Scholarly conference to focus on identities (04/04/99)

Scholarly conference to focus on identities

NEW YORK - The fourth annual convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN), "Rethinking Identities: State, Nation, Culture," will be held April 15-17 at Columbia University, International Affairs Building, 420 W. 118th St.

The convention is the largest gathering ever of scholars interested in issues of ethnicity, nationalism, national identity and nation-building of the former Soviet bloc.

The convention will feature 87 panels, with close to 400 participants.All post-Soviet areas will be covered in depth, with nine panels on Ukraine, 13 on the Russian Federation, some 15 on Eastern Europe, five on the Baltics, four on the Caucasus as well as several cross-regional panels. Roundtables will be devoted to Kosovo, "Russia in Turmoil" and Chechnya.

The panels on Ukraine will feature the following topics: "The Current Situation of the Ukrainian Countryside"; "Tatars, Ukrainians, and Russians in Crimea"; "Cultural Identity and Arts in the Ukrainian Diaspora"; "Non-Russian Minorities in Ukraine"; "Parties, Soldiers and Societies in Ukraine"; "National Dimensions in Ukrainian History"; "Aspects of Identity in Contemporary Ukraine" (sponsored by the Shevchenko Scientific Society); and "Ethnicity and Nation-Building in Ukraine." A commemorative session on the topic "Church and Nation in Ukraine" has been organized in memory of Prof. Bohdan Bociurkiw by the Church Studies Program of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. In addition, numerous papers in other sessions deal with Ukraine on topics such as women's political identities and post-Soviet Ukrainian textbooks.

The strong representation of North American, Western European and Ukrainian scholars at the conference testifies to the ASN's success in serving as a forum for post-Soviet studies and the increasing stature of the Ukrainian program at Columbia University, the event's sponsor.

Registration fees for the conference are: $25, ASN members; $40, non-members; $10, students. Registration will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 15, on the 15th floor of IAB. The panels will run from 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on April 15 and from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on April 16 and 17.

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