Хто сьогодні вивчає українську мову в Гарварді

Не секрет, що часто американські студенти, які походять зі Східної Європи, вибирають російську чи українську мови, бо так їм легше одержати необхідні залікові бали («кредити»), адже іноземна мова є тут для них обов'язковим предметом. Цікаво, що саме спонукало Ніні до вивчення української?

НІНІ АРШАКУНІ: «Я вже точно не пам'ятаю, коли я вперше почула українську мову, здається, десь в ранньому дитинстві. Але по-справжньому я закохалася в неї вже в середній школі, коли я почула українські пісні. Тоді на Ютубі я побачила відео деяких пісень гурту «Океан Ельзи», і я була в повному захваті від них. Особливо мене вразила пісня «Відпусти». Але зараз мій список улюблених українських пісень є набагато довшим, і він включає різні жанри, голоси й музичні стилі.

Тому я вирішила скористатися нагодою, яку дає мені Гарвард, і впритул зайнятися українською мовою як усною, так і писемною. Бо тільки так, через мову, можна зрозуміти будь-який народ, його історію, культуру, психологію, прагнення і сподівання.» Далі читайте тут.

Patricia Herlihy (1930-2018)

With great sadness, HURI shares the news that Patricia Herlihy passed away today, October 24, 2018. Her ambitious scholarship, insightful participation at our seminars, and joyful presence in general will be greatly missed.

A native San Franciscan, Herlihy graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and obtained her PhD in History from the University of Pennsylvania. She authored Odessa: A History 1794-1914 (Harvard University Press. 1987); The Alcoholic Empire: Vodka and Politics in Late Imperial Russia (Oxford University Press, 2002); Vodka: A Global History (Reaktion Books, 2012). She was Professor Emerita at Brown University (2001), Louise Wyant Professor Emerita at Emmanuel College (2009), Adjunct Professor at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs (Brown University), and an Associate at the Ukrainian Research Institute and the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. Formerly Co-Master (with David Herlihy) of Mather House Harvard University (1976-1986), she has six children and six grandchildren.

Visitation hours will be held on Friday, October 26th from 4:00-8:00pm at Keefe Funeral Home in Cambridge and a funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, October 27th at 10am at St. Paul's Church in Cambridge. Her family has suggested making donations to the ACLU or a charity of your choice, in lieu of flowers.

Our thoughts are with the Herlihy family in this difficult time of mourning. Thank you, Pat, for your work on Odesa and your many years of friendship.

Happy 75th Birthday, George G. Grabowicz!

The Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University extends its warmest wishes and heartfelt greetings to George G. Grabowicz on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

Throughout his extensive academic career, Grabowicz has profoundly influenced the development and advancement of Ukrainian studies at Harvard University and the institutional success of HURI. In his work as Dmytro Čyževs’kyj Professor of Ukrainian Literature (since 1983) and Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures (1983-1988), Grabowicz gave the study of Ukrainian literature a seat at the table. While publishing regularly on a plethora of historical topics and individual writers from Ukrainian literature, he deepened the Ukrainian vein in Harvard’s humanities through courses on Ukrainian literature, comparative literature, and comparative Slavic literature.

As a professor, he has mentored, educated, and shaped the next generation of professionals and academics specializing in Ukrainian subject matter. A dynamic presence in the classroom, Grabowicz not only relays his knowledge, but engages his students in rigorous discussion and debate. Read more.

Digenis Akritis: A Border Guard Transcending Borders

A hybrid of oral epic and literary romance from 12th-century Byzantium, Digenis Akritis has it all: Bride-stealing and romance, bravery and battle, uncanny strength and folkloric anecdotes. While the hero works to safeguard the frontier regions of the empire, his parentage blurs the lines: His father an Arab emir, his mother the daughter of a Byzantine general. Like Digenis, the manuscripts we have today come from varied locales that transcend borders, resulting in several versions with unique features and local flavors.

One such version is the Old Slavic Digenis Akritis, which is at the core of Robert Romanchuk’s current project as a HURI Research Fellow. We sat down with Romanchuk for preliminary insight into his upcoming talk and his research at HURI. The talk, “The Old Slavic Digenis Akritis: Its ‘Formulaic Style’ and the Question of Adaptation or Translation” is at 4:30 pm on Monday, October 15, in Room S-050, CGIS South, Harvard University. All are welcome to attend. Read more.