Hey, politically/foreign policy-minded MSURC people!

The Center for European, Russian, and Eurasian studies is hosting a talk called 'Putin–Medvyedev Dual: A Myth or Reality?' in room 103 of the Kellogg Center at 7 pm tonight. The speaker, Anna Arutunyan, is a political reporter and editor for the Moscow Times, and she previously worked with Konservator, Jewish Weekly, and the Foundation for Effective Politics, so she knows her stuff.

This is a great talk to on a really important point in Russian politics: ever since Medvyedev took office, there have been rumors and little signs that the relationship between him and Putin has been animous falling apart. It can't hurt to learn a little about politics in Russia, especially if some of you are planning on going to Russia this summer.
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Chernomyrdinisms 11/03/2010
 
Hey everybody, we've got some news for you. Viktor Chernomyrdin [Виктор Черномырдин], the first and longest serving Prime Minister of Russian, died yesterday.

In the early 1980s, he was appointed the Minister of the Gas Industry. Later that decade, he decided to push the ministry toward privatization: ownership would switch from the state to stockholders (even though the state ended up buying all the stock). That switch led to the end of the ministry, and in its place Chernomyrdin founded Gazprom, which is now the largest oil/natural gas provider in the world.

He was one of Yeltsin's key advisors throughout the 90s, and held time Prime Ministership twice, from December 1992 through March 1998, and again from August to September 1998. He also served as Acting President for one day in November of 1996 while Yelstin underwent heart surgery.

After his time as Prime Minister, Chernomyrdin served as the Russian Ambassador to Ukraine from 2001 to 2009. He also served as a special advisor to President Medvyedev up until his death.



The best part about Chernomydin was the way he spoke. He normally spoke in very grandiose terms and phrases, and many of these have become popular sayings in Russia, known as 'Черномырдиники' (Chernomyrdinisms – kinda like how we have Bushisms). Some of the more famous are:
–Хотели как лучше, а получилось как всегда ("We wanted the best, but we got business as usual")
–Принципы, которые были принципиальны, были непринципиальны ("Principles that were fundamentals weren't fundamentals")
–На любом языке я умею говорить со всеми, но этим инструментом я стараюсь не пользоваться. ("I can speak to anyone in any language, but this is a tool I try not to use")
–Локомотив экономического роста - это как слон в известном месте ("The engine of economic growth is the elephant in the room")
–Что говорить о Черномырдине и обо мне? ("What can I say about Chernomyrdin and about myself?")
–[О планах правительства] Мы продолжаем то, что мы уже много наделали... (About the government's plan: "We're continuing to do what we've done well...")
–[О войне в Югославии] В Югославии катастрофа. Катастрофа - это всегда плохо! (About the war in Yugoslavia: "Yugoslavia was a catastrophe. And a catastrophe is never good!")
–Мы с вами так будем жить, что наши дети и внуки завидовать станут! ("We're going to live in a way that makes our children and grandchildren jealous!")
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This Week in RC 10/31/2010
 
Hey, everyone. Got a few important announcements for this week, so pay attention, yeah?


First off, this week is the BAR CRAWL. We're sure you're all excited for it, and rightly so. We'll be meeting at Dublin Square [corner of Abbot and Albert] at 6 pm this Friday, that way even our underage comrades can hang out, eat, and have a good time with us. Bars are still up in the air, but we'll be sure to go somewhere good.

ALSO, if you feel like commemorating this momentous occasion accordingly, we have tshirts [front and back]! They're only $9.25, and we can get you one in small, medium or large. If you want one, you MUST your money to us ASAP so we can have it by Friday.

After we give you a day to nurse your hangovers [remember, the Russian way to cure a hangover is to drink more], we'll be having our speaking practice on Sunday at Wanderer's Teahouse & Cafe instead of Owen Hall.

Anyone interested in teaching a little Russian to elementary school students? We need some help with the Russian Club programs at Hiawatha and Radmoor schools in Okemos. Super fluency isn't necessary, since you'll mostly be teaching the alphabet, some basic words, and playing games. Radmoor programs are at 9:30 am on Mondays, and Hiawatha programs are at noon on Wednesdays. If you're interested, Heather can give you more information.

That's all for now. Make sure to check the Announcements section of the website regularly for new opportunities and info.
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Who's interested in studying Russian in Russia for free? Because the Critical Language Scholarship is now accepting applications for 2011. 

CLS is a program run through the U.S. Department of State for American students to study 'critical languages' [Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish, and Urdu] in their respective countries for 7-10 weeks during the summer. Applicants get to live with a host family and take classes at a university to increase fluency. It's kind of like the MSU Volgograd program in that respect.

Pre-reqs for the 'Intermediate' Russian CLS is two years of Russian in college, and the 'Advanced' Russian CLS is three years. So, virtually everyone in 300 or 400-level classes this year is eligible.

You can check out the program info here, and the application can be filled out here. You better hurry though: the deadline is Monday, November 15th at 11:59 pm.



Any grads looking for a job? If you have some experience with non-profit organizations, Pacific Environment out of San Francisco is looking for a Russia Program Director. Responsibilities include:
  • Overseeing and participating in development/implementation of environmental campaigns in Russia
  • Fundraising for Pacific Environment's Russia Program
  • Publicizing Russian environmental issues and campaigns throughout the U.S.
  • Overseeing a team of four Russia Program staff
  • Overseeing effective implementation of a $500,000/yr re-granting program
  • Researching, monitoring, and analyzing environmental issues in Russia
Applicants should be fluent in Russian and English; experience with staff supervision, fundraising, campaign management, and budget management; able to travel extensively nationally and internationally; authorized to work in the U.S., and committed to environmental protection and social justice.

