American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies

The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS), a nonprofit, non-political, scholarly society, is the leading private organization in the world dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about the former Soviet Union (including Eurasia) and Eastern and Central Europe. The AAASS supports teaching, research, and publication relating to the peoples and territories within this area.

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AAASS Executive Director Search

The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies is seeking to hire a full-time Executive Director for its new headquarters located at the University of Pittsburgh. The anticipated starting date for this position is April 15, 2010. The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications on January 8, 2010. Finalists will be interviewed at the University of Pittsburgh in early February.

Responsibilities for the position include supervising staff and assisting Association officers and committees; preparing the annual budget and preparing for the Executive Committee and Board meetings; strategic planning for the organization; fundraising and membership outreach; serving as liaison with other institutions; and advocacy work. Some domestic and international travel required.

Qualifications required: advanced degree, Ph.D. preferred; 5 years of combined administrative and academic experience; familiarity with at least one of the countries (including its language) in the region represented by the Association; good interpersonal, supervisory, and leadership skills; computer skills; excellent written and oral communication skills.

Applicants must apply online at www.hr.pitt.edu Job #0127383. In addition, each applicant must send an updated curriculum vitae, cover letter explaining the applicant's specific qualifications for the position, and a list of three references with email addresses and phone numbers to aaassexecsrch@ucis.pitt.edu. In order to be considered, an applicant must fill out the formal online application and send supporting materials to the designated email address.

The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies is an Equal Opportunity Employer. For more information about AAASS, see http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~aaass/. The University of Pittsburgh is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. We are also in compliance with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Kathryn W. Davis Graduate Student Travel Grant - Call for Applications

Kathryn W. Davis's generous donation to our organization, combined with matching donations from AAASS members, enables us to help subsidize travel costs for graduate students presenting papers at the 2010 AAASS Convention. We anticipate that we will be able to fund, on a competitive basis, 10 or more awards of up to $500 each. We are especially committed to subsidizing those graduate students who are attending the convention for the first time or who have no local institutional resources for travel support. Students may receive only ONE Davis Graduate Travel Grant over the course of their graduate studies.

Grant Provisions: The Davis Graduate Student Travel Grant is a merit- and need-based open competition. It will fund travel for graduate students presenting papers at the 2010 AAASS National Convention, which will be held in Los Angeles, California. Failure to attend the convention and present the paper will result in the forfeiture of the grant.

Eligibility: Two categories of students presenting a paper at the Convention are invited to apply: 1) Ph.D. students in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian fields who have already completed their master's degrees; 2) students enrolled in a professional master's program in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies.

Please note that all panelists and roundtable participants must become members of AAASS in order to participate. Preference will be given to first-time presenters, though students who have presented in the past may also apply. Since our funding is limited and we wish to fund as many deserving applicants as possible, we urge applicants to be as practical as possible in estimating their travel and lodging budget - e.g., that they consider sharing a room with another graduate student at the convention hotel where this option is feasible.

Deadline for applications: March 31, 2010. All applicants will be notified of their status by April 30, 2010.

All applicants must submit the following materials:
1) Curriculum vitae;
2) Abstract of the paper to be presented at the convention;
3) Tentative budget;
4) Statement of need, describing anticipated travel costs and potential other sources of funding;
5) Letter of reference from advisor or department chair which includes confirmation that departmental and/or institutional conference travel funds are not sufficient.

Application materials should be sent by e-mail to the members of the selection committe and Wendy Walker at the AAASS office (walker@fas.harvard.edu).

The selection committee includes:
Dmitry P. Gorenburg, Harvard U (gorenbur@fas.harvard.edu),
Beth Holmgren, Duke U (beth.holmgren@duke.edu),
Bruce Grant, New York U (bruce.grant@nyu.edu),
Robert Weinberg, Swarthmore College, (rweinbe1@swarthmore.edu).

Apply for AAASS Membership or Renew Online

Members of the AAASS -- and those interested in joining the Association -- can now submit their membership applications online, through our Members Only / Registered Users site (www.aaassmembers.org). ... more...

Multi-Year Data Set for Title VIII Participant Organizations

In November 2008, at the AAASS conference in Philadelphia, seven of the eight Title VIII recipient organizations were asked to produce five-year data sets reflecting individual application numbers and successful grant numbers for their various programs. The data on applicants and grants collected by these organizations and presented at the 2008 Philadelphia convention was compiled and organized by Robert T. Huber in an article "Multi-Year Data Set for Title VIII Participant Organizations: Some Preliminary Conclusions." An abbreviated version of this article was published in the May 2009 issue of NewsNet (v. 49, n. 3). ... more...

Russian Visa Restrictions Hurt Scholarship

The AAASS is seriously concerned about the visa restrictions recently placed on foreign scholars working in Russia. We encourage our members who have contacts with senior scholars and Russian government officials to use the template provided to write to them and ask them to use their influence to urge the Russian government to change its visa policy. Those members who do not have such contacts are urged to write one (or more) of the senior government officials listed on the template form. ... more...

New York Public Library's Slavic Reading Room

Some of our members have expressed concern about the closing of the New York Public Library's Slavic Reading Room last year. On July 13, 2009, William Taubman, the president of the AAASS, sent a letter to the Library Director in response to this closure and the subsequent neglect of the Library's Slavic Collection. His letter and the director's response are reproduced below.

William Taubman's letter to the New York Public Library

David S. Ferriero, Director of the New York Public Libraries response to William Taubman

Russian Commission to Counteract Attempts at Falsifying History to Damage the Interests of Russia

AAASS President William Taubman sent in July 2009 a letter to Russian President Dmitrii Medvedev, expressing our association's support for the American Historical Association's statement of concern over the recent creation of a Commission to Counteract Attempts at Falsifying History to Damage the Interests of Russia. To date we have not received any response from the Russian President's office. Both texts may be found below.

William Taubman's letter to Dmitrii Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation

American Historical Association's letter to Dmitrii Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation