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When I was preparing for a month-long study abroad trip to Hungary and Poland, taking first and second year college students to places they might not visit on their own, I decided to frame the course in terms of empire. For U.S. students even Austro-Hungary may be unknown, but in Budapest there are still physical and architectural traces of that empire, the Ottoman Empire and even the Roman empire. Heading to Warsaw gives me a chance to talk with them about partitioned Poland (1772 through 1918) and to discuss three empires: Russian, Prussian, and Austro-Hungarian. Plenty of fodder for conversation, especially in the context of today's European Union. What did it feel like to be a Polish subject in the Russian empire? A Jew in Austro-Hungary? A Ukrainian living in Warsaw or Budapest today? Aquincum, an ancient Roman city now  on the outskirts of Budapest, photo 2019 The framing is related to my university's general education program, where students are required to take courses...

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 w...

Thinking about the relevance of the work that I do is an ongoing endeavor. At today's American university, we feel that literature and culture somehow have to justify themselves, and in today's economy, students (and their parents) worry about the applicability of their major. Recently a student who had been abroad needed my signature for his transfer credits. We started talking. Turns out that last year he studied in Moscow for a semester, but then scored an internship with a global company and worked all summer with Russian co-workers, and was going back again this summer. "You should be a Russian major," I told him. "Nah," he replied. "I am a business major, and I don't have time for more Russian courses." So he is learning the language, and learning the country through hands-on experience, but he won't be a double major. Not practical. In my student days people also said "A Russian major? What are you going to do with that?...

This morning I heard a remarkable keynote address by Tomislav Longinovic. For a year, my colleagues have been hosting a seminar entitled CrossRoads: Culture, Politics and Belief in the Balkans and South Asia. Much as I would have loved to attend every session, I somehow managed to go to, yes, two: the first keynote on India and one of the last, today. The experience was enhanced by the fact that I've known Toma for about a quarter century: he was hired at the University of Wisconsin about the time that Yugoslavia was becoming engulfed in the wars that tore it to pieces, and I was still in graduate school. But the warm embrace I got at the end of the talk was only half the reason I had a fabulous morning; the other half was the talk itself. "Words that Hide: Balkan Politics of Translation" was his title, and his aim was to try and tweak our understanding of the Balkans and of the unfortunate term "Balkanization," which, as he pointed out, is always negat...

This week my university, Ohio State, starts our second academic year on semesters. My 19th year at Ohio State. Yikes. But it doesn't really feel like the second time. Last autumn I was working half-time at the Graduate School and only taught one class -- my students and I met three times a week to talk about Russian poetry. It was fabulously fun, but it doesn't really help me with starting this week. In spring semester I was in Warsaw -- again, great teaching experience, but I taught two courses which met once a week for 90 minutes each. Not particularly helpful as I prepare to teach my two undergraduate Russian literature courses this semester -- especially since the autumn semester will actually last about 16 weeks. One thing from last autumn will help -- I remember telling my students that as compared to quarters we were bound to experience several lulls, when we became sick of each other and the course material. I do feel that it's important to prepare -- and control...