IU Bloomington: Russian and East European Institute

Indiana University is home to the oldest Baltic and Finnish Studies program in the United States. In addition to area studies course work covering the entire region, IU offers language instruction from beginning to advanced levels in Finnish and Estonian. Recently, IU hosted both the 16th conference of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (1998) and the Baltic Studies Summer Institute (1998 & 1999 and 2005 &2006). In 2008 IU will host the 21st conference of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies.

Felix Oinas (Ph.D., Indiana University) was appointed Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Uralic and Altaic Studies, and fellow of the Folklore Institute in 1965 and retired from teaching in 1981. Oinas, who was crucial in the early development of the Estonian studies program, has done extensive research in the fields of folklore and linguistics. Among his numerous publications are Essays on Russian Folklore and Mythology (1985), Studies in Finnic Folklore: Homage to the Kalevala (1985) and Folklore, Nationalism and Politics (editor, 1978).

Alo Raun (Ph.D., Tartu University) was appointed Professor of Linguistics in 1952 and retired from teaching in 1975. Raun, a “founding father” of the Estonian studies program at Indiana University, researched and published widely in the field of Finno-Ugric linguistics. Among Raun’s many publications are Introduction to Estonian Linguistics (1965), Spoken Uzbek (1969), and Essays in Finno-Ugric and Finnic Linguistics (1965).

Toivo Raun, Professor of Central Eurasian Studies and Adjunct Professor of History (Ph.D, Princeton University), was appointed to IU in 1990. His courses include The Baltic States Since 1918, Finland in the 20th Century, Empire and Ethnicity in Modern Russian History, Estonian Culture and Civilization, Uralic Peoples and Cultures, and Ethnic Relations in the Post-Soviet West. His current research interests include the following: cultural survival and national identity: the Baltic case; the rise and impact of literacy in the Baltic region; and comparative levels of development in the interwar Baltic states.

Inta Carpenter, Associate Research Scholar, and Associate Director, Special Projects, Folklore Institute (Ph.D., Indiana University) was appointed in 1975. Carpenter has researched and published on numerous topics related to the Baltic states. Recent research projects have focused on exile participation in the 1990 Latvian song festival, Latvians in displaced persons camps following WWII, and women’s narratives about health care. Carpenter’s publications include A Latvian Storyteller: The Repertoire of Janis Plavnieks (Arno Press, 1980); “The Aesthetics of Reform: Women’s Narratives about Childbirth in Latvia,” Problems of Post-Communism 45/6 (1998): 13-21; and “Festival as Reconciliation,” Journal of Folklore Research 33/2 (1996): 93-124. Carpenter is currently president of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies.

Anna Pajunen (2005-2006): Anna is a Visiting Lecturer for Finnish language and Culture in Central Eurasian Studies. She received her degree from Jyväskylä University, Finland, in 2002, where her major was Finnish. Before she came to Indiana University, she was at Jyväskylä Open University for four years, where she taught Finnish and linguistics to elementary school teachers. Her current research interests are Finnish structure, word formation and word derivation processes, and 19th century language development in Finland.

Piibi-Kai Kivik (1998-2000 and 2001-2005): Kivik is an Associate Instructor and teaches Introductory Estonian I & II, Intermediate Estonian I & II, and Advanced Estonian I & II. She received her M.A. in English from the University of Tartu, Estonia, in 1997, and went on to earn her M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge in English and Applied Linguistics in 1997. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tartu and at Indiana University in Applied Linguistics-TESOL. Her research interests include linguistic pragmatics, second language acquisition, and cross-cultural communication. Recent publications include "What Silence Says: Communicative Style and National Identity," in Trames (1998): 66-90. "Contrasts between the contrasters: what discussion groups can tell us about discourse pragmatics," in K.M.Jaszczolt and K. Turner(eds), Meaning Through Language Contrast, vol.2, John Benjamins (2003), pp.373-401.

Tuija Lehtonen (2000-2002): Lehtonen is a researcher and a teacher of Finnish as a second language at the University of Jyväskyla and the Summer University of Jyväskyla. She received her M.A. from the University of Jyväskyla in 1998 in Finnish language. Her recent research focuses on reading hypertexts and the reading strategies of students studying Finnish as a foreign language. Most recently, Lehtonen has participated in two European Union projects: the DIALANG project, a diagnostic language assessment project in EU languages, and the Small is Beautiful Project, a CD ROM-based basic course in less widely spoken and taught European languages.

