September 2, 2016

Von Hagen tapped as interim director of ASU’s Melikian Center

More

Prof. Mark von Hagen

TEMPE, Ariz. – Mark von Hagen was recently appointed as interim director of Arizona State University’s Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies.  He teaches the history of Eastern Europe and Russia, with a focus on Ukrainian-Russian relations, at Arizona State University, after teaching 24 years at Columbia University, where he also chaired the history department and directed the Harriman Institute.

At the Harriman Institute, Prof. von Hagen developed Ukrainian studies in the humanities and social sciences.  He is chair of the international advisory board of the German-Ukrainian Historians Commission and member of the Steering Committee of the Leonid Nevzlin Center’s 1917 project (Hebrew University of Jerusalem).

Prof. von Hagen was elected president of the International Association for Ukrainian Studies in 2002 and presided over the Congress in Donetsk in 2005.  He also served as President of the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (2009).

During his New York years, he was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and remains a member of the Advisory Board for Europe and Asia at Human Rights Watch.  He has worked with historians, archivists and educators in independent Ukraine and with diaspora institutions.

In July 2013 he was elected dean of the philosophy faculty at the Ukrainian Free University in Munich and re-elected for a second term in July 2015.  He received the Certificate of Honor from the Embassy of Ukraine for contributions to U.S.-Ukraine relations and to the development of Ukrainian studies.

His publications treating Ukraine include: the co-edited volume, “Culture, Nation, Identity: the Ukrainian-Russian Encounter, 1600-1945” (Toronto, 2003); “War in a European Borderlands: Occupations and Occupation Plans in Galicia and Ukraine, 1914-1918” (University of Washington Press, 2007); the co-edited volume,  “Empire and Nationalism at War” (Bloomington, Indiana: Slavica Publishers, 2014); and “ ‘Notes and Materials’ toward a(n) (Anti-) (Post-) Colonial History of Ukraine,” in the book, “The Future of the Past: New Perspectives on Ukrainian History” (forthcoming, Harvard University Press, fall 2017).

With generous seed funding from Advisory Board Member Patience T. Huntwork and her husband, James R. Huntwork, the Melikian Center looks to add Ukrainian language courses to its Critical Languages Institute (CLI) in the summer of 2017 and seeks to raise funds to endow a Ukrainian Studies Program in perpetuity. Both Huntworks serve as lawyers, and both have been active in Ukraine.  (To donate to the Melikian Center’s CLI Ukrainian Fund, please go to: www.asufoundation.org/Ukraine.)

Ms. Huntwork, a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School, works as an attorney in the judiciary of the State of Arizona.  Her volunteer human rights efforts in Ukraine began with her successful international campaign to persuade the American Bar Association to sever its ties with a Soviet organization, the Association of Soviet Lawyers, and continued with efforts to advocate for legal reform and the rule of law in a democratic and independent Ukraine.

In recognition of those efforts, Patience received the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews Humanitarian Award, the American Jewish Committee’s Judge Learned Hand Human Relations Award, the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix’s Certificate of Recognition and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America’s “Man of the Year” Award.

Ms. Huntwork noted that “the Melikian Center is among the few centers of critical language study, serving the nation’s defense and national security needs. It is time that Ukrainian is recognized as a critical language along with Russian and other languages.  I hope the Ukrainian community will join in this effort to fund this project.”

With a master’s degree in economics and a J.D., both from Yale University, Mr. Huntwork practices transactional law with a Phoenix firm.  Both he and his wife have served as election observers in Ukraine dating back to the Gorbachev era and have worked to support commercial law reforms in independent Ukraine.

Mr. Huntwork added:  “The Ukrainian language in and of itself rebuts centuries of disinformation and is the key for accessing the past and present reality of this critically important nation.”

Prof. von Hagen remarked: “The Ukrainian language, like all the languages we teach at the Melikian Center’s Critical Language Institute, is a gateway to a rich culture and dynamic society.  After two years of Russia’s war with Ukraine, the teaching of this language will also likely become a national security priority for the United States.  I remember fondly and gratefully the generosity of the Ukrainian communities of North America for our Ukrainian programming during my Columbia years.”

About Melikian Center

The Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University is a comprehensive research and training center with both instructional and research missions.  It is home to over 40 faculty affiliates from ASU and community colleges throughout Arizona.

As an instructional unit, the center sponsors the Critical Languages Institute, one of the largest summer training academies for intensive training in less commonly taught East European and Eurasian languages.

As a research unit, the Melikian Center capitalizes on its partnerships with more than a dozen East European and Eurasian universities to build programs of academic exchange, international development and collaborative research.

In its outreach programming, the center implements short-term training programs for professionals from Eurasia.

The center has implemented research and educational programs for the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Education and the Department of Defense, among others.

Founded in 1984, the center received its name in late 2006, in recognition of the generous support of Gregory and Emma Melikian.

For more information about the ASU Melikian Center, readers may visit https://melikian.asu.edu.

Comments are closed.