Czech and Slovak Movies on You Tube

I wanted to bring to our readers a wealth of Czech and Slovak movies online. I loved watching several of these films during the Memorial Day weekend. I am not sure how long these movies will be hosted by You Tube. But these can be watched here.

Seventeen Moments in Soviet History Web Portal

Site Self-Description: "Seventeen Moments in Soviet History contains a rich archive of texts, images, maps and audio and video materials from the Soviet era (1917-1991). The materials are arranged by year and by subject, are fully searchable, and are translated into English. Students, educators, and scholars will find fascinating materials about Soviet propaganda, politics, economics, society, crime, literature, art, dissidents and hundreds of other topics". This site can be accessed here: http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php

Site's about us section tells us the following, "SEVENTEEN MOMENTS IN SOVIET HISTORY was funded by a generous educational development grant from the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH). The project was directed and created by James von Geldern (Macalester College) and Lewis Siegelbaum (Michigan State University). Since 2007, Kristen Edwards (Menlo College) has collected materials for the website from the Hoover Archives and Stanford Libraries and she participated in the 2008 project to update website design. The website underwent a complete redesign in 2008, thanks to a research grant from Macalester College and private donations. Our website designer, Christian Meister, greatly improved navigation, search tools, music box, and overall functionality. Users will also appreciate the larger images and videos".

Call for Papers: "Vladimir Sorokin's Languages: Mediality, Interculturality, Translation", Aarhus University, Denmark, 29 March – 1 April 2012

- DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 1 JUNE 2011 -

 

Conference organisers: Tine Roesen (U of Aarhus, Denmark), Dirk Uffelmann (U of Passau, Germany)

Special guest: the author himself Keynote speaker: Mark Lipovetsky (U of Colorado, Boulder, USA)

Conference language: English

Conference webpage: http://iho.au.dk/en/news/sorokin-conference-2012/

 

Since coming to the attention of a broader Russian public in the wake of the scandal whipped up around "Goluboe salo" [The Blue Lard] in 2002, Vladimir Sorokin (born 1955) has become indisputably one of the most prominent and prolific writers in contemporary Russia. Whereas Sorokin's works are widely discussed in Russia and in the German-speaking countries (the first and hitherto only Sorokin conference took place in Mannheim in 1997), there is still scant research devoted to his oeuvre in the Anglo-American world. Since the translation of "Ochered'" [The Queue] in 1986, it has taken a quarter of a century for further books by Sorokin to be translated into English ("Den' oprichnika" [Day of the Oprichnik] and the "Led" [Ice] trilogy, 2011).

 

Taking translation as an anchoring point, this conference is devoted to the multifaceted dimensions of language(s) in Sorokin's works, including archaisms and neologisms, German and Chinese terms or intercultural stereotypes. Even more important, the discussions will focus on the (meta)linguistic constituents of Sorokin's poetics: the author as a medium for other discourses, the plurality of conceptualized literary styles, the metadiscursive distance and the materialization of metaphors from colloquial and vulgar language.

 

After a keynote lecture, to be delivered by Mark Lipovetsky (confirmed) on the evening of Thursday 29 March, the subsequent one-and-a-half days will consist of academic papers in English by international scholars (20 min + 10 min discussion for each paper). Vladimir Sorokin himself will join in on Saturday afternoon (31 March, confirmed) to meet his translators, who will engage in a discussion about the challenge of translating his works into other linguistic and cultural contexts. The conference will end with Sorokin reading from "Metel'" [The Snowstorm] (2010) and the book launch of this novel's Danish translation by the Copenhagen-based publisher Vandkunsten.

 

We encourage paper proposals addressing issues of language or meta-language in Sorokin's works, in their poetics and their reception. Proposals shall consist of an abstract of 300-500 words and a short CV, including a list of those of the submitter's previous publications that are relevant to the conference topic. They should be sent to mailto:uffelmann@uni-passau.de and tine.roesen@hum.au.dk by 1 June 2011.

 

The conference organisers will provide participants with accommodation in Aarhus from 29 March to 1 April 2012. Some funding for reimbursement of travel expenses, especially for scholars from Eastern Europe and further overseas, will be available. The reimbursement will be negotiated on an individual basis.

 

We plan to publish the papers presented at the conference in a conference volume.

 

A note on travel: Aarhus is situated in the East Jutland region of Denmark. Aarhus Airport, Tirstrup, has a direct service (appr. 30 minutes) from Copenhagen, but also direct connections from London, Oslo, Stockholm and Gothenburg. Copenhagen Airport is served by several international airlines, with direct flights from cities such as New York, Chicago, Washington, Moscow and St. Petersburg and from most hubs in Western Europe. From Copenhagen the flight to Aarhus is appr. 30 minutes, while trains take 3-4 hours.