Ene Alas (1996-1998, 2000-2001): Ms. Alas teaches Contemporary English, Integrated Language Skills and Translation Theory at Tallinn Pedagogical University in the Department of English. Her research interests include second language acquisition, sociolinguistics and testing. Ms. Alas has also taught Estonian as a foreign language to American Peace Corps volunteers in Estonia. Her publications include Exploring Estonian: Student’s Book (Tallinn, 1996), a textbook for teaching elementary Estonian to speakers of English.

Aija Elg (1998-2000): Ms. Elg has taught Finnish in a variety of schools, including the University of Helsinki, the Vocational Adult Education Centre of Järvepää, and the European Commission Council for Instruction of Finnish for Foreigners. She received her M.A. from the University of Helsinki in 1990 in Finnish language and literature.

Indiana University’s interdisciplinary program in East European studies presents students with several options for a course of study on Estonia or Finland. All students can enroll in up to three years of language instruction during the academic year; summer intensive programs are available for the first year of study in Estonian. Graduate students pursuing Estonian or Finnish language study during either the academic year or the summer session may compete for Foreign Language and Area studies (FLAS) Fellowships.

Undergraduate and graduate students pursuing Estonian or Finnish studies at Indiana University may work towards a degree, certificate, or a minor in either the Department of Central Eurasian Studies (CEUS) or the Russian and East European Institute (REEI). These programs cooperate closely, and students pursuing a degree in either program take courses together. However, there are differences in degree requirements for the two programs; students applying to the university should investigate which best meets their needs. The main difference is that the Department of Central Eurasian Studies covers the Finno-Ugric languages and the non-Slavic regions of the former Soviet Union, as well as the Turkic, Mongol, and Tibetan regions of Central Asia. In an Estonian or Finnish Studies concentration in CEUS, students take courses focusing on either Estonian or Finnish history, literature, linguistics, and politics in the context of Finno-Ugric studies with a focus on the Baltic Sea Region. They also specialize in one of the disciplines listed.

The Russian and East European Institute covers the entire former communist bloc region. Students pursuing an Estonian or Finnish Studies concentration in the Russian and East European Institute may enroll in the same history, language, and politics classes as their CEUS counterparts but will also be required to complete interdisciplinary course work that focuses on Estonia or Finland in comparison with nations of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

***Non-language Finnish course offerings vary, subject to the particular skills of the visiting instructor. Please contact CEUS for information about Finnish courses that will be offered during the academic year in which you intend to enroll.***

The aim of this course is to familiarize students with Finnish folk culture, to help them recognize the “Finnish tradition” in contemporary culture and to offer them an opportunity to have a new outlook on Finland. The course explores the origins of Finns and Finnish folk culture and the transition from rural culture to urbanization. The concepts of Finnish family and kinship are discussed, as are traditional festivities and Finnish settlements ranging from manor houses and castles to rural dwellings and industrial architecture of the 1800. The students are encouraged to engage in comparative discussion on differences and similarities between Finnish and American culture.

After the course the student should have a general idea of the history of Finland and the development of the Finnish society and culture from the stone age to the end of the Swedish rule (1809). The topics discussed in the course include: the roots of Finns, the settlement of Finland, the folk culture, the Christian religion, Finland’s location in the middle of the Western and East European cultures, the main political events in Finland before 1910, and the status of the Finnish language.

The Central Eurasian Studies Department has offered Finnish and Estonian language classes for 40 years. Two professors have taught Estonian for most of the first twenty years of the Estonian Studies program: Felix Oinas and Alo Raun. Since 1989, all the Estonian instructors have come from Estonia. Thanks to an agreement between Indiana University and the Finnish government, the Finnish language courses have been taught since the mid-1980s by a visiting Professor of Finnish from Finland.

