The Gentle Barbarian is is Bohumil Hrabal’s moving homage to Vladimír Boudník, a brilliant but troubled Czech graphic artist who died tragically at forty-four a few months after the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Translator Paul Wilson discusses the book with CEERES Associate Director Esther Peters.
What do the continuing protests in Russia mean for the Putin regime? Can they bring about more lasting change, or will they result in a return to the status quo? Our panel of guests will offer insights collected on the ground in Russia.
The leaders of the Chicago-based Folk Dance Ensemble Balkanske Igre will demonstrate the steps to the most popular Balkan dances and practice with participants.
What does it mean to belong somewhere? For many of Prague’s inhabitants, belonging has been linked to the nation, embodied in the capital city. Grandiose medieval buildings and monuments to national heroes boast of a glorious, shared history. Past governments, democratic and Communist, layered the city with architecture that melded politics and nationhood. Not all inhabitants, however, felt included in these efforts to nurture national belonging. Socialists, dissidents, Jews, Germans, and Vietnamese—all have been subject to
hatred and political persecution in the city they called home.
This conversation between Jessica Kirzane and Anita Norich will consider their current projects translating women's prose from Yiddish to English, the challenges and rewards of translation, and the ways in which translation is changing the understanding of Yiddish and Jewish literary history.
Join Anita Norich for a talk that will focus on questions about women and Yiddish writing. When and what did women write in Yiddish? Why are so few of them known as prose writers? How did critics respond to them? How did they respond to one another?
China, Russia, and the Global Politics of COVID-19 Vaccines
What role are COVID-19 vaccines developed in China and Russia playing during a moment marked by widespread vaccine nationalism and global efforts to ensure equitable access? This webinar brings together a group of social scientists to discuss the politics of these vaccines.
The department of Slavic Languages & Literatures, with support of the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies, invites applications for a position as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the rank of Instructor. We seek a scholar who specializes in Russia/Eurasia and Eastern/Central Europe and who will further their own research at the University of Chicago. The selected candidate is expected to be in residence and conduct their own research under the mentorship of a faculty member. Further requirements include teaching two courses in the Russian Civilization sequence and participating in CEERES educator outreach activities. The position is open to applicants trained in any humanities or social sciences discipline.
In May 1945, Brno citizens of German nationality were sent on the so-called Brno Death March and expelled from the city. Gerta Schnirch and her infant daughter join the exodus. Gerta survives the grueling march and forced labor in South Moravia, but struggles on her return to Czechoslovakia. This novel asks painful questions about guilt, revenge and forgiveness between Czechs and Germans and depicts a disturbed relationship between a mother and her daughter.
