Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category

Presentations

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

I have now assigned people to various dates based on requests and timing of those requests…

Here is who is signed up thus far for presentations. I’d like to commend Ryan’s position to you–that the sooner you present the project, the more feedback you will get that might help you polish it up for the final version. There is still room for several people this afternoon, so let me know if you want to go today and get that helpful feedback. If you haven’t signed up yet, leave a comment on this post.

November 27
Ryan

November 29
Justin
Colleen
William
James
Pin

December 4
Kevin
Janos
Vince
Stephanie
Saeil
Brad
Mara

December 6
Keegan
Jerry
Xenia
Monica
Bryan
Brian
Jim

Conference on Stalinism in Eastern Europe

Monday, November 26th, 2007

The Romanian Embassy and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars invite you to a scholarly conference on Stalinism in Eastern Europe to be held November 29-30. The first day’s events will be at the Romanian Embassy (Sheridan Circle–a short walk from the Dupont Circle Metro) and the second at the WWIC (Federal Triangle Metro). This conference brings some of the most important scholars in Romanian and East European studies together in one place. You should feel free to attend either day or both.

The schedule for the event follows below.

Stalinism Revisited – the Establishment of Communist Regimes in East-Central Europe and the Dynamics of the Soviet Bloc (29-30th November, 2007 – Washington D.C., USA)

Conference Program:

29th November, 2007 –Embassy of Romania to United States of America (Washington D.C.)

9.00 am – 9.30 am
Welcome Address – Daniela Gitman = Chargé d’Affairs a.i, Embassy of Romania to United States

- Horia-Roman Patapievici = President of the Romanian Cultural Institute
(more…)

Presentations

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

As you are all contemplating how much to eat tomorrow, it’s time to think about final presentations for our class. Each person needs to give a brief, i.e., 10 minute, presentation on his or her research project. For the presentation, I want you to tell us:

  • Why you picked your topic;
  • What your argument is;
  • What evidence you used;
  • What your conclusion was;
  • How your sources might have contradicted one another

You can use whatever presentation method you feel most comfortable with, but it must include an oral presentation (one of the course requirements imposed by the Department).

And after your presentation, I want you to post a summary of around 250 words in the blog.

Romanian Cinema in D.C.

Thursday, November 8th, 2007

The Washington Post ran a very laudatory extended review of current Romanian cinema in yesterday’s edition. Among the many films praised by Philip Kennicott was 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. This film, about a young woman’s harrowing experiences with an illegal abortion during the last throes of the Communist regime is described as the best film ever to deal with the sensitive and controversial issue of abortion.

Kennicott writes:

[The film] puts an abortion on screen–not just the extortionate brutality of the back-alley abortionist and the emotional exposure of young women with nowhere to turn, but the process, the tubes, the spread legs, the waiting, the aftermath. Watching it will leave you furious not with the characters for their moral choices, but with the poverty of American artistic life. This is a film we could never make, because we refuse to look at reality. Mungiu [the director] has courage, and the results are a film expansive enough to contain the emotional and intellectual confusion that haunts the issue.

I’d say that is (a) a pretty ringing endorsement of Romanian cinema and (b) a powerful indictment of American cinema.

A number of the films described in the piece will be shown around town in the coming weeks. I’ve also procured a copy of 12:08 East of Bucharest (mentioned favorably in the review) and it is in the JC Library media collection (not on reserve).

Individual Conferences

Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

Here are the days/times for individual conferences about your research papers. Please select a day/time and respond in the comment field to claim one. I’ll update this on a somewhat regular basis over the next couple of days to make it easier to see what’s available and what isn’t.

Tuesday, November 6
1:30 Monica
2:00 Jerry
2:30 Saeil
3:00 Vince
3:30 Xenia
4:00 Colleen
4:30
5:00 Pin
5:30

Thursday, November 8

1:30
2:00
2:30
3:00 Brian
3:30 Justin
4:00 Janos
4:30 William
5:00 Mark
5:30 Stephanie

Spring Break in East Central Europe

Wednesday, October 17th, 2007

The Center for Global Education has now posted up the basics about the spring break trip to Prague and Dresden that I’ll be running next semester. They don’t have a cost posted, but if I had to guess, I’d say it would be somewhere in the vicinity of $2,500, plus or minus $500. How’s that for a big range? I really don’t know what the final cost will be, since I have no input on that, so I’m really just speculating here.

I hope you’ll consider going along.

Sputnik, The Soviet Moon

Monday, September 24th, 2007

Since I wasn’t too good about giving out all my flyers (shame on me!), I would like to take the opportunity and use the class blog to make an announcement.  

On October 2, 2007 at 7:30 pm, marking the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik launching, the Cold War Museum in collaboration with Northern Virginia Community College will host a Cold War lecture titled Sputnik: The Soviet MoonThe event is proud to have Sergei Khrushchev leading the opening remarks.  Mr. Khrushchev is a Senior Fellow at Washington Institute for International Studies and author of Nikita Khrushchev and the Creation of a SuperpowerFollowing the lecture you will have the chance to meet author Paul Dickson who will be signing his book Sputnik: The Shock of the CenturyMr. Dickson is also the screenwriter of The Fever of ’57. 

