lectures, split by time period, will cover the development of arts and culture in prehistoric, medieval, and modern Georgia. By examining Georgia’s artistic contributions, this series aims to identify Georgian civilization within the context of global art history.
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Book Presentation: Yeltsin: A Life
Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 6:30pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Timothy J. Colton (Director, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University)
Even after his death in April 2007, Boris Yeltsin remains the most controversial figure in recent Russian history. Although Mikhail Gorbachev presided over the decline of the Communist party and the withdrawal of Soviet control over eastern Europe, it was Yeltsin-Russia’s first elected president-who buried the Soviet Union itself. Upon taking office, Yeltsin quickly embarked on a sweeping makeover of newly democratic Russia, beginning with a program of excruciatingly painful market reforms that earned him wide acclaim in the West and deep recrimination from many Russian citizens. In this, the first biography of Yeltsin’s entire life, Soviet scholar Timothy Colton traces Yeltsin’s development from a peasant boy in the Urals to a Communist party apparatchik, and then ultimately to a nemesis of the Soviet order. Based on unprecedented interviews with Yeltsin himself as well as scores of other Soviet officials, journalists, and businessmen, Colton explains how and why Yeltsin broke with single-party rule and launched his drive to replace it with democracy. Yeltsin’s colossal attempt to bring democracy to Russia remains one of the great, unfinished stories of our time. As anti-Western policies and rhetoric resurface in Putin’s increasingly bellicose Russia, Yeltsin offers essential insights into the past, present, and future of this vast and troubled nation.
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Berkat and Marsho - Happiness and Freedom
Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 12:00pm–1:30pm
1219 International Affairs Building
Jana Hradilkova (Program Director, Berkat)
The children's dance group Marsho came into being in the Sputnik refugee camp on the Chechen-Ingush border. Over 9,000 Chechen refugees have been living here for more than five years. Following the massacre of civilians in Chechnya, an organisation called Berkat was set up in the Czech Republic with the aim of helping victims, in particular women. In 2003 Berkat set up a tour by the Marsho children’s dance group in the Czech Republic. The aim was both to allow the children to experience something other than the horrors of war, and to draw the attention of Czechs to the desperate situation in a country with a media blackout. In 2006 Berkat decided to invite the children again. In the meantime the Sputnik camp had been broken up and the children had been scattered around Chechnya. Many things had changed in their lives. They themselves had also changed and their reception in the Czech Republic was different too. They were no longer pitiful war children grateful for cuddly toys. Suddenly they had become demanding young people with an uncertain future seen by some as young terrorists.
Berkat has worked with Marsho since 2001. The film was produced from footage shot over three years and includes an introduction to the conflict in Chechnya. It screened at the Czech film festival “One World”, where it was voted an audience favorite. In addition to interviews with journalist and Berkat founder Petra Prochazkova and Berkat program director Jana Hradilkova, there are interviews with young Chechens with whom Berkat has been working since they were children. The film is fundamentally about the importance of building lasting relationships between an isolated Chechnya and the open societies of the outside world.
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Vladimir Vysotsky, Folk Singer/Hero -- Looking Back
Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 6:30pm–8:30pm
1219 International Affairs Building
This screening includes the unauthorized filming by Samuel Rachlin, then Danish TV correspondent in Moscow, of Vysotsky's funeral in July 1980 on Taganka Square, where tens of thousands of mourners -- ordinary Moscovites as well as his theater friends defied the police on horseback to pay homage to their beloved Volodya as his open casket was borne from the theater. Interviews with several spectators about what Vysotsky meant to them reveal the love of the people in the late Brezhnev era for their unofficial national hero whom they called "nasha sovest'. " Clips are shown of Vystotsky's acting career in film and on stage at the Taganka, including his expressionist interpretation of Hamlet's soliloquy, an excerpt from a concert, an interview with him, as well as Yuri Lyubimov, the Taganka director, Bella Akhmadulina, Yuri Trifonov, et al. Bulat Okudzhava, with guitar in hand, sings a poignant, dirge-like song he composed in honor of Vysotsky.
Introduction by Samuel Rachlin
Samuel Rachlin, Executive Director, Corporate Communications, joined Saxo Bank in 2007 to head and build up the Communications Department. With a distinguished career in international journalism, he was a long time foreign correspondent for Radio Denmark and TV2 Denmark in Russia and the U.S. As a Moscow Correspondent he produced about ten TV documentaries aired in Denmark, many European countries and by PBS in the U.S. He also worked as a columnist for leading Danish publications, and he was a news anchor for TV2 News and TV2 Finance News. From 1995 he worked for the World Bank in Washington DC as spokesman and media advisor until he resumed his career in journalism in1998. He was educated at the University of Copenhagen, Columbia University, New York, and Harvard University. He is the recipient of Columbia University's Alumni Award for Excellence in Journalism.
Samuel Rachlin will be introduced by Dr. Gene Sosin, an alumnus of the Institute's second graduating class (1949). He was for several decades a senior executive of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is the author of "Sparks of Liberty: An Insider's Memoir of Radio Liberty" (Penn State Press, 1999). The Russian translation, "Iskry Svobody," will soon be available on the Internet.
