A rare thunderstorm in Seattle welcomed attendees to the 2015 Teacher Workshop on the EU and its Eastern Neighbors to the University of Washington on August 12. Sixteen teachers from middle schools, high schools, and community colleges, covering subjects from history and Russian language to AP human geography and social studies, attended the day-long event hosted at the Jackson School of International Studies.

“Over 50% of the GDP of Tajikistan and 31% of Kyrgyzstan’s comes from remittances, wages earned abroad that are sent back to a worker’s home country. Nearly half of Tajikistan’s able-bodied labor force is employed abroad, mainly in Russia. One third of the legal immigrants to Russia are from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan alone. Given such numbers, O’Brien asserted, it is in many ways impossible to speak of contemporary cultural, economic, or political issues in Central Asia without addressing the migration issue.”

Over 30 Seattle area K-12 teachers learned the latest on “Global Asia: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” this year thanks to a unique, decade-long collaboration between The Seattle Times and the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.

As a National Resource Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies, the Ellison Center offers master teacher workshops for local community educators. In cooperation with the Center for West European Studies, the Ellison Center was pleased to host a two part workshop for social studies teachers at the Jackson School on “Europe’s Transformative 20th Century: From a Continent of War and Division to a Continent of Peace.”

Changing perception from “win-lose” to “win-win” in legal cases goes beyond lawyering. It is a physiological process and it requires intensive training for mediators. I believe that popularization of mediation as a mechanism of alternative dispute resolution is a step forward for the country. However, the concept of mediation is used in various contexts within Georgia.

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

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.

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.

This post is part of the Ellison Center blog Series on Sochi. Click here to read more of our coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia!