The program committee encourages the use of the four working languages – of ASEEES (English) and MAG (Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, and English) – in order to celebrate and take best advantage of the diversity of languages in the region.
Specialists in all areas of East-Central Europe and Eurasian studies are welcome to participate in the convention. To facilitate communication among all participants, English shall be the basic means of communication. Those wishing to deliver papers or initial comments at roundtables in Belarusian, Russian or Ukrainian are asked to provide English translations.
Proposals
All proposals must be submitted in English. The proposal must indicate the language the presenter will speak. If the presenter will speak in Belarusian, Russian, or Ukrainian, the paper title in that language must be provided.
Titles of papers will be listed in the convention program in English and in the language in which they will be delivered.
Plenary Sessions, Panels, and Roundtables
Plenary sessions shall be conducted in English.
Panel or roundtable speakers may speak in English, Belarusian, Russian, or Ukrainian, If a speaker is presenting in Belarusian, Russian or Ukrainian, the speaker must project onto an AV screen a translation into English of the relevant remarks. All the meeting rooms at UCU have AV projectors.
Announcements, Publicity, and the Convention Program
All ASEEES announcements and publicity and the program of the convention will be in English. If, for any reason, translations into other languages are provided, the English version must appear as well. Titles of papers will be listed in the convention program in English and in the language in which they will be delivered.
Signs and other information at the convention shall be bilingual, English and Ukrainian. Proper names shall be written in Latin script, but may also be provided in Cyrillic, on request (for the program and the name badge).
Practicalities
A multi-lingual meeting is by definition complex. Even as few as four languages (it is not feasible to include more) pose challenges.
Every effort should be made to make panels intelligible and attractive to all convention participants.
We encourage everyone to make an effort to understand and to be understood.
To understand, everyone should pay close attention, especially when cognate languages are being spoken. As a practical matter, it will be helpful for everyone to accept understanding most of, and not necessarily all of, what is being said. Requests for clarification will always be welcome.
To be understood, speakers in languages other than English will be required to display translations into English projected onto AV screens. They should speak slowly and distinctly, use simple sentences, and repeat key sentences.
Every effort should be made to make panels attractive and intelligible to all convention participants. No one should be included or excluded in a panel or roundtable solely on the basis of language.
The effort will bring valuable benefits at an international convention whose participants understand English but among whom there are many who prefer to deliver papers in the languages in which they work. The convention in Lviv is an opportunity to move beyond the English-only format of most international conferences. Needless to say, in the region today dialog across language groups is desperately needed.
Speakers can express themselves more precisely and with greater nuance if allowed to use their own working languages.
Translations displayed simultaneously on video screens will allow all convention participants to follow presentations.
Translations will be especially helpful to those who have some knowledge of the East Slavic language being spoken.
Communication across academic communities (North America, Europe, and Eurasia) will be enriched by the use of local languages, which, we hope, will stimulate the networking on the topics of interest to ASEEES that is a principal motivation for organizing a summer convention outside North America.