RUSYN LANGUAGE CONGRESS IS COMING

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On September 13 to 16, 2007, the Third International Congress of the Rusyn Language will take place at the Pedagogical University (Akademia Pedogogiczna) of Cracow. The previous two congresses, which took place in Bardejovske Kupele (1992) and Presov (1999), included among the speakers at the plenary session Joshua Fishman, Sven Gustavsson, and Aleksandr Dulichenko.

The Third Language Congress in Cracow will include up to 80 participants, among whom will be linguists, users of the language in the public sphere (writers, print journalists, radio and television journalists), and teachers in Rusyn-language schools.

The crucial difference between the Third language Congress and two previous ones is that it will look at the Rusyn language in practice, based on more than a decade of functioning in different spheres of public life. Among the issues to be discussed is the creation of a koine-a common Rusyn language based on the characteristics of all regional literary standards. Another task for the Congress is the exchange of experience between language teachers of different countries. This last goal is quite important, because the Rusyn language has a different status in the various countries where Rusyns live and the conditions for teaching also vary.

The organizers of the event are already experiencing great interest on the part of Polish and non-Polish mass-media and hope that the Congress will be an event not only of scholarly, but also of civic and public importance.

Nadiya Kushko

FIRST DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN THE RUSYN LANGUAGE DEFENDED

Bratislava, Slovakia. The past decade has seen an enormous growth worldwide of scholarly interest in the history and culture of Carpatho-Rusyns. Several talented young scholars of various national backgrounds, who accept the premise that Carpatho-Rusyns form a distinct people, have earned doctoral degrees at leading universities for Ph.D. dissertations in the fields of history, linguistics, literature, musicology, and sociology. Among these are Helena Duc'-Fajfer (Jagellonian University, Poland, 1997), Lenora Decarlo (Florida State University, USA, 1998), Alexander Teutsch (Heidelberg University, Germany, 2001), Eva Michna (Jagellonian University, Poland, 2001), Marc Stegherr (Ludwig-Maximillian University, Munich, Germany, 2002), and Bogdan Horbal (University of Wroclaw, Poland, 2005).

The latest to join the ranks of scholars whose dissertations is on a topic of Rusyn studies is Anna Pliskova, who in November 2006 was awarded the Ph.D. degree from Slovak Academy of Sciences Institute for Slavic Studies in Bratislava, Slovakia. Dr. Pliskova, who since 1999 teaches at Presov University's Department of Rusyn Language and Literature, was also holder of the Steven Chepa Fellowship in Rusyn Studies at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation, Списовный язык карпатьскых Русинів: проблемы становліня, кодіфікації, акцептації і сфер функціонуваня, was written under the direction of the distinguished Slavist, Professor Jan Dorul'a.

What makes Dr. Pliskova's work unique is the fact that it is the first dissertation written entirely in the Rusyn literary language. The appearance of her dissertation is not only a triumphant personal achievement, it is also a historic moment which reveals that the scholarly world recognizes the existence of Rusyns as a distinct Slavic people, and that the Rusyn language can be used for scholarly and scientific publications. Clearly Dr. Anna Pliskova has shown to other young scholars that it is not only possible to undertake scholarly projects on Rusyn topics but also to publish the results of such research in the Rusyn language.

World Academy of Rusyn Culture.