EAST LANSING, Mich. - A three-day conference at Michigan State University will examine the results of a multi-year study on the hopes and fears of those living in Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania and Bulgaria - former Communist societies now grappling with profound political and economic change.
The conference, "Fears and Hopes in Post-Communist Society Entering the 21st Century: Intensity and Impact on Social Life," will take place at the East Lansing Marriott Hotel at University Place, downtown East Lansing, on Thursday, April 13, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, April 14, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, April 15, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A complete schedule is attached.
"The conference will deal with extremely important and sensitive issues relating to the public mood in post-Communist society," says Vladimir Shlapentokh, professor of sociology and a co-director of the study. "The speakers are 12 highly regarded social scientists from six different countries. Their presentations will shed light on the key tendencies in the political, economic, social, moral and religious life in these nations during the painful process of transformation."
The keynote speech will be delivered the evening of April 13 by Tom Graham, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
The international study was funded by the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. The conference is sponsored by MSU, the Kennan Institute for Russian Studies and the U.S. Department of Defense.