Yesterday, at the request of the Ohio State Russian Club, I attended a "food event" at a dorm at the university.
Teaching a course on Russian food in literature and culture, writing about Russian food, and knowing how to make borscht qualifies me as an expert ... and I'm also the advisor of the Russian Club this year. We learned a few things -- first, as I always say, that when making Russian salads and soups it would be great to have a dozen serfs or so to help with the chopping; second, that you should always double or triple the time it will take to make a really good borscht; and third, that there is a reason the Russians love zakuski. We might have nibbled away while waiting for that cabbage to soften...
The past few weeks have been filled with Russian events at the university. One of my students was selected as a Fulbright English Teaching Associate for next year in Russia, so last week I went to the reception to raise a glass to him. So glad for him that he will get this opportunity to live somewhere in Russia next year; his career goals include medical school and someday working with the World Health Organization, and becoming more fluent in Russian will be a great asset.
The reception also facilitated my participation in the event that followed. We had our Kapustnik, the talent show that features students, TAs, and sometimes faculty, mostly performing skits and songs. And yes, having issued a challenge in November at the last Kapustnik to one of the graduate students, I did indeed perform myself. Still waiting for the video evidence -- I sang a cappella one of my favorite Russian folksongs, in the style of Zhanna Bichevskaya. Something, by the way, I have never done before. I guess I found my courage in that cheap chardonnay they were pouring at the reception.
Then this week we had our "Slavic Tea" -- featuring a large sheet cake embellished with an image of Vladimir Putin, bare-chested, on horseback. As chair of Undergraduate Studies I got to hand out awards, including money to help students with summer study, research, and tuition. My favorite thing to do -- award students money! All followed by the Saturday food event, which several of my students, a number of Russian majors and emigre kids, and some FOM (friends of the Russian Club president) attended, all students interested in things Russian.
This is how we mark the end of the academic year; on Tuesday I will attend an event to honor one graduating senior and will have coffee with another to hear about his job search and future plans.
Sometimes, at this time of year, I begin to wonder whether I am having much of an effect on the students who pass through my classrooms. Many of them are anxious to get through the year and move on with their education and their lives, and with the gen ed students and even sometimes the majors that can translate into grade grubbing ("how can I earn some more bonus points?") or the desperation of trite generalizations on their written exams. ("Russia is a vast country with a long history of oppression..." -- not a promising way to start an essay!)
At the same time, so many of my students this year are going to Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, or Middlebury College's Russian School, or planning their senior thesis research into Russian politics or Russian cultural diplomacy. They listen to Russian radio on the internet or Spotify, they willingly sing and play their instruments for their peers, they tell stories about their high school Russian classes or their step-mothers from Ukraine, they enthusiastically argue whether pickled cucumbers and fresh dill are essential in Russian cooking.
What did Randolph Bourne write? "War is the health of the state"? I used to hate it when my older colleagues cheered negative political turns of events in Russia, saying "cold war is great for Russian enrollments" ... but it is the case that Russia has amazing literature, some great music, and crazy politics -- which makes it an interesting place to study.
Lately our majors have become more interesting, and impressive, as well. They double major in International Studies and in Political Science. They work long hours at Panera Bread, or more productively as resident advisors in the dorms (where they counsel students, order pizza, and stay up late sharing information about Russian musical groups, among other things). They apply for government money and other scholarships to get them to Russia, and they share their enthusiasm with their friends.
The Russian Club president this year is named Megan, and I'm wondering whether all the members of the club are Friends of Megan. Her good nature, hard work, charisma, and the grin that sometimes pervades her entire being make her a magnet for other students. She has been the beneficiary of the NSI-Youth program (State Department money devoted to strategic languages), of FLAS (also government funds for Foreign Languages and Area Studies), but her success in her studies can mostly be credited to raw talent and hard work.
When I do Fulbright student interviews, one of the questions we ask is "how will you be a cultural ambassador for the United States?" My guess is that this summer a number of St. Petersburg denizens will find themselves joining Megan's Russian Club and becoming FOM.
I would love to take just the tiniest amount of credit for helping to make that happen.
Teaching a course on Russian food in literature and culture, writing about Russian food, and knowing how to make borscht qualifies me as an expert ... and I'm also the advisor of the Russian Club this year. We learned a few things -- first, as I always say, that when making Russian salads and soups it would be great to have a dozen serfs or so to help with the chopping; second, that you should always double or triple the time it will take to make a really good borscht; and third, that there is a reason the Russians love zakuski. We might have nibbled away while waiting for that cabbage to soften...
The past few weeks have been filled with Russian events at the university. One of my students was selected as a Fulbright English Teaching Associate for next year in Russia, so last week I went to the reception to raise a glass to him. So glad for him that he will get this opportunity to live somewhere in Russia next year; his career goals include medical school and someday working with the World Health Organization, and becoming more fluent in Russian will be a great asset.
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| Fabulous poster designed by one of our talented graduate students |
Then this week we had our "Slavic Tea" -- featuring a large sheet cake embellished with an image of Vladimir Putin, bare-chested, on horseback. As chair of Undergraduate Studies I got to hand out awards, including money to help students with summer study, research, and tuition. My favorite thing to do -- award students money! All followed by the Saturday food event, which several of my students, a number of Russian majors and emigre kids, and some FOM (friends of the Russian Club president) attended, all students interested in things Russian.
This is how we mark the end of the academic year; on Tuesday I will attend an event to honor one graduating senior and will have coffee with another to hear about his job search and future plans.
Sometimes, at this time of year, I begin to wonder whether I am having much of an effect on the students who pass through my classrooms. Many of them are anxious to get through the year and move on with their education and their lives, and with the gen ed students and even sometimes the majors that can translate into grade grubbing ("how can I earn some more bonus points?") or the desperation of trite generalizations on their written exams. ("Russia is a vast country with a long history of oppression..." -- not a promising way to start an essay!)
At the same time, so many of my students this year are going to Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, or Middlebury College's Russian School, or planning their senior thesis research into Russian politics or Russian cultural diplomacy. They listen to Russian radio on the internet or Spotify, they willingly sing and play their instruments for their peers, they tell stories about their high school Russian classes or their step-mothers from Ukraine, they enthusiastically argue whether pickled cucumbers and fresh dill are essential in Russian cooking.
What did Randolph Bourne write? "War is the health of the state"? I used to hate it when my older colleagues cheered negative political turns of events in Russia, saying "cold war is great for Russian enrollments" ... but it is the case that Russia has amazing literature, some great music, and crazy politics -- which makes it an interesting place to study.
Lately our majors have become more interesting, and impressive, as well. They double major in International Studies and in Political Science. They work long hours at Panera Bread, or more productively as resident advisors in the dorms (where they counsel students, order pizza, and stay up late sharing information about Russian musical groups, among other things). They apply for government money and other scholarships to get them to Russia, and they share their enthusiasm with their friends.
The Russian Club president this year is named Megan, and I'm wondering whether all the members of the club are Friends of Megan. Her good nature, hard work, charisma, and the grin that sometimes pervades her entire being make her a magnet for other students. She has been the beneficiary of the NSI-Youth program (State Department money devoted to strategic languages), of FLAS (also government funds for Foreign Languages and Area Studies), but her success in her studies can mostly be credited to raw talent and hard work.
When I do Fulbright student interviews, one of the questions we ask is "how will you be a cultural ambassador for the United States?" My guess is that this summer a number of St. Petersburg denizens will find themselves joining Megan's Russian Club and becoming FOM.
I would love to take just the tiniest amount of credit for helping to make that happen.
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