REECAS Northwest Conference

REECAS Northwest, the annual ASEEES Northwest Regional Conference for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, welcomes students, faculty, independent scholars, and language educators from the United States and abroad.

REECAS Northwest, the annual ASEEES Northwest Regional Conference for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, welcomes students, faculty, independent scholars, and language educators from the United States and abroad.

REECAS NW Conference

REECAS Northwest

The 25th Annual Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies Northwest Conference
April 26-27, 2019, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

About the Conference

Ellison Center Director Scott Radnitz introducing Russian historian Glennys Young as the REECAS NW Keynote Speaker in 2017.

REECAS Northwest, the annual ASEEES Northwest Regional Conference for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, welcomes students, faculty, independent scholars, and language educators from the United States and abroad. Established in 1994, REECAS Northwest is an important annual event for scholars and students in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, with participant and partner universities from across the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. The interdisciplinary conference is organized by the University of Washington’s Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies, which seeks to promote in-depth study of the many post-communist European and Eurasian sub-regions. Sometimes abbreviated as “REECAS NW”, the conference was recognized as a regional affiliate conference by the ASEEES Board of Directors in 2017.

The University of Washington’s soaring Suzzallo Library

The conference hosts many panels on a variety of topics from a wide diversity of disciplines including political science, history, literature, linguistics, anthropology, culture, migration studies, gender studies, LGBTQ studies, film studies and more.

Papers on Russia and all the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are welcome, including the Uyghur region in China (Xinxiang and elsewhere).

2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the Baltic Studies Program at the University of Washington, and we are particularly eager to welcome papers, panels, and round tables by scholars and students of Baltic Studies at the annual REECAS Northwest conference.

There are no registration fees for REECAS Northwest conference participants or attendees.

Conference Highlights:

Keynote Speaker: Anastasia Edel, Author, New York Times contributor and New York Review of Books essayist – Friday, April 26 at 6:30

Raised in southern Russia during the twilight years of the Soviet Union, Anastasia Edel graduated with a degree in English and German studies from Kubansky State University and worked as a fiction translator. A recipient of the British Government Chevening Award, she moved to England for postgraduate studies, and then to the US, earning her MFA in Writing from Pacific University.  She is the author of  Russia, Putin’s Playground: Empire, Revolution and the New Tsar (Callisto Media, 2016). Her prose has appeared in the New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Project Syndicate Quartz, and World Literature Today. She lives in San Francisco and teaches Russian culture and history at UC Berkeley OLLI.

Ms. Edel will speak on “The Hijacking of the Russian Mind“, a talk on the Kremlin’s manipulation of historical narrative during and after the Soviet Union.

For Anastasia Edel’s articles in the New York Review of Books, click here. To read her recent article in the New York Times click here. Learn more about her on her website.

The following day on April 27, Ms. Edel will additionally hold a professional development workshop on “Life After Grad School: Promoting Your Work and Advancing Your Career”. The workshop will focus on helping graduate students to develop skills that are essential in today’s ultra-competitive world: building name recognition, making oneself visible in the academic community, and networking for opportunities. Space in this workshop is limited. To register for the workshop, please click here. 

Author Interview with William Pomeranz, Saturday – April 27 at 1:45 pm

Kennan Institute Deputy Director William Pomeranz will discuss his new book Law and the Russian State: Russia’s Legal Evolution from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin in a special afternoon session on April 27.

William Pomeranz is an expert guide to the complexities of political and economic developments in Russia, particularly through the lens of law.  He leverages extensive, hands-on experience in international and Russian jurisprudence to address a wide range of legal issues, from the development of Russia’s Constitution to human rights law to foreign investment and sanctions. (wilsoncenter.org)

Mr. Pomeranz will be interviewed by Ellison Center Director Scott Radnitz.

 

Plenary on Corruption in Russia and Eastern Europe – Saturday, April 27 at 5:15 pm

Featuring Kennan Institute Deputy Director William Pomeranz, former U.S. Ambassador to Romania Mark Gitenstein, UW Evans School Professor Scott Fritzen, and Ellison Center Director Scott Radnitz.

THE MASTER & MARGARITA at Theatre Off Jackson – Thursday, April 25 – April 27

Satan comes to 1930’s Moscow, but he’s not the devil we think we know… 

THE MASTER & MARGARITA: A remix of Bulgakov by Theater Simple. 

Theater Simple shakes up a philosophical Molotov cocktail with shots of magic realism, vaudeville, nudity, the Bible and live music in this original interpretation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece. Generated and adapted into a headlong experience, this 95-minute pellmell rollercoaster features one trunk, 3 screens, a ghostlight and 5 actors.  Be prepared to goggle at 5 actors taking on the challenge of 35+ characters, with on-stage musicians playing a brand new score by Brent Arnold.

In association with Theatre Off Jackson, Theater Simple ‘breaks and remakes’ their award-winning take on Mikhail Bulgakov’s satire for 2019.  Originally staged in 1997, this theatrical interpretation subsequently toured for nearly 4 years across Canada, the United States, and Australia. Last seen in Seattle in 2001, the world has changed and its time to look to see what else has shifted.

Recipient of the FRINGE AWARD for BEST PLAY at the 1998 Adelaide Fringe, the Master and Margarita has been Theater Simple’s most requested work, and given the state of global politics, it is ripe for re-examination.

And now – it’s coming back to Theatre Off Jackson in the International District in Seattle, with live music, re- worked and more relevant than ever.

 

Conference Program

Conference Program

 

Key Dates and Deadlines:

  • Proposal Submission Deadline: March 10 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time.
  • Acceptance Notification: March 11
  • Panels Announced: March 22
  • Papers Due for Subsequent Distribution to Panel Chairs: April 12. (Presenters may continue to revise their papers in coordination with Panel Chairs.)

Call for Papers:

Please see the conference paper and presentation guidelines.

Presenters: To submit your paper proposal, please complete the below linked form, which requires a maximum 300 word paper abstract. Your proposal submission serves as your conference registration, so there is no need to fill out an additional registration form. If you are requesting to be part of a pre-assembled panel, please indicate that in the form. 

The Call for Papers deadline has now passed. Thank you for your submission.

Call for Papers

 

Attendee Registration (Non-Presenter):

Non-presenting conference attendees (audience members) should use this below linked form to register for REECAS Northwest. Please register no later than 11:59 pm on April 22 by completing the below linked form.

The registration deadline has now passed and registration has been closed. Thank you.

Attendee Registration (Non-Presenter)

Conference Logistics and Attendee Information:

REECAS Northwest 2019 will take place in the Simpson Center for the Humanities at the University of Washington. The Simpson Center is located in the Communications Building on the UW Seattle Campus. (For Uber or Lyft, the street address is “2023 King Lane Northeast, Seattle, WA 98105”).

International Visas

The University of Washington welcomes conference participants from around the world and can provide letters of invitation for accepted REECAS Northwest conference presenters. The University of Washington can only provide formal letters of invitation for accepted conference presenters. If you require a visa to visit the United States, please complete the below form only after you have been formally notified of the acceptance of your paper proposal. No action will be taken on invitation letters for conference applicants before papers are formally accepted and individual acceptances are communicated to applicants by the University of Washington’s Ellison Center. We look forward to welcoming you to Seattle.

VISA LETTER REQUESTS

Questions?

If you have questions not answered by this webpage, please contact reecasnw@uw.edu.