Slavic Studies is pleased to welcome two new students into our PhD program. Ross Hirzel Originally from Los Angeles, Ross Hirzel graduated from Amherst College in May 2020, where he majored in Russian and German. His senior thesis compared shapes of historical narrative in Tolstoy and Sebald. John Russo Originally from Yucaipa California, John Russo graduated from the University of …
Slavic Studies congratulates Zach Rewinski, who recently defended his dissertation, which is titled “Avant-Garde Historians: Poetic Experiments in Factography for the Ten-Year Anniversary of the October Revolution.” We interviewed Zach to find out more about his topic. What’s your dissertation about? Please give us the elevator pitch. My dissertation is about narrative poems (poemy) written …
We recently came to end of a(nother) challenging academic year, and once again the pandemic prevented us from gathering together, as is our tradition, to celebrate our many successes and to recognize a number of individuals for their specific achievements. A summary post is a poor substitute for an in-person celebration, but we adapt to …
Slavic Studies congratulates Jesse Kruschke, who has recently defended her dissertation proposal! We interviewed Jesse to find out more about the topic. What are you planning on researching and writing about? Please give us the elevator pitch. I’m looking at Soviet reception of Black American literature from 1920 through the 1970s, including which authors were …
Czech Studies in the Washington Post A recent article in the Washington Post about a proposed law in the Czech Republic to allow women to choose non-gendered last names features input by Professor David S. Danaher. Danaher noted: “If linguistic conventions force you to identify yourself in ways that don’t make sense to you, then …
How Humor Helped Us Survive Communist Reality in Poland A native Pole and former UW-Madison instructor gives a first-person account of life under communism in Poland. Irena Frączek, a longtime instructor and lecturer in the UW–Madison Department of Continuing Studies, was a guest in Krzysztof Borowski’s new Slavic Studies course on politics and comedy in …
Maksim Hanukai, Assistant Professor of Slavic Studies, has recently published an article in the prestigious Slavic Review titled “Resurrection by Surrogation: Spectral Performance in Putin’s Russia.” Hanukai investigates the growing importance in Russia of practices that ask the living to act as surrogates for the dead, and he focuses specifically on the Immortal Regiment initiative. …
The UW-Madison Slavic Graduate Student Organization presents the 2021 Wisconsin Slavic Conference on April 9 and 10, 2021! Friday, April 9 The Keynote Lecture by Professor Ilya Vinitsky (Princeton University), titled “Fake Tolstoy as a Cultural Problem: The Case of ‘Tolstoy Prophecy of WWI,” will take place at 4:00pm -5:30pm on Friday, April 9 …
Molly Thomasy Blasing (PhD, Slavic Studies, 2014) Slavic Studies PhD alum Molly Thomasy Blasing is currently an Assistant Professor of Russian Studies in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Kentucky in Lexington where she teaches courses on Russian language, literature, culture, and cinema. Supervised by Professor (Emeritus) …
Karen Evans-Romaine Recognized by AATSEEL Slavic Studies Professor and Co-Director of UW-Madison’s Russian Flagship Program has received the 2020 AATSEEL award for Outstanding Contribution to the Profession. The American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages was founded in the 1940s and has as its mission to “advance the study and promote the …