It has been a sad and difficult week, one of those where I wake up and look at my phone to see what has happened overnight. I know that this may be unhealthy, but tell me what else can you do other than stay informed with what is going on.
Today’s title comes from a poem by Ilya Kaminsky, a poet from Odessa.
On the third day
the soldiers examine ears
of bartenders, of accountants, of soldiers, you wouldn’t know
the wicked things silence does to soldiers.
I haven’t taken any new photos this week, only a couple from a video shoot I attended and a student presentation, so let me give you a few more from my trip last week.
I’ve included a few resources for language teachers and links to news sites, please let me know if want me to include anything in next week’s issue or drop a link into the comments below.
Spaces to Connect
I spent a few days at work helping to welcome a new colleague and showing them the ropes. It was nice to bump into people after my trip away. Everyone seems anxious and exhausted, but working as best they can.
I wrote a short report on my trip to DC, sorting through photos and gathered some of the resources that I found. I am due to present at the end of semester and will also include an article on medium in the next week or so, I’ll let you know when it appears.
It’s weeks like this that you wonder whether the work you do is helpful in some way and I hope that it is. I teach about culture, language and identity, encouraging my students to engage critically with questions of nationality and belonging. We look at how culture is represented; and how people express who they are; and how this shapes their beliefs.
I’m full of admiration for my colleagues, all are working towards a world where there is mutual understanding; where there is cooperation, and where new things can be created by us coming together and sharing what we have. I know there are many places where this work is happening, sometimes visible and sometimes tucked away. It is all important and necessary.
Life Lessons
Last week I mentioned the challenges of talking about the invasion with my kids and it has been interesting that they have shared just a few of the hundreds of memes and tiktok videos that they are seeing on the subject, many rebuking Putin and calling for peace. I wasn’t familiar with concept of prebunking, but much of what they are seeing is being generated by creators who are trying to get ahead of the propaganda heading the other way, from nefarious troll farms and bad actors.
This is work that anyone can do in social media feeds, and while it might feel empty railing against trolls, just the simple act of flagging suspicious accounts or countering supposed news that might pop up in the timelines of family and friends is a little thing that helps. TikTok in particular is incredibly valuable to Russian state media and hashtags such as #istandwithrussia are getting very high numbers of views, especially in the US. There’s more on this in Marcus Bösch’s excellent newsletter where he is busy keeping track of propaganda and mis-information.
I’ve also been reading reports at Bellingcat, a group that analyses media for accuracy and has uncovered fake, constructed videos of suppose provocations and attacks used to justify the war for Russian audiences of state media. Usually it is something as simple as reading metadata on video, to see that footage doesn’t match the time that it claims it was filmed, or identifying sources of audio that have been spliced or overlayed across other material. In other words, much of the misinformation is crappily produced and unsophisticated, aimed at triggering emotional response, shares and retweets. It is crude but depressingly effective. Remember too, there is disinformation on both sides, for instance the shared story of the old lady with the sunflower seeds is questionable and unverfied at best, although there’s no question that it is chilling and serves to underline Ukrainian resolve.
Lost and Found
My colleagues in the department have been sharing resources, including links to talks and teach-ins, here are a few listed for you.
The MLA has collected resources shared by its members and by members of the ADE and ADFL communities in response to the crisis in Ukraine.
Association for Slavic, East European, Eurasian Studies is looking to support displaced scholars from the Ukraine, it has also published a calendar of events.
ACTFL has published a list of resources for educators speaking to their classes about the conflict.
OER Commons has a lesson slide, listing resources for understanding and teaching about the war in Ukraine.
This is a time to celebrate and amplify Ukrainian culture. Here’s a wonderful issue of Animation Obsessive exploring the history of Ukrainian animation. This post from Dust to Digital features submissions from the Ukraine, including an footage of Oksana Kovach singing while making fuses for Molotov Cocktails.
I’m reading the Guardian and listening to the Today Programme on the BBC Radio 4, also Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters newsletter and various other outlets. I have listened to interviews with those fleeing the country and Russians throughout the world appalled at the actions of Putin.
I have listed to stories about football players, musicians, poets, students, there is so much, between the horror and hatred; I am hopeful, hearing the narrative of resistance, but very anxious that we may not see the outcome that we all hope and that Ukraine deserves.
Resist Domination
Thank you
I know that it is difficult to think about other things at this time. We have a busy weekend ahead of us, my teenage son is participating in a sleep experiment (an official one) at a university lab, he will undergo mental tests while undertaking an irregular pattern of waking and sleeping. I have to go and pick him up on Monday, I’ll take him for breakfast and I’m already a little bit anxious as to what state he’ll be in. I’ve been reassured that he’ll be well looked after, and hopefully the effects won’t last too long.
I’m hoping that the weekend’s promised sunshine means that I can get out on the bike and head out on the trails. I haven’t been out since December, so I know that it will hurt a little as I get used to turning the pedals again. I’m looking to catching up with my friends, no talking going up hill but lots of chatter on the way down.
Okay, that’s as much as my energy allows this week, I’ve got a few meetings and lots to follow up on and sort out. Jobs to do.
Take care, look after yourselves and see you next week.