ADA, Okla. 鈥� This spring, students in the East Central University Russian Studies Program participated in the Central Association of Russian Teachers of America (CARTA) conference in Austin, Texas, where they presented research papers and earned several awards for their Russian poetry recitations.
Nine 成人B站 students, faculty and staff representatives attended the conference. Five students presented research papers, and three students participated in the Regional Yevgeny Yevtushenko Russian Poetry Recital Contest.
Broden Haley received the Best Student Paper Award for his paper, 鈥淧anel by Panel: The Modern Comic Book in Post-Soviet Russia.鈥�
鈥淚n my second year participating, CARTA remains an event that provides scholarly insight into Russia鈥檚 wealth of culture, history and linguistic values,鈥� Haley said. 鈥淐ARTA allowed me to give a presentation on comic books, a topic I am very passionate about, and opened up a pleasant conversation that further enriched my knowledge. The conference atmosphere was welcoming for student presenters and gave all of us a chance to interact with professional scholars while gaining experience presenting at the scholarly level.鈥�
Rafael Charqueno received a gold medal for his recitation of Ivan Krylov鈥檚 鈥淎 Crow and a Fox.鈥�
鈥淐ARTA gives me a chance to meet and have meaningful conversations with people I wouldn鈥檛 otherwise have known,鈥� Charqueno said. 鈥淗aving the opportunity to connect and share ideas with those who have similar interests is invaluable, both as a student and as a person.鈥�
John Kelso received a gold medal for his recitation of 鈥淏abi Yar鈥� by Yevgeniy Yevtushenko. He also earned a special prize established by the Yevtushenko family 鈥淔or the Best Presentation of Yevtushenko鈥檚 Poetry.鈥� Lines from the poem are inscribed at the entrance of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Reflecting on the conference, Kelso said, 鈥渘ot only was it a place to examine Russian as a language, but it served as a looking glass into Slavic identity and experience.鈥�
鈥淢any of the presentations explored topics such as Soviet representation in American cinema and civil rights for women in the Eastern Bloc. Some focused on cultures from a standalone perspective, while others offered direct comparison to Western cultures and history. It is not enough to learn a language by its rules; language is a series of red strings that run through the world, and CARTA allows students to make those connections themselves.鈥�
Madison Hawkins received a silver medal for her recitation of 鈥淪nowfall鈥� by Yuna Moritz.
鈥淲hile there, I felt truly immersed in Russian culture due to the informative presentations, traditional music and entertainment, and conversations with the professors and students who shared their passion for learning language and culture,鈥� Hawkins said.
鈥淢y classmates and I were able to share our passion for learning language and culture as well by participating in the presentations and the Yevgeny Yevtushenko Poetry Recital Contest,鈥� she continued. 鈥淭hroughout the semester, we practiced reciting our poems in and outside of class, and it felt amazing to have the privilege to appreciate Russian poetry through the contest.鈥�
Professor Tatiana Orlova of Bard College praised the 成人B站 students鈥� performances at the conference, saying, 鈥淎 special thank you goes to your students. They are outstanding! The poetry recitation caught me by surprise, I was not prepared. [I] couldn鈥檛 hold back the tears.鈥�
Additional students attending the conference included Jesse Barker, Zoe Grooms, Paige Kris, Isabella Gaston and Olivia Hunley. Barker, Hunley and Kelso also presented research papers during the conference.
鈥淭he opportunity I had not only to present at CARTA, but also to network with professionals, has repeatedly been one of the best experiences I have had at 成人B站,鈥� Barker said. 鈥淓ach year at CARTA, I鈥檓 given a chance to practice both Russian and Spanish alike with some of the most knowledgeable individuals in both languages, which has been a transformative experience.鈥�
Following the CARTA conference, Charqueno, Kelso and Hawkins performed their award-winning recitations on the 成人B站 campus during the annual Dobro Slovo induction ceremony.
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