Storytelling festivals are a fascinating phenomenon. Festivals and circles aimed at adults, first appearing in Western Europe and the United States in the early 1970s, have now become an established practice worldwide. In the United States, for example, the storytelling revival movement dates back to the Jonesborough Storytelling Festival in Tennessee, established in 1973. Among the post-communist countries, Slovenia shows an interest in not only studying collections of its native folktales, but in reviving traditional storytelling as an oral performance art aimed at adults.

By Indra Ekmanis Don’t cry “wolf” unless you want him to hear you and eat your sheep, Lauri Õunapuu warned students in a deep and imposing voice during his visit to UW Tuesday. Õunapuu, an Estonian musician, plays traditional folk instruments in a heavy metal band, Metsatöll – the ancient Estonian word for what you

After two six-hour layovers in Los Angeles and Istanbul, two trips through American security, three in-flight films, and four terrible hours of sleep, I was about to fulfill my life-long goal of traveling to Russia.

By Indra Ekmanis In a celebration of family and new contributions to the field of Baltic studies, UW Baltic scholars and interested community members gathered at the Seattle Latvian Center Sept. 28 to honor Prof. Emeritus Gundars Ķeniņš-King and his recently published book, Nation-building in the Baltic States: Transforming Governance, Social Welfare, and Security in

On April 23, 2014 a Seattle based troupe of self-producing actors their director and a production manager flew to Tashkent, Uzbekistan to present their production of Chekhov’s The Seagull at the renowned Ilkhom Theatre of Mark Weil.

Agnia Grigas, energy security expert and political risk analyst, discussed the impact of Russian energy monopolies in Europe during her visit to Seattle.

Dr. Carol Silverman (professor of anthropology and folklore, University of Oregon) presented the 2014 Ellison Center Treadgold Talk covering the culture and stereotypes of the largest ethnic minority population in Europe, the Roma. Watch a video summary of her talk below.

By Larisa Shuvalova During my early commute from Bellingham on Jan, 25, I had plenty of time to think about what I was expecting to learn by attending the Heritage Literacy Symposium at UW. My commute reminded me about the summer of 2012 when I decided to join the STARTALK program and personally learned how

The 2014 Herbert J. Ellison Memorial Lecture with CNN’s Jill Dougherty is now available to watch online from start to finish. Read a brief preview of the event here.  

Richard Youngs, a senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Program, will present talks on European crises today, Jan. 29, and Friday, Jan. 31. He is an expert on the foreign policy of the European Union, in particular on questions of democracy support. He has published widely on the Middle East, the European neighborhood, the current EU crisis, and energy