Upcoming Events!

“It’s easier to imagine the end of the world," theorist Fredric Jameson once remarked, “than to imagine the end of capitalism.” Initially, this imagining took a grim and dystopian form: at the height of the financial crisis, with the global economy seemingly in full collapse, the end of capitalism looked like it might be the beginning of an anarchic and violent period of misery. However, the spread of global protests from Cairo and Hong Kong to Wall Street and Madrid has shattered this myth of capitalism’s absoluteness by demanding that an alternative is not only necessary, but better.

Join us for a presentation followed by a Q&A moderated by Nicole Aschoff (The New Prophets of Capital) on the the current state of radical politics and the emerging futures that may result. A reception and book-signing will follow the event. [More info]

Polina Barskova, Associate Professor of Russian Literature at Hampshire College and one of Russia's most famous poets, presents The Living Pictures, a collection of short stories, essays, and a play that explore life during the World War II–era siege of Leningrad. The Living Pictures brought Barskova the Andrei Bely Prize, Russia’s oldest independent literary award, in November 2015, and has drawn praise from numerous critics. Moderated by Alexis Peri, Assistant Professor of History at Boston University.

Polina Barskova received her B.A. from St. Petersburg State University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. Her scholarly publications include articles on Nabokov, the Bakhtin brothers, early Soviet film, and the aestheticization of historical trauma, primarily, culture of the Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944). She is the author of eight books of poetry and one book of prose in Russian. Three books of her poetry in English translation have been published recently: This Lamentable City (Tupelo Press), Zoo in Winter (Melville House Press), and Relocations (Zephyr Press). [More info]

The Center for the Study of Europe at Boston University, in collaboration with Chaliapin Center, presents Slavic Voices, a night of Russian language poetry and music. Renowned poet Polina Barskova will read from her own poems and from an anthology of poems composed during the winter of 1942, the most severe winter of the Nazi Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944). Polina Barskova’s reading will be accompanied by Slavic music performances by Olga Lisovskaya, Alex Polyakov, and Fred Van Ness. A reception and booksigning follow the event.

Please visit our website for full program and ticket information. Ticket includes reception with traditional Russian appetizers, wine, and gratuity. Student tickets are only $10. 

Lola Lafon, with a French, Russian and Polish background, was raised in the equally diverse cities of Bucharest, Sofia and Paris. Her first love was dance, but then she turned to writing. Her novels tackle several ideological themes such as capitalism, antifascism, utopia or feminism. Lafon is politically engaged in several collectives, addressing feminist questions and concerns; while she runs writing workshops aimed towards underserved or disadvantaged youth populations. Lola will be discussing her latest novel in English translation, The Little Communist Who Never Smiled (Seven Stories Press, 2016, translated by Nick Caistor). This fictionalized account of the life of Nadia Comaneci, a child of communist Romania and an Olympic gymnast who inspired young girls around the globe, shows how a single athletic event mesmerizes the world and reverberates across nations.

Refreshments will be available, and a book-signing will follow the talk. Co-sponsored by the Association Francophone de Boston University - AFBU. [More info]

Join us for a lunch discussion on Germany's role in the EU and beyond with Thorsten Benner, Director of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin, an independent non-profit think tank he co-founded in 2003 inspired by his experience in the US, and Amb. Kurt Volker, former United States Permanent Representative to NATO.

“Too big for a balance of power in Europe and too small for hegemony.” That is how historian Ludwig Dehio described the German dilemma after unification in 1871. The European Union was supposed to do away with this by embedding Germany in a system of institutions. Still, many fear that 25 years after reunification Germany finds itself again in the trap of “not being powerful enough to impose its will on the continent, but at the same time powerful enough to be perceived as a threat by other powers.” What answers does the German role in the three defining crises of the past years (Eurozone debt, Ukraine/Russia and refugees) provide?

Benner's areas of interest include peace and security, digital and technology policy as well as the interplay of the US, Europe and rising powers in the making of global (dis)order. Prior to co-founding GPPi, he worked with the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, the UN Development Program in New York and the Global Public Policy Project in Washington, DC. Ambassador Kurt Volker is a leading expert in U.S. foreign and national security policy with some 30 years of experience in a variety of government, academic, and private sector capacities. He currently serves as Executive Director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership, a part of Arizona State University based in Washington, DC. He served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO in 2008-2009.

Moderated by Joseph Wippl, former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer and Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Pardee School. Free and open to the public. Lunch provided. RSVP to edamrien@bu.edu. [More info]

Join us for a lunch discussion with Marco Buti, Secretary General of the Directorate General of Economics and Financial Affairs of the European Commission. Though in the past several years substantial progress has been made in completing the structure of Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union, not all economic inconsistencies have been solved. Buti's talk will discuss three main challenges that still need to be addressed. First, sound fiscal policies need to be conducted while keeping sustainable welfare systems. Second is the conflict between policy objectives and economic realities – vulnerable economies cannot reduce their debts and simultaneously gain competitiveness. Third, financial stability and integrated financial markets cannot be established unless the relationship between banks and their sovereigns is reformed. Addressing each of these challenges is important, and it could benefit all Eurozone members.

Open to BU community and others with a research interest in the topic. Lunch provided. RSVP to edamrien@bu.edu. [More info]

Please join us for a screening of two recent works by Monika Weiss and a conversation with the artist. Monika Weiss' interdisciplinary work investigates relationships between body and history, and evokes ancient rituals of lamentation. Her current projects consider aspects of collective memory and amnesia as reflected in the physical and political space of a city.

In Shrouds–Całuny (2012), Weiss choreographed and filmed from an airplane local women performing silent gestures of lamentation on the site of the forgotten concentration camp for Jewish women in Grünberg, now Zielona Góra in Poland. Two Laments (19 Cantos) (2015-ongoing) is a series of 19 film projections inspired by events in India, and juxtaposing two forms of global violence: the rape of women and the colonial subjugation of cities. Both projects employ lamentation as a form of postmemory, set in opposition to acts of conquest and power.

Born in Warsaw, Poland and based in New York City, Monika Weiss is currently Associate Professor at the Washington University in Saint Louis, MO. Known for her performances, installations, and public projects, she has exhibited in museums internationally. She is represented by Monika Fabijanska Contemporary Art in NYC.Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Europe, the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies, the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, and the Editorial Institute. [More info]