Candidates should also demonstrate professional knowledge of spoken and written English, including the ability to give lectures, teach an undergraduate course about Belarus, and engage in other public speaking in English. Visiting scholars may expect to spend up to one-two years in the United States under this program.

Deadline for submission is May 1, 2012. Please note that the interview stage will begin in the last week of May.

For a full description and application procedures please follow this link.

Through the agency of the Center for Belarusian Studies, Southwestern College welcomed David Kramer, President of Freedom House, at its opening convocation.

Kramer was greeted by Dr. Survilla, Ambassador Swartz, and Dr. Sheppard. In his keynote address, Kramer challenged students to use their education to further civil society. He pointed to the Arab Spring and young activists in Belarus as examples of young people making a difference in the world and he encouraged the audience to explore government service as a viable career path.

The Center for Belarusian Studies would like to express its thanks to Congressman Mike Pompeo for serving as a co-sponsor for HR 515 Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2011.

Pompeo and his staff responded quickly to the CBS’s request for sponsorship made by Dr. Survilla and Ambassador Swartz during a visit to the Congressman’s offices in Washington in April of 2011. The legislation is in continuing support of media broadcasts for the people of Belarus in their own language. It also includes criteria that the government of Belarus must meet in order to end U.S. sanctions including: the release of political prisoners from the 2010 presidential election; the prosecution of the senior leadership responsible for the violations of human rights in connection with the presidential election; and the removal of politically motivated legal charges against opposition activists and journalists in connection with that election. Congressman Pompeo represents the 4th district of Kansas which is the home base for the Center for Belarusian Studies.

This year the global Belarusian community lost one of its seminal members, Michas Luzynski, a dynamic, consistent, and seemingly untiring force who dedicated his energies to the betterment of life for Belarusians and for Belarus.

After settling in Australia he saw the establishment in Sydney of the Associations of Belarusians in Australia, became President of the Belarusian Cultural and Social Club, and in 1976, became a member of the Belarusian Broadcasting Committee coordinating Belarusian radio programming. The Center for Belarusian Studies also felt Michas Luzynski’s dedication to Belarusian affairs. During the last two years of his life, he also worked tirelessly to encourage support for the Center of Belarusian Studies. His efforts were not only significant to our initiatives but to our morale. We are honored by his efforts.

On February 28, 2011, the Center’s Executive Director, Dr. Maria Paula Survilla, and Associate Executive Director, Amb. David Swartz, gave a presentation entitled “Elections in Belarus” to staff and students of the Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies (CREES) at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

They were accompanied and assisted by Dr. Stephen Woodburn, Professor of Russian History at Southwestern College and member of the Center’s Advisory Board.

In their lecture, Dr. Survilla and Amb. Swartz analyzed developments and trends in post-Soviet Belarus’ history, devoting particular attention to the ascendancy of then-President and now citizen Lukashenka and his non-democratic, authoritarian regime.

They focused on the run-up to and holding of the latest presidential election, held December 19, 2010, stressing both its flawed character and the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrators who had assembled to protest the regime-proclaimed outcome.

The lecturers concluded with an expose of possible courses of action by the international community in response to what they assessed as the most serious political crisis in Belarus’ post-Soviet history.

Inter alia, they noted that the U.S. and most European governments, having declared the election fatally flawed and thus the self-proclaimed outcome illegitimate, have a wide range of options available, including fuller utilization of the NGO community in pursuing remedial initiatives.

The formal presentation was followed by a lively question-and-answer period. The entire event was videotaped by the CREES staff for subsequent classroom and seminar use.

In October 2010, M. Paula Survilla, Executive Director of the Center was invited to speak at the “Returning to Europe, Belarus Past and Future” Symposium hosted by the Lazarski University in Warsaw Poland.

One of the roles of the Center is to participate in local and global dialogues about the role and potential role of higher education in the betterment of Belarusian civil society. Dr. Survilla’s presentation, “Access to Global Discourse, Critical Thinking, and Belarusian Civil Society” will be included in the symposium proceedings slated for publication in 2011.

In October 2010, the Center hosted the seminar, Higher Education and Civil Society in Belarus. This seminar fulfilled a commitment made by experts and practitioners of higher education in North America, the EU, and Belarus who contributed to the Center’s 2009 symposium held at Southwestern College in Kansas (see events archive.

Participants were asked to report back on the implementation of the strategic action recommendations articulated in 2009. The Center expresses its sincere appreciation to The German Marshall Fund of the United States both for its financial support of this event as well as for providing the venue for holding it.

As Executive Director of the Center for Belarusian Studies, it is my pleasure to welcome you the CBS website. Since our creation in 2007, the Center has endeavored to explore the ways in which we can be effective and proactive contributors to positive societal change in Belarus.

The Center was established recognizing that the key to affecting positive societal change lies in the access to higher education and to the critical thinking and global perspectives that such an education should provide. The power of education of this kind is not only linked to the development of a healthy civil society, but to the empowerment of a population and its ability to shape it’s own democracy and place in a global context.

The initiatives described throughout this site have grown out of this philosophy. These are varied and address the many ways in which higher education can provide proactive approaches to knowledge as the first link to application and action. Education may not always provide explosive moments, but it inspires and it offers the deliberate and steady pace towards substantive change.

Our Visiting Scholars Program has been a very successful initiative. In bringing Belarusian scholars to the Center, we provide them the opportunity to pursue research, and to gain teaching experience through the preparation and delivery of courses on Belarus. Our scholars have also done much to contribute to the continuing development of the Center’s archive collection as well as other initiatives. The CBS, together with Southwestern College, has also initiated a Masters in Leadership Program in Belarusian Studies designed for students from Belarus. The inaugural class is expected to complete degree requirements this summer. This unique course of study provides modeling of critical thought and explores the role of social responsibility and ethics within the context of a student’s professional interests.

One stipulation of both of these programs is that scholars and students return to Belarus. This aspect, in addition to the Belarusian-specific nature of our programming, is what differentiates the Center from the work of other institutes. If our intention is to inspire and equip those we engage in our programming, we do so in order to contribute to the development of civil society in Belarus. Admittedly, this process can move slowly, but one cannot underestimate the power of the well equipped, educated, and passionate individual.

Finally, I would like to share a central aspect of our philosophy, one that reflects the accumulated years of experience of our executive directors as well as members of our Board. We acknowledge the many attempts to contribute to positive change in Belarus since the declaration of sovereignty in 1991. These efforts, spanning the last two decades, have not generated much change. This is all but too clear in the events overshadowing Belarusians since the December 2010 presidential elections. Even prior to these devastating developments, the Center has lobbied for the recognition of the value of long-term commitments and strategies rather than short-term solutions. We continue to communicate the importance of long-term strategies as fundamental to enabling change through our other efforts, including Symposia, the preparation and delivery of position papers, communication with policy makers, and through the design and implementation of all of our initiatives. These efforts are described throughout this site.

I invite you to explore our website and thank you for visiting the Center in its virtual space. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The Center for Belarusian Studies is proud to present the Report and The Strategic Action Plan for Higher Education Reform in Belarus that resulted from the Symposium on “Higher Education and Civil Society in Belarus”.