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EMPIRE, CONQUEST AND FAITH: THE RUSSIAN AND OTTOMAN INTERACTION, 1650-1920
Thursday, 24 April 2008, 6:00pm–Saturday, 26 April 2008, 3:30pm
Kellogg Center, Room 1501 IAB
Please address all inquiries to Mark Mazower at mm2669@columbia.edu
Conference Program
Thursday 24 April, 6pm
Exotic Peoples at Imperial Russian Coronations A Lecture by Richard Wortman (Columbia University)
Location: 523 Butler Library
Friday 25 April
10am-12.00
Location: 1501 International Affairs Building
Session 1: the Danubian Principalities and the Crimea
Commentator: Robert Crews (Stanford Univ.)
A View from the Edge: Observing Istanbul's Nizam-i Cedid from Bucharest
Christine Philliou (Columbia U)
Bearing Arms for the Empire: Crimean Tatars as Soldiers and Subjects
Kelly O’Neill (Harvard Univ.)
1.30-3.30pm
Session 2: the Caucasus and Central Asia
Commentator: Stephen Kotkin (Princeton U.)
The Empire in Practice: Islam and Russian Colonists in Tsarist Azerbaijan
Nicholas Breyfogle (Ohio State Univ.)
The Ottomans and Russians in the North Caucasus: Why the Latter Succeeded Where the Former Did Not
Michael Khodarkovsky (Loyola University Chicago)
Religion and Subjecthood in the North Caucasus in the Age of Catherine II
Sean Pollock (Columbia U.)
Alchemy as a Mode of Colonial Governance in the Russian Caucasus, 1840-1865
Dana Sherry (Stanford)
4-6pm
Session 3: Russo-Ottoman Geopolitics
Commentator: Rashid Khalidi (Columbia U)
An Unorthodox Protectorate: British Policy towards the Ecumenical Patriarchate during the Crimean War
Jack Fairey (National University of Singapore)
The Impact of the Crimean War on Ottoman non-Muslim Religious Communities
Candan Badem (Okan University, Istanbul)
How Russia Became a Muslim Power: Imperial Russia, the Hajj, and Great Power Rivalries
Eileen Kane (Columbia U)
Saturday 26 April
10.00am-12.00
Location: 1501 International Affairs Building
Session 4: Imperial Reform of Religious Institutions
Commentator: Jane Burbank (NYU)
Toleration Through Establishment: The Domestication of the 'Foreign
Confessions' in Imperial Russia, 1810-1857
Paul Werth (University of Nevada)
Learning from Confrontation: the Struggle of Muslim Peasants and Russian Bureaucrats over Muslim Education in the Late Russian Empire
Mustafa Tuna (Princeton University)
The state, the spiritual assemblies, and Muslim community leadership in late imperial Russia
James Meyer (Columbia U)
1.30-3.30pm
Session 5: War and Religious Identities
Commentator: Gulnar Kendirbai (Columbia University)
Disputes between the Ottoman and Romanov Empires over Naturalization and Loss of Subjecthood
Eric Lohr (American University)
A Nation of Generals and Assassins: Rethinking the North Caucasian Diaspora in the Late Ottoman Empire
Ryan Gingeras (Long Island Univ.)
Obligation or Opportunity: the Ottomans and Russia's "Muslim Question"
Michael Reynolds (Princeton University)
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Georgia's Intellectual Heritage: Georgian Language and Literature throughout the Centuries
Monday, 28 April 2008, 10:00am–6:00pm
Room 1501 International Affairs Building
The Georgian language remains an enigma for many linguists. Some debate whether it belongs to the Iberian-Caucasian family of languages; others suggest that Georgian together with its relative languages Svan, Mengrelian, and Laz creates South Caucasian family of languages; and a few still adhere to the idea of its linguistic ties with the equally enigmatic Basque language. Through the centuries the Georgian language has remained a steadfast symbol of national identity, beauty and hope for the people who consider it their native tongue.
Georgian literature boasts a history of well over a thousand years. From the oldest written texts of the early 5th century to the works of contemporary writers, the Georgian literary heritage presents an impressive body of religious and secular writings. Its masterpieces are equal to the most admired creations of world literature. Although the study of the Georgian language has been expanding, Georgian literature is still relatively little explored outside the land of its origin.
The conference will present the papers that explore various aspects of Georgian language and literature in their historical development and wide cultural context, such as the following:
• The origins of the Georgian language, its connection with other Kartvelian (Svan, Mengrelian and Laz), North Caucasian or Indo-European languages
• Medieval Georgian Hagiographic and Historical texts
(Chronicles) Georgian folklore
• The development of secular genres in Georgian literature
• Georgian prose and poetry - past and present
• Attitudes of Georgians to Georgian Language
• The methodology of teaching Georgian as a second language
This event is co-sponsored by the Georgian Studies Center at Harriman Institute at Columbia University in collaboration with Georgian Ministry of Education and Sciences.
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"Montenegro Two Years after Independence: Challenges and Perspectives"
Tuesday, 29 April 2008, 12:00pm–1:30pm
Room 1219 International Affairs Building
The Harriman Institute Ambassador's Forum presents:
H.E. Miodrag Vlahovic, Ambassador of Montenegro to the United States
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"Education Reforms in Georgia"
Tuesday, 29 April 2008, 4:00pm–5:30pm
Room 1512 International Affairs Building
Mr. Ghia Nodia, Minister of Education and Science of Georgia
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