DETROIT– The Wayne State University Slavic Klub, which includes students of Ukrainian, Russian and Polish language study, hosted a traditional Wigilia dinner at the historic and iconic Polish Village Café in Hamtramck, Michigan. Faculty advisors for the Slavic Klub, Alina Klin, Ph.D., and Laura Kline, Ph.D., coordinated the event. There were over 70 students and supporters partaking. Dr. Klin