Russian Web Site on Short Films in Russian

I wanted to bring to your attention a Russian web-site that is dedicated to "short films". (короткометражное кино) I believe that there was a festival of short films (фестиваль короткометражного кино) and some of the films from this festival can be accessed here: http://short-tv.ru/video.php?next=films

Hungarian National Bibliography (Open Access) Online

While browsing the site of the National Library of Hungary, I must say, I stumbled upon a trove of open-access electronic resources that can be utilized by scholars, students and visiting professors seamlessly. I wanted to bring to our attention, some of these sources that might be underutilized in our North American context.

1. Magyar nemzeti bibliográfia Könyvek bibligráfiája: http://mnb.oszk.hu/ This site serves as a multilingual resource that provides access in English, and other languages.
   
2. Hungarian Electronic (digital) Library: http://mek.oszk.hu/indexeng.phtml or http://mek.oszk.hu/index.phtml (Please do read the "about us" section).
   
3. Humanus- An online database with Hungarian humanities focus. : http://www.oszk.hu/humanus/
   

Lecturer of Russian (Limited Term Appointment) at The Russian program at the University of Denver

The Department of Languages and Literatures at the University of Denver will hire a Lecturer of Russian for a one-year appointment to begin September 1, 2011.  

This is a non-tenure track position with full benefits. The appointed lecturer will teach all levels of undergraduate language, literature, and culture.  Area of specialization in Russian is open. Native or near-native fluency in Russian is required.  MA or ABD status in Russian or related field by time of application is required.  PhD or ABD by time of appointment is preferred. The successful candidate must have experience teaching Russian language, literature, and culture to undergraduate students in the United States. The teaching load is eight classes per year on a quarter calendar. Salary is competitive.
All applicants must apply online at www.dujobs.org<http://www.dujobs.org/> and attach a CV, cover letter, and a one-page statement of teaching philosophy.  In addition to applying on-line, please send three letters of recommendation, official transcripts, and evidence of successful teaching to: Russian Search Committee, Prof. Victor Castellani, Chair, Department of Languages and Literatures, 2000 East Asbury, Sturm Hall 391, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80208.  We will begin reviewing applications immediately and will continue until the position is filled. The University of Denver is an EEO/AA Employer.

Rare Books Published in Imperial and Early Soviet Russia Digitized at Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Watson Library!

The Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art recently digitized a small selection of rare books published in Imperial and early Soviet Russia. This small sliver represents a wide range of themes and formats, including Soviet caricature, arms and armor, 19th-century photograph albums, collection and exhibition catalogs. We(the readers) are invited to browse and use this wonderful collection here: http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/p15324coll7&CISOSTART=1,1

You may also access it via Watson Library's catalog by going to the Digital Collections link: http://library.metmuseum.org/screens/opacmenu.html

Source:

Viktoria Paranyuk

Associate Museum Librarian

Thomas J. Watson Library

1000 Fifth Ave

New York, NY 10028

(212) 570 3935

Viktoria.Paranyuk@metmuseum.org

Evrei Peterburga: Jews of St. Petersburg Project

The World ORT has sponsored an interesting site about the history of Jewish Community in St. Petersburg for the past 300 years. The site covers the period from 1703-1987. The project began in 1998 and it was finished in 2000.

The navigational menu contains links to history of Russian Empire, the City, and the Jewish Society (Obshchina).

http://www.jewhistory.spb.ru/rus/about/

Russian Language Instructor- A part-time position at Iowa State University

The Department of World Languages and Cultures at Iowa State University is seeking a part-time lecturer to instruct Russian language and culture courses at the first- and second-year levels.

Possibility of teaching one or more courses in English on Russian culture.

Required qualifications: Master's degree in Russian, Russian Studies with an emphasis on Russian
language and/or culture, or closely related field.

Demonstrated native or near-native fluency in Russian and English.

Evidence of successful experience teaching undergraduate students in Russian language. Preferred:
qualifications: Ph.D. in Russian or Russian Studies with experience teaching both lower- and upper-division courses in language and culture; experience teaching Russian Studies courses in English.

Salary commensurate with qualifications.
Proposed start date: 08/16/2011.  To ensure consideration, submit application by 05-23-2011.
Complete job description, along with application instructions, is available at:
https://www.iastatejobs.com/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=368220
If you have questions regarding this vacancy, please email Claudia Mueller at cmueller@iastate.edu or call 515-294-9396.

Source:
Olga Mesropova, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Russian
Director, Russian, Eurasian, East European Studies
Iowa State University
3246 Pearson Hall
Ames IA 50010
Tel. 515.294.7887
Fax. 515.294.9914
Ames IA

Кржижановский Сигизмунд Доминикович: Сочинения

I wanted to bring to my reader's attention a relatively unknown Russian/Soviet author of Polish origin, Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky. His works can be read online at the site called Lib.ru.