The Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) at the University of Michigan is pleased to announce its public programs for the Fall 2012 semester. Beginning in September and continuing into October, the Copernicus Endowment for Polish Studies will present an Agnieszka Holland retrospective including eight of the acclaimed director’s films. The series concludes when Holland delivers the Annual Copernicus Lecture on October 10, followed by a screening of her Oscar-nominated film, In Darkness.

The Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREES) and Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies (WCED) are jointly sponsoring a new initiative, “Pluralism in Politics and Culture,” which examines the foundations of free and open societies. The project extends U-M’s rich legacy of study and support of dissident culture in the former Soviet Union. Speakers in this series include Pavel Khodorkovsky, president of the Institute of Modern Russia and son of jailed Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Irina Prokhorova, editor-in-chief of the New Literary Observer Publishing House, literary scholar, and Russian opposition figure.

“The European Economic Crisis and its Political Dimensions” is a lecture series jointly sponsored by the Center for European Studies (CES) and WCED, made possible by a generous donation from Michigan real estate developer Michael Kojaian. Invited speakers will focus on the economic underpinnings of the crisis and its implications for governance, democracy, and civil society. Speakers include U-M economics professor Jim Adams, Georgetown professor of government Kathleen McNamara, and the French and German Consuls of Chicago.

Other speakers this fall include the authors Aleksandar Hemon, who will deliver a reading in the Zell Visiting Writers Series, and Natalie Bakopoulos, U-M lecturer in English and author of The Green Shore. All events are free and open to the public. Details about these and other WCEE events can be found at www.ii.umich.edu/wcee/events.

WEB LINKS:  www.ii.umich.edu/wcee/events                        
                        www.ii.umich.edu/ces                       
                       www.ii.umich.edu/crees                        
                       www.ii.umich.edu/wced

The Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) supports faculty and student research, teaching, collaboration, and public engagement in studying the institutions, cultures, and histories of these regions. WCEE is housed in the University of Michigan International Institute with the Center for European Studies (CES); the Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies (CREES); and the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies (WCED). Named in honor of Ronald and Eileen Weiser and inspired by their time in Slovakia during Ambassador Weiser’s service as U.S. ambassador from 2001-04, WCEE began operations in September 2008. For more information, visit www.ii.umich.edu/wcee.

###