Press Releases

CREES Graduation and Awards Ceremony

LAWRENCE —The Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES) will host a Graduation and Awards Ceremony for graduating students and 2013-14 academic year award winners. The event will take place at 11:00 am on Saturday, May 18 in 318 Bailey. The event will recognize many outstanding REES area studies students:

Spring 2013 Graduating Students

Masters of Arts: Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies
Matthew Cotton, MA REES (hometown: McPherson, KS)
Gloria Funcheon, MA REES (hometown: Wichita, KS)
Sandra King-Savic, MA REES (hometown: Lucerne, Switzerland)
Amy Murphy, MA REES (hometown: Springfield, MO)
Jared Warren, MA REES (hometown: Middletown, CT)

REES Minor
James Teller, BA Theatre. Spring 2013.

Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship Awardees

The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship program provides academic year and summer fellowships to undergraduate and graduate students undergoing training in modern foreign languages. Funded by the US Department of Education and administered by CREES, FLAS Fellowships provide up to $7500 awards for summer language study at any program throughout the world. Undergraduate AY FLAS Fellowships provide up to $10,000 for tuition and a $5,000 stipend. Graduate AY FLAS Fellowships offer up to $18,000 for tuition and a $15,000 stipend.

Summer 2013 Recipients
Jason Ackerman, MA History, Polish (hometown: Randolph, NJ)
John Biersack, PhD Geography, Ukrainian (hometown: Oconomowoc, WI)
Elizabeth Burkum, MA Slavic Languages and Literatures, Russian (hometown: Grand Rapids, MI)
Amelia Davidson, PhD School of Music, Czech (hometown: Ozark, MO)
Robert Jameson, PhD History, Czech (hometown: Saint Paul, MN)
Michael Lebovitz, BA Linguistics, Yiddish (hometown: Prairie Village, KS)
Christopher Muenzen, PhD History - Univ of Pennsylvania, Ukrainian
Jacob Ornburn, BA Slavic Languages and Literatures, Russian (hometown: Lawrence, KS)

Academic Year 2013-14 Recipients
Jason Ackerman, MA History, Polish (hometown: Randolph, NJ)
Maggie Boyles, BA Theatre, Yiddish
Miriam Brack, PhD School of Music, Russian (hometown: Indianapolis, IN)
Emily Csinsi, MA REES, Russian (hometown: Edgewood, KY)
Luke Franklin, PhD Slavic Languages and Literatures, Russian (hometown: Castle Rock, CO)
Katherine Gwynn, BA English and Women & Gender Studies, Russian
Megan Luttrell, PhD Slavic Languages and Literatures, BCS (Marion, MA)
Robert Jameson, PhD History, Czech (hometown: Saint Paul, MN)
Alexander Melin, JD LAW, Ukrainian (hometown: Garden City, KS)

CREES-AmCham Georgia Strategic Studies Internship
The CREES-AmCham Internship is an opportunity for a REES affiliated graduate student at KU to conduct field research on a topic of strategic importance as well as earn valuable experience interning with the American Chamber of Commerce in the country of Georgia. The Summer 2013 CREES-AmCham Intern is KU LAW student Alexander Melin (hometown: Garden City, KS). Melin will conduct research on issues pertaining to judiciary reform and rule of law. He will receive a summer stipend of $5,000 from the Fort Leavenworth Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO).

FMSO-CREES Graduate Research Assistantships
The FMSO-CREES Research Assistantship is a cooperative project of FMSO and CREES. REES students in either Humanities or Social Sciences who are interested in gaining a better understanding of how the US military analyzes the Eurasian security environment intern with FMSO and are guided by experts as they research a security question of their own interest. Graduate research assistants receive tuition and fees and semester stipends ($7,500 for fall; $5,000 for summer).

Spring 2013 Recipients
Alisa Moldavanova, PhD Public Administration (hometown: Odessa, Ukraine)
Arnold Ressin, MA REES/JD

Summer 2013 Recipients
Vincent Artman, PhD Geography (hometown: Gold Beach, OR)

Fall 2013 Recipients
Dezeree Hodish, PhD History (hometown: Pittsburgh, PA)
Deepak Jayaraj, MA REES (hometown: New Delhi, India)
Michael Rose, MA REES (hometown: Seymour, TX)
Arnold Ressin, MA REES/JD

George C. Jerkovich Scholarship
This scholarship provides $1500 to an outstanding student who has demonstrated an interest in the study of Former Yugoslavia. The 2013 recipient is Rebecca Stakun (hometown: Doylestown, PA). Stakun will use this award to pursue her interest in South Slavic Studies and BCS languages at the University of Kansas.

Palij Family Award
The Palij Family Award, established by the Palij Family, is annually awarded to an outstanding student specializing in Ukrainian studies. The 2013 recipient is KU Law student Alexander Melin (hometown: Garden City, KS). The award includes $75 worth of academic books, and acknowledgement on a plaque that hangs outside the main CREES office, acknowledging all winners.

Norman E. Saul Travel Award
Named after KU History Emeritus Professor Norman E. Saul, this fund supports REES students with travel grants to collections or to REES related conferences at which they will be presenting the results of their research.

Fall 2012
Matthew Cotton, MA REES (hometown: McPherson, KS)
Emily Csinsi, MA REES (hometown: Edgewood, KY)
Gloria Funcheon, MA REES (hometown: Wichita, KS)
Natalie Mauser-Carter, MA REES (hometown: Dayton, OH)
Amy Murphy, MA REES (hometown: Springfield, MO)
Jared Warren, MA REES (hometown: Middletown, CT)

Spring 2013
Gloria Funcheon, MA REES (hometown: Wichita, KS)
Natalie Mauser-Carter, MA REES (hometown: Dayton, OH)

May 2013

Doctoral Student Wins Laird Essay Contest

LAWRENCE — The Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES) has announced that this year's Roy D. and Betty Laird Essay Contest winner is University of Kansas Department of Geography doctoral student Vincent Artman, Eugene, Ore., for his essay titled "Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan: Between Nationalism and Nation-State."

The essay will be the topic of a brownbag lecture from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, in Bailey Hall Room 318.

Now in its 19th year, the annual essay contest is named after the late Roy D. Laird, a longtime member of the Russian and East European studies and political science faculties, and Betty Laird, whose support makes this prize possible. As a recipient of the award, Artman receives $750, a book budget of $75, a certificate and his name on a plaque bearing the names of all previous winners of the competition, which is displayed outside the main CREES office.

Artman received his bachelor's and master's degrees in geography, as well as a certificate in Russian & East European studies and a bachelor's degree in history, at the University of Oregon. He was also recently awarded the David Sopher New Scholar Award for his paper "Neglected Geographies: Islam in Soviet Central Asia." In 2012, he received the Association of American Geographers Graduate Student Paper Award and Honorable Mention, Association of American Geographers Political Geography Specialty Group Student Paper Award for his paper "Geopolitics, Islam, and Terror: Representation and Uzbek-American Relations." He was also awarded a Summer 2013 CREES-FMSO Graduate Research Assistantship to conduct field research in Kyrgyzstan.

A committee of three REES faculty read and independently rated the anonymous essays submitted for the contest and noted clarity, cogency, relevance to contemporary issues and strong composition of Artman's entry. According to CREES acting director Mariya Omelicheva, Artman's thought-piece was "immediately engaging" and "a pleasure to read."
Click here for more information about the Laird Essay Contest.

May 2013