20 years of bridging cultures

TWENTY YEARS OF BRIDGING CULTURES

Tamara G. Bogolepova, FEFU, Vladivostok

• The Fulbright Program has played a very significant role in my professional biography. My activity as a Fulbright Scholar began 20 years ago, in January 1993.

• My Fulbright year was full of unusual events but the most important of them was the meeting with the “Founding Farther” of the Fulbright program:

• Senator James William Fulbright (1905-1995) and his wife.

Harriet Mayor Fulbright at the reception: The Great Hall of The Castle. The Smithsonian Institution, March 22, 1993.

• Senior Fulbright Scholar Conference “American Democracy Toward the 21st Century”, March 20-23, 1993.

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• The anniversaries are important not only for the great dates themselves. They also make it possible to express gratitude to those who helped and supported you at that time.

My cordial acknowledgements to:

Professor Birgitta M. Ingemansson, WSU,

Department of Foreign Languages and

Literatures, - my research supervisor

and a dear friend of mine.

The officers of the United States Information

Agency and the Council for International

Exchange of Scholars, especially to Laurie

Calhoun and Andrea M. Johnson,

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My cordial acknowledgements to:

• Professor Deborah Haynes, WSU,

• Department of Fine Arts, - my

consultant in the arts issues and

a dear friend of mine.

• the colleagues from the Department and the Administration of Washington State University,

• and a great many people in different parts of the U.S.

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• The topic of my project – “John Gardner and Leo Tolstoy”- concerned the problem of interaction between Russian and American literatures but actually it was connected with the interaction between our cultures. It was in Washington State University (Pullman) where I came as a visiting Fulbright Scholar that I worked in this direction.

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• Thompson Hall – Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

• Stimson Hall – the dorm I lived in

during the Spring Semester

Washington State University

• I was offered to take part in the work of Russian-American Contact Group at WSU

• I also participated in the 45th Conference of NAFSA:

“Bridges and Gateways to the Future of International Education”, May 30 – June 2, 1993, San Francisco, California

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Some activities at WSU as a Visiting Fulbright Scholar:

• A Course: “American Verse Translated by Russian Poets” (Bunin-Longfellow; Bal’mont, Briusov-Allan Poe; Chukovskii-Whitman)

• Classes of Russian Language• Meetings with students at the WSU campus

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• Public Lecture at WSU Avery Hall: «Bridging Cultures. American Poets In Russian Dress”, November 10, 1993.

• Professor Elwood Hartmann (WSU): “I had been really afraidof Russians before but now whenI got to know you, when I heardhow American poetry sounds in Russian I feel quite the opposite”

• After returning home I continued my work in several directions. Firstly, it was teaching activity.

Courses at FESU after coming back to Vladivostok:• “The History of American Literature”• “The History of American Arts (Visual Art,

Architecture, Music)” • “The Contemporary American Novel (1970s-1990s)”

• Secondly, I took an active part in the realization of exchange programs between FESU and American universities,

• in organizing of Primorye Association

• of Fulbright Alumni – after the • meeting of the organizing group • with the officers of the U.S. • Consulate General in Vladivostok

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• Thirdly, the important sphere of my post-Fulbright activity was the organization and the execution of conferences on the cross-cultural issues I took part in the work of Organizing Committees for five international conferences, and made presentations there.

The first of them was – International Conference “Experiencing American Culture In The Classroom”. June 12-14, 1996 Vladivostok. Hosted by Far Eastern State University, more than 300 participants from Russia and APR countries. I can’t forget the atmosphere of friendship and cordiality of those days in the extremely rainy and cold June of 1996.

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The 1996 Conference was a great success and a starting point for TESOL-FEELTA forums

• One of them - 2004 The Fifth Pan-Asian Conference on Language Teaching at FEELTA 2004. “Sharing Challengers, Sharing Solutions: Teaching Languages in Diverse Contexts”. June 24-27, Vladivostok. Hosted by FESU.

• The group of the presenters for the section “Teaching Literature and Arts”.

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• 2002 – International Conference “American Studies In The Pacific Rim Countries”. March 28-30, Vladivostok. Hosted by FESU.

It gathered more than 200 specialists in different spheres of knowledge:

historians, politologists, sociologists, philologists, etc.

• The group of presenters for the section “American Literature and Arts”

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• 2008 – International Conference “West and East. Existential Issues in Foreign Literatures” – October 2-4, 2008, Vladivostok. Hosted by FESU.

• An honorable guest and a plenary speaker for the Conference

Lomonosov MSU Professor Tatiana D. Venedictova at the opening plenary

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• I also participated in in the conferences and seminars on American Studies in various places, e.g.

• 2002 - International Conference “The U.S.A. Literature and the World Culture ” – Lomonosov Moscow State University

2005- American Studies Seminar “Developing American Studies Curricula” – January 24-28, Khabarovsk. Hosted by Khabarovsk State Academy of Economics and Law.

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• 2011- International Conference “20th Century Literature in English from Cross-Cultural Perspectives”. Harbin. Hosted by Harbin Institute of Technology.

• Presenters from Russia (FEFU) before the beginning of Plenary meeting

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SOME OF MY ARTICLES ON THE U.S.A. LITERATURE

• Проблема взаимодействия культур в романе Эми Тэн «Клуб радости и удачи»// Культурно-языковые контакты. Владивосток: ДВГУ, 1999,

вып.1. С. 3-15.• «Соучастие душ»: поэзия Эдгара Аллана По в переводах русских

символистов. Лавка Языков. Восток России..http://vladivostok.com/Speaking_In _ Tongues/index/htm/ 2000.

• Проблема поисков нравственных ценностей в новеллах Реймонда Карвера // Американистика в странах Тихоокеанского бассейна.//Материалы международной конференции 28-30 марта 2002.- Владивосток: Издательство Дальневосточного университета, 2002. С. 70-75.

• Толстовская «мысль семейная» в романах Джона Гарднера //Культурно-языковые контакты - Владивосток: изд-во ДВГУ. Вып.6, 2004. С. 357-366, etc.

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Candidate dissertations on American literature, defended by my graduate students

Hybrid Identity as a Literary Issue (Chinese American Women Literature)

2006 Evgenia M. Butenina• The Alumna of Summer Fulbright

School in Humanities (twice)• Fulbright Visiting Scholar –

California State University (Fresno), 2009. Associate Professor, FEFU

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• 2010 Tatiana Anikeeva • Associate Professor, FEFU

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•The Reception of Emily Dickinson’s Poetry in Russia.

All of this, to a large extent, is the result of my participation in the Fulbright Program, and the consequence of the opportunities which are represented by this academic exchange program, one of the best programs in the contemporary world, to my deep conviction!

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Thank you for your kind attention!