Those of you who are interested can submit a cover letter, résumé, writing sample, and contact info for three references by email to: Leah Zimmerman, Interim Executive Director, hr@pacificenvironment.org.
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Hey everyone. There's two interesting info sessions being held this weekend for people interested in teaching and study abroad programs.


On Friday, October 29th @ 1 in 1345 Engineering Building the American Councils for International Education is holding an info session on Russian and Eurasian language programs. If you're interested in studying Russian or Armenian, Azeri, Buryat, Chechen, Dari, Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Farsi, Dari, Romanian, Tatar, Tajik, Turkmen, Tuvan, Ukrainian, Uzbek, and/or Yakut, you should attend. The Russian programs site is here, and info on the other languages can be foundhere.

On Saturday, October 30th @ 9 am or 1:30 pm in the Kellogg Center the Asian Studies Center and Central Eurasian Studies Society is holding a teachers' workshop. This free conference is open to grad students and teachers. The goal is to help teachers introduce topics on inner Asia [Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Georgia, and Armenia] using geography, culture, history, politics, activities and games. One of the speakers will be Dr. Russell Zanca, Professor of Anthropology at Northeastern Illinois University, and expert on Central Asian culture and history.


If you have some time between boozing, watching the game, and trick-or-treating, we'd recommend that you try to attend.
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ОЙ!

Would you like up to $30,000 to study Russian abroad? Are you thinking about working in the federal government after you're done with college? If so, Tuesday, October 19th is your lucky day.

The NSEP and Department of State are both holding lectures on that day about their respective opportunities to work, study, and live abroad. Everyone who's even remotely interested should plan on attending these; you never know, this might end up being the opportunity you've been looking for.

Details and flyers can be found on our website.
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Upcoming Events 10/07/2010
 
We've got some good events coming up in the next two months, so you guys best mark your calendars now so you don't forget.

THIS SUNDAY, 10/10 @ 4 pm, the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiyev is playing at the Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. The Mariinsky is one of the most famous theaters in Russia, and their orchestra is world-renowned. You better get your ticket soon, or they'll be completely sold out.

NOVEMBER 5th is our annual MSURC Bar Crawl. If you're under 21, not to worry: we always go somewhere to eat before we head out for a long night of drinking and revelry so that our underage comrades can join in. Bring suggestions for bars and restaurants to the next couple meetings so we can put together an awesome night.

NOVEMBER 21st is Global Fest. This is an opportunity for us to show off how cool Russia is in the biggest cultural expo in East Lansing. Virtually every country is represented here, and native communities always turn out in big numbers, making this a great chance to meet up with some native Russians in and around the Lansing area. We'll be needing some volunteers to man our table[s], so if you're willing to help out, let one of our officers know pronto.


Some of you might remember that we planned a trip to The Fiddler on 10/16. We had to move the date, because that's the weekend of homecoming. We're still planning to go there, but our trip is now TBA. We'll make sure we send out an email when we decide on a time.
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Fun Stuff 10/01/2010
 
Hey, everybody.

We had a great turnout at our party on the 24th. Nothing better than hanging out with a bunch of Russians on a Friday night, right? We hope you all had as good a time as we did.

ALSO, we're still deciding on a design for the club t–shirts for this year. If you're creative and feel like giving us the most BAMF shirts on campus, talk to one of our officers and we can work something out. For reference, here is last year's design, and here's the one from two years ago [on the left].

This coming week we'll be covering the передвижники, a famous group of Russian painters from the late 1800s [those of you who'll have Zarema will cover this at length]. If you're at all interested in the Russian art scene, anti–tsarist movements, or life in general in Russia at the end of the 19th century, you'll definitely want to come to this meeting.

Speaking of meetings, along with our coffee hours on Sunday, there are now additional speaking practices on Tuesdays @ 5pm in C211 Wells [just before our weekly meetings]. This is a great opportunity for those of you who can't make it on Sunday to practice your Russian outside of class.


HEY, PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN GOING TO RUSSIA:
The Russian Language in Volgograd program is still accepting applications, and the trip leader [the extraordinary Dr. Jason Merrill] is more than willing to sit down and talk with anyone even remotely interested in going. If you are interested, you better act quickly because the deadline is fast a–comin'. If you can't get ahold of Dr. Merrill, you can seek out any of our illustrious club officers and talk to them, since four of the five have already gone. Act now: Russia awaits!
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Привет, all you new Russian Club members. We hope you're getting acclimated to MSU and all it has to offer (for those who are new), or settling back into your old routines and school life (those, like us, who've been around for a while). Since the year has already kicked off, we have some business to get down to. It'll be brief. Promise.

First off, our weekly happenings will be starting up this week, so you better make sure your schedules are clear:
–Speaking hours are at 6 pm every Sunday in the Owen Hall basement (those of you who are having some trouble in class and/or want to work on conversational fluency are especially encouraged to come).
–Weekly meetings are now at 6 pm on Tuesdays in C211 Wells Hall. Our topics are virtually endless, so if there's something you specifically want to do/talk about, just bring it up.
–International coffee hours are Friday afternoons at 4 in the room just off the International Center food court. This is a great opportunity to meet some of the international TAs (including a number of Russians) and pick their brains about teaching, where they come from, really anything.

Secondly, we have some good events coming up in this month, so make sure you check back regularly for more details. We'll be having our semi-annual/whenever-we-feel-like-it Russian Club party later this month, and early in October we'll be heading to The Fiddler restaurant in West Bloomfield for as good a Russian meal as you can get outside Zarema's house. Keep your calendars clear, because you don't want to miss these. Trust us.

It's gonna be a great year, and we hope you guys have as much fun as we do. За русский клуб!
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