Individuals who cannot participate in the Summer School, but would like to join us for a guided tour of Belarus by minibus (August 7-21) are also welcome to apply. We will continue to accept applications until *June 1st*.
***Please note that tuition scholarships are still available from the Center for Belarusian Studies***.
Further information about the program, together with a downloadable application form, can be found on the website of the Center for Belarusian Studies at Southwestern College:
International Summer School of Belarusian Studies
Hajnówka, Poland
July 7 - August 6, 2010
The Center for Belarusian Studies at Southwestern College (Winfield, KS) invites undergraduate and graduate students to participate in its second International Summer School of Belarusian Studies from July 7 to August 6, 2010. The program, co-sponsored by the Poland-based Belarusian Historical Society, will be held at the Belarusian Cultural Center and Belarusian Lyceum in the town of Hajnówka in the Podlasie region of northeastern Poland, an area of great natural beauty and home to Poland’s ethnic Belarusian minority — an ideal setting for the study of Belarusian language, history and culture, as well as for the study of a broad range of issues relating to cultural diversity and minorities policies in the expanded EU.
PROGRAM
Coursework will include intensive Belarusian language instruction (beginning and intermediate levels and individual advanced-level tutorials) and
lectures in English and Belarusian on Belarusian history, literature and the arts, contemporary politics and society. The program will also include a regional studies component, with lectures and events focusing on the history, culture and current status of the Belarusian minority in Poland, as well as of the Podlasie region’s other ethnic groups, including Poles, Jews, Tatars, Lithuanians, and Russian Old Believers.
FACULTY
The Summer School faculty will include instructors from Bialystok University and the Belarusian Lyceum in Hajnówka, as well as visiting
instructors from a number of Belarusian universities. Additional guest lectures on Belarusian history, politics and culture will be given by visiting researchers from Europe and North America.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Participants will have a choice of hotel accommodations at the Belarusian Cultural Center, or homestays with Belarusian-speaking families in Hajnówka.
CULTURAL PROGRAM
Coursework will be supplemented by a rich and diverse cultural program, including visits to Belarusian minority cultural organizations and media outlets, meetings with Belarusian writers and artists, films, concerts, and excursions to important sites related to Belarusian culture and the other cultures of the Podlasie region: the city of Bialystok, the recently restored Orthodox monastery and Museum of Icons in Suprasl, the Bialowieza National Park (the largest and ecologically most diverse remnant of the primeval forests of the Northern European plain), the historic towns of Bielsk Podlaski, Drohiczyn and Mielnik, the Holy Mountain of Grabarka (the most important Eastern Orthodox pilgrimage site in Poland), the 17th-century Great Synagogue in Tykocin, the Tatar mosque and cemetery in Kruszyniany, and the Borderland Center in Sejny, a unique institution dedicated to preserving the rich multicultural heritage of the borderland region and promoting dialogue and mutual understanding between its many ethnic groups and cultures. In mid-July students will also have the opportunity to attend Basovishcha, the annual festival of Belarusian rock music organized by the Belarusian Students’ Association in the town of Gródek (Haradok) east of Bialystok.
OPTIONAL TOURS TO BELARUS AND LITHUANIA
Following the Summer School from August 7-21, students will have the option of traveling to Belarus on a guided tour including Hrodna, Slonim, Navahrudak, Mir, Niasvizh, Minsk, Polack, Viciebsk, Mahilou, Pinsk and Brest.
The trip will end with a visit to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, including important sites related to the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the modern Belarusian national movement.
PROGRAM FEES & FINANCIAL AID
The program cost, including tuition, room, board, cultural program and excursions is $3,000. Tuition scholarships for qualified students are available.
The approximate cost of the optional Belarus and Lithuania tour at the end of the program will be $950 per person, including in-country transportation by chartered minibus, a Belarusian and English-speaking guide, museum admission and other excursion fees, hotel accommodations and food.
CONTACTS
For further information, please contact the program director: Dr. Curt Woolhiser, Harvard University, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Barker Center 327, 12 Quincy St., Cambridge MA 02138-3804; e-mail: [email protected]; tel. (617) 495-3528.
