1. Alexander Koss, Migration Processes in Eastern Europe: The Human Rights Context
   Office of Kalingrad State Commissioner for Human Rights -- Ohio State University

Director:

Valentin Korneyevets
PhD of economics, Vice-Rector of the Kaliningrad State University

Academic Director:

Andrei Klemeshev
Candidate of History Science, Associate Professor, Rector of the Kaliningrad State University

Address:

14, Ul. A. Nevskogo, office 103,
Kaliningrad, RUSSIA

Web: www.baltic.iriss.ru, e-mail:

Kaliningrad State University: Russian and English

• The Influence of European Philosophy on the Russian Philosophic School: Comparative Philosophy.
• Historic Preconditions, Economic, Political and Legal Aspects of EU Expansion; Impact on Russian Society's Development.
• Education in Russia and in Europe Under Globalization.

Kaliningrad, Russia, Europe: the Problem of Understanding

Vladimir Kantor, supervisor of the Kaliningrad CASE

When discussing the current problems of the Kaliningrad city and the Kaliningrad Region (KR), we most often proceed from empirical observations, pure fact or, at best, political interpretation and processing of fact. Even worse, the KR issue has been used for PR campaigns. Meanwhile, it belongs in the realm of historiosophy or, at least, geopolitics. The issue should be looked at from a longer-term historic prospective , not just ten years from now.

We are currently facing a certain comprehension problem which is vital for the future of the nation. It is related to the emerging opportunity of bringing Russia back into Europe, of integrating in European economy and politics, without compromising our own interests (incidentally, Russia has long been integrated into European culture). In this sense, the Kaliningrad enclave happens to be a very illustrative and lucky example. The "God of the area" (a Cultural Philosophy concept) seems to favor this particular spot in the Baltic region.

It is often mentioned that the social and cultural aspects of KR development are very special because of the migrant nature of its current population, geographic isolation from the rest of Russia, and close proximity to countries that belong to Western civilization. Here there are complex issues as well as opportunities to accumulate unique experience of resolving both current and future problems based on mutually beneficial international cooperation in the area. Another concern is that the clash of civilizations at the new Eastern border of European Union may intensify, and that the Kaliningrad region, surrounded by o countries, may become the focal point of conflict. There is another scenario reflecting a different type of general feeling: civilizations will tend to merge, and the KR will turn into a zone of cooperation between Russia and EU, setting an example for other border regions on both sides. Which of the two scenarios prevails is vital for the future of Europe.

In fact, the Kaliningrad situation is quite typical. Historian Vasily Klyuchevsky noted that Russia's history was a history of colonization of unoccupied areas, like the United States Russia always had its frontier. To be sure, those new areas were not always exactly "unoccupied", in some cases they were inhabited by indigenous peoples and were vacant only in the eyes of Russian settlers. The Kaliningrad population consists entirely of migrants, a social group that has always been the most dynamic. The problem is, the area had been inhabited by Germans who are normally viewed as representatives of a more advanced (material) culture. This naturally produces certain psychological complexes. Whether Russia dares to be part of Europe seems a logical question. Where does it comes from? I believe this question is a legacy of the isolationist policy of ancient Russia (before Peter the Great), with its deadly fear of any Western influence, but it also grows out of more recent experience of living behind the iron curtain in a totalitarian state, where any attempts to implant the European values of freedom and independence amounted to criminal offence.

The only reasonable alternative to catastrophic solution of international issues by our country, a choice that will lead to a world-wide disaster, is the ideology of Russian Europeism. This kind of ideology makes it possible to take a critical look both at Russia and Western Europe, for both parts of Europe are dear to the Russian European who thus has every reason to long for improvement on either side. But this type of critical approach is essentially different from the one taken by "Russian patriots" when they talk about the West, and is equally far from Western chauvinists' attitude towards Russia (with an urge to crash the enemy). What we mean is a sort of self-criticism that will hopefully take shape within European culture, the potential outcome being the possibility to lead normal life throughout the European world. The dream of a Russian poet, to live in Europe without leaving Russia, will then come true.

European Humanities University (Vilnius)

Center for Advanced Studies and Education on Social Transformations in the Western Eurasia Border Region - Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine

Oleksandr Androshchuk
National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine - University of Washington
Ukraine: Regionalism, Political Representations, and Public Attitudes (1990s-2000s)

The project deals with the problem of regionalism in contemporary Ukraine, its cultural, political, ideological, and historical dimensions.

Alexei Krivolap
European Humanities University - University of Washington
Problems of Humanities Education On-Line

Project is about teaching strategies in E-learning (distance learning). Main question is How we can organize courses in humanities discipline on-line?

Elena Matusevich
European Humanities University - Columbia University
Border Studies Curriculum Development: Construction of Cultural Identity in Belarus

This research will enable collaboration of border and media studies courses to develop programs beyond traditional disciplines.

Tatiana Pavlova
Belarus Institute of Law - University of Washington
Comparative Analysis of Belarusian and Ukrainian National Identities

National identity plays a significant role in social transformation of any borderline region. Comparative analysis of Ukraine and Belarus can show major differences as to how identity creation can influence transformations.

Volha Shatalava
Polish Academy of Sciences - Stanford University
Belarusian and Ukrainian Post-Soviet Nations: Two Versions of Nation-Building

My research will focus on content of Belarusian (political) and Ukrainian (ethno-linguistic) nation-building projects, their content, weak and strong points.

Anton Shynkaruk
Rivne Institute of Slavonic Studies - Stanford University
Crisis Communication Management in Modern Ukrainian Foreign Policy

Multivector (vagueness) of Ukrainian foreign policy linked with necessity to decide emerging stable crises. Efficiency of such activity depends on position of national elites, professional activity of foreign policy institutions, and influence of global and international media.

Ala Svet
Free International University of Moldova - University of Washington
Russian Minority Impact on the Republic of Moldova

The problem of national minorities refers not only to the internal sphere, but also to the external policy of state. Protection of national minorities' rights is the issue of protecting human rights on the international level and regional cooperation. Growth of ethnic minority consciousness has a strong influence on the interstate relations and regional cooperation.

The Center for Perspective Scientific Research and Education in Social and Humanitarian Sciences (CASE) is run under the auspices of the European Humanities University with financial support from the Carnegie Corporation, New York, and administered by the American Councils on International Education (ACIE), the American Center for Education and Reseach (ACER), and the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research (NCEEER). It was founded with the mission to assist in updating the scientific research system in the fields of social sciences and humanities, the development of the professional community in the region, the creation of scientific connections, and the mobilization of intellectual and professional resources for studying processes of social transformation in the border zone consisting of such countries as Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova.

The social, economic, political and cultural transformations occuring in Central and East Europe over the last decade have led to new geopolitic configurations and in particular the formation of such regions as the border zone of Central-East Europe. This western part of the former USSR is located in a zone of interest to both European concerns and the post-Soviet (Eurasian) space.

The complexity and ambiguity of transformation processes in the given region demand new approaches to research and teaching. One of these approaches is border studies, in which the border zone is considered to be a space of special civilizational, political, economic, and cultural interaction.

Border zone research is a relatively new area of social sciences and humanities. Its framework includes research on various political, social, cultural, and economic phenomena from the point of view of fluctuating influences defined by the specificity of the border zone. The entire region including Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova, is considered to be the border zone (the Land Between), within the framework of the project, insomuch as they define the features of the transformational processes occuring here.