Let me know if you can attend and we can represent GMU! Xenia

Area Library Resources

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Library of Congress
One of the best things about being a history major here in the D.C. area is having access to the world’s largest library–the Library of Congress. If it’s in print and in English, the LOC probably has a copy. If it’s in print, was published after 1900, and is in any language, the LOC probably has a copy of that too.

If you haven’t been to the LOC yet, now is the time to go, because using the resources there can really make the difference between an excellent research paper and one that is just very good. Plus, it’s fun to work there. However, it’s not like just walking into Fenwick Library, sitting down at a computer and looking up some books/articles/microfilms. To work in the LOC you need to first register as a researcher (anyone over 17 can) and get a researcher card. And, because it’s the world’s biggest library, you probably should go through one of orientation programs put on by the Humanities and Social Sciences Division.

These orientations are available in the Jefferson Building, Room G-07, from 10:30-12:00 on:

September 24
October 1, 15, 22
November 5, 19, 26

Or they have evening sessions (6:30 – 8:00):

October 1
November 5

(Use the Seond Street (SE) entrance to the Jefferson Building. The Second Street (SE) entrance is open to those holding a Reader Identification Card; all other may enter using the First Carriage entrance.  Reader ID cards can be obtained in the Madison Building, Room 140.)

Registration Required.
Register by phone:   (202) 707-3370
In person:  Computer Catalog Center, Jefferson Building, First floor
Online:  http://www.loc.gov/rr/main/inforeas/signup.php
For more information call:
Kathy Woodrell (202) 707-0945 or Abby Yochelson (202) 707-2138

George Washington University
The Gelman Library at George Washington University has a Slavic, East European, and Asian reading room that has a wealth of resources for the study of 1989 and Eastern Europe. Because we are a member of the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC), George Mason students can use the GWU Library, but you have to have your GMU ID card with you to get into the building — because it is in the city, access is limited to those who have an ID.

Fall for the (History) Book

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Every year George Mason hosts the Fall for the Book festival. This year’s festival includes a number of historians discussing their work. This is a great opportunity to hear an author talk about his/her work in more detail than one can normally get–and they take questions (usually). The “history” part of the overall schedule this year is:

Kevin Merida:  The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas, Monday, Sept. 24,  1:30 pm, J.C. Cinema.

Richard Norton Smith: Extraordinary Circumstances: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, Monday, Sept. 24, 3 pm, Grand Tier

Robert Dallek and Roger Wilkins: Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 3 pm, Harris Theater.

Jeff Broadwater: Forgotten Founder: George Mason (Democracy Project), Tuesday, Sept. 25, 6 pm, Harris Theater.

Rick Atkinson: The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, Wed.,Sept 26, 5 pm, Concert Hall, Center for the Arts.

David Price: Love and Hate in Jamestown, Wed., Sept. 26, 7 pm, Dewberry Hall, J.C.

Robert Draper: Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush, Wed., Sept. 26, 7:30 pm, J.C. Cinema.

Orville Vernon Burton: The Age of Lincoln, and Jason Emerson: The Madness of Mary Lincoln, Thurs., Sept. 27, 12 pm, Dewberry Hall South, J.C.

Joseph Ellis: His Excellency: George Washington, Thurs., Sept. 27, 7:30 pm, Concert Hall, Center for the Arts.

Bärbel Bohley at the German Historical Institute

Monday, September 17th, 2007

The German Historical Institute (1607 New Hampshire Avenue, NW–just north of Dupont Circle) is hosting a special lecture on Wednesday, October 3, by Bärbel Bohley: Reflections on Unification. Bohley was one of the founders of Neues Forum, the civic movement at the forefront of East Germany’s peaceful revolution of 1989.

The invitation I received describes her this way: An artist by vocation, she was expelled from the country’s Federation of Artists in 1983 and prohibited from exhibiting her work on account of her involvement in the independent peace and human rights movement. She repeatedly found herself in trouble with the authorities in the years that followed as she played an increasingly prominent role in calling for social and political change in East Germany.

Following German unification in 1990, Bohley campaigned to give citizens access to their Stasi files.

The schedule for the event is:

2:00 Dessert Reception (coffee, pastry)

2:30 Welcoming remarks

2:45 Lecture

4:00 Close

If you plan to attend, you must RSVP by September 24 so that they know (a) how large a room to use and (b) how much catering to order. To RSVP, write to events@ghi-dc.org and explain that you are planning to attend the Hertie Lecture on October 3.

This is a great opportunity to hear from one of the leaders of the 1989 movement in person. I will be attending (riding METRO). If you plan to attend, we can arrange to meet at the Vienna Metro station in time to get there for coffee and pastry.