The Baltic Studies Summer Institute (BALSSI) was founded in 1994 to provide an opportunity for interested students and scholars to increase their knowledge and understanding of the languages, culture, and history of the Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. BALSSI receives partial funding by a consortium of several American universities: the University of Illinois, the University of Illinois-Chicago, Indiana University, the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, the University of Texas-Austin, and the University of Washington. One member of the supporting universities hosts this annual program each summer. BALSSI was held at the University of Washington in 1994, 1995, 2003 and 2004, the University of Illinois-Chicago during 1996 and 1997, Indiana University in 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2006, the University of Iowa in 2000 and 2001, and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2002. The University of California, Los Angeles, will host BALSSI in the summer of 2007.

Indiana University has an active agreement with the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, Mikkeli, Finland. As part of the agreement, IU sends MBA students to Helsinki and undergraduates to Helsinki's undergraduate program in Mikkeli in the summer. Finns send both graduate and undergraduates to IU's undergraduate program for a semester or an academic year.

The Indiana University Main Library holds one of the largest collections of Estonian and Finnish media in the United States. Among the Estonian journals and newspapers available in the library’s Research Collection are Keel ja Kirjandus; Looming; Sirp; Tuna: ajalooline ajakiri; Teater, Muusika, Kino; Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia Toimetised. The Main Library also offers a wide range of Latvian books, serials and journals, with sources in German, Russian, and English as well as Latvian. Journals include daily newspapers and the prominent literary magazine Karogs, among others.

Items from the Indiana University Russian and East European Institute are available for loan without charge to instructors and students for use in the classroom, research, or for curriculum development. The user is responsible for paying return postage and insurance. You may view a list of available materials here. To request materials, please call (812) 855-7309, e-mail reei@indiana.edu or write to: Russian and East European Institute, Indiana University, 1020 East Kirkwood Avenue, Ballantine Hall 565, Bloomington, IN 47405. Films in the Baltic collection include The Baltic Tragedy (1985), Is it Easy to be Young? (1986), Lost, Lost, Lost (1976), and The Shoe (1998).

Videos and compact discs are available for ten-day loan to IU faculty and students. Contact CEUS at 812-855-2398, kniggle@indiana.edu, or 812-855-2233, ceus@indiana.edu. Items may be picked up in Goodbody Hall 153. Instructors outside IU who want to use the items in the classroom or for curriculum development should make arrangements though the outreach coordinators at the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, 812-855-7319, iaunrc@indiana.edu, or the Russian and East European Institute, 812-855-7309. There is no charge except return postage with insurance. You may view a list of available items here.

*Ulo Valk, Folklore Professor at Tartu University, “Aliens, Ghosts, Energy-Stones: Fieldwork in Summer 2000 in Kassari, Estonia” on October 30, 2000.

*Kalevi Kull, Tartu University, "A Teleology of the Estonian Research Tradition" on November 4, 1999 which focused on the works of Karl Ernst von Baer, Jakob von Uexkull, and Juri Lotman. Read the REEIfication article about Kull's lecture.

Coffee hours provide an opportunity for people who are interested in speaking Finnish or one of the languages of the Baltic States to come together over coffee and conversation.

Please view the Coffee Hour flier for information on where and when the Baltic Language Coffee Hours are held.

The celebration of independence days at IU is a popular way for students to combine their studies with an event that brings together a diverse community of individuals in celebration of an important day of remembrance. Commemorative events also provide an opportunity for students to meet with members of the immigrant communities that correspond to their area of study. Estonian and Finnish Independence Day have been celebrated at Indiana University since the 1980's; the tradition of celebrating Latvian and Lithuanian independence days only began more recently in 2000. Typically, these events include an address by a keynote speaker, music, poetry, and food from the country being celebrated. Each celebration has its own flavor and unique attractions. The 2000 Finnish Independence Day celebration, for example, had an exhibition of its adopted national dance—the tango. For the 2000 Latvian independence day, a speech was given on the meanings of independence to Latvians.

BaFSA aims to support and promote a multidisciplinary community of scholarly inquiry into Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian society, history, culture, and language. In pursuit of this goal, BaFSA sponsors academic and cultural events. The association also acts as a link to other organizations and institutions engaged in like-minded activities. Special emphasis is put on encouraging interest among those still unacquainted with Baltic and Finnish studies. Membership is open to all interested persons wishing to participate in the association, and the general public and undergraduate students are strongly encouraged to attend its activities. BaFSA is affiliated with both the Central Eurasian Studies (CEUS) department and the Russian and East European Institute (REEI). The organization's faculty advisor is CEUS professor Toivo Raun.