Dickinson Russian department students staged two performances of Anton Chekhov's 'The Bear' in the last week of the semester. Level 200 students acted in an abridged version, and level 232 students put on the full 20-minute version. It was an entertaining experience both for the performers and the students watching, and memorizing the lines helped everyone master new vocabulary and grammar. The following photographs and students' comments give an idea of how it went.

 Mackenzie King `15:
I haven't participated in any sort of play since middle school, so I was a bit nervous in the beginning. However, playing in "Medved" ended up being a wonderful experience and was so much fun. It also helped improve my Russian pronunciation.

 Alexandra Shapiro `15:
I had a really fun time learning and performing the play. It was easy for all of us to get into our roles and have fun, and I also improved my language and reading skills. This was a great experience! 

Russian Majors Mackenzie King '15 and Sasha Shapiro '15 presented their original research projects at the 12th annual University of Pittsburgh Undergraduate Research Symposium. Their papers, "The Journey of the Epic Hero in War and Peace" (Mackenzie) and "Tolstoy & Trumbo: Ethics and Language in Understanding Violence" (Sasha) were part of a panel on 19th C. European Literature. This year's program included 28 presenters from over 10 institutions, including New York University, The University of Bristol, and the University of Washington. Students submitted papers in January and were notified of their acceptance the next month. They then worked with PhD students at the University of Pittsburgh to revise their papers for final submission later that spring. Each panel included U Pittsburgh faculty members, who commented on the papers and offered students suggestions for further improvement.

‪For Mackenzie, "going to the undergraduate research symposium was a great experience. Presenting my work in that setting was initially nerve-wracking, but useful. The whole experience gave me more confidence in my public speaking ability and made me more comfortable with presenting my own work. I was impressed by the many topics covered by the presenters and the huge distance many of them had to travel to be there."

 The Russian Club and Russian Department held their annual Russian dinner on Monday, April 8. Students, faculty, and guests enjoyed Russian dishes (borsht, bliny, and beef stroganoff) and participated in traditional dances and songs led by the folk ensemble Barynya from New York City.

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World-renowned artist Vitaly Komar, founder of the Sots-art movement together with Alexander Melamid, came to Dickinson during the first week in April 2013. His presentation was called "My Experiences as an Artist in Russia and the West," which he delivered to a lively, packed auditorium. Komar emigrated to New York City in the late 1970s in the face of censorship from Soviet authorities. The term Sots-art is a blend of the Russian word for socialism and the "art" in pop art, and has aesthetic and conceptual roots in both traditions. During his presentation at Dickinson, he entertained and engaged students and faculty with a visual and theoretical retrospective of his work from the 1970s to the present, including collaborations with Andy Warhol, musicians, and even two elephants. The morning following his talk, Komar had breakfast with several Dickinson students from a variety of departments (e.g. Russian, Art & Art History, and International Relations), where they discussed his art, creativity under totalitarianism, and practical advice for succeeding in a future career: "If you don't love it, it's no use," he said.  

Students in the Russian Department have been preparing for Komar's visit in their Soviet literature and culture class, where they have been studying Socialist Realist literature and architecture.  Russian major Caroline Elkin '15 found the lecture "fantastic and engaging," but "having the chance to talk with Komar over breakfast was even better (how many non-art students get to meet and have a conversation with a world-famous artist?). I think it helped connect something that seems bizarre and distant--art and culture in the Soviet Union--to my experiences growing up in the United States--for example, being surrounded by commercials and experiencing pop art as a response to American consumerism."

A print of Komar's 2005 work, Air Superiority, is currently on display in the Trout Gallery through April.  

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 Five Dickinson Russian major alumna returned to campus last week to speak about their professional experiences since graduation. Invited speakers included Amity Fox '04, who is currently Assistant Director of the Career Center at Dickinson; Nicholas Stebinger '05, a lawyer for Chadbourne in NYC who was recently offered a judicial clerkship in Florida; Charles Blanchard '06, lead Natural Gas Analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in NYC; and Leah McNamara '13, who will join Wells Fargo in Philadelphia as a country officer and bank liaison after graduation. Also, joining the group via Skype was Matthew Winter '02, a financier and restaurant owner in Lianyuungang, China.
Current students were able to hear several generations of Russian majors discuss their experiences--from the Peace Corps to their time as Fulbright Fellows--and learn how a degree in Russian helped them succeed in a variety of fields, even those not specifically connected to the Russian language.

Career Fair: Russian Majors after Graduation

Sasha Shapiro '15, Russian and Philosophy double major, prepares to connect with her Russian conversation partner

Sometimeslearning a language can seem like a theoretical game far removed from reality – but not at Dickinson. Students in the Russian department chat on Skype once every two weeks with undergraduate students at the Russian State University for the Humanities. All levels get to reinforce what's been learned in the classroom in lively communicative situations.  Intermediate students get a chance to practice new material from class, whether by listening to native speech or by trying out new constructions and vocabulary with their conversation partners. This makes the material on the page of the course-book come to life and brings their Russian language skills out of the classroom and into the real world. Advanced students get the opportunity to discuss politics, literature or culture with students their own age, thus expanding their linguistic and cultural skills at the same time. These sessions lay the groundwork for study abroad in Moscow. For those who have just returned from Moscow, it is a chance to keep their conversation skills up to par.

For Mackenzie King ’15, a Russian major who will spend the 2013-2014 academic year in Moscow, “Skyping with Russian college students is always interesting. Last time, I was able to speak to a student about Russian and American politics. She studies American politics, while I study Russia, so we were able to exchange our different impressions of each other's system of governance. Being able to speak with people our age who are also studying ensures we always have something to converse about.”

Leah McNamara ’13 will graduate this year with a Russian minor: “Skype exchanges may take you a bit out of your comfort zone, but it really instigates interesting conversations and practical and applicable Russian skills.”

A new exhibit, titled "A Family Story: The Troussoff Collection," will premiere on Sunday, April 21, at 1:30 in the Friends of the Library reading area in the Lower level of the library. Light refreshments will be provided.

The exhibit was curated by Caitlin Moriarty '13, double major in Russian and Political Science. "A Family Story: The Troussoff Collection" tells the story of Basil Troussoff (a painter and scene designer), his wife Elena, Basil's sister Eugenia, her husband (marine biologist Dr. Paul Galtsoff), and their immigration to the U.S. during the Russian Revolution. The collection was donated by Gail Troussoff Marks '73, Basil's granddaughter, whose daughters are members of the class of 2009 and 2014. Especially featured in the exhibit is Basil's collection of postcards and exhibit catalogs of Russian art from the early twentieth century, as well as his work in theatre and Paul's work as a marine biologist.

The exhibit will continue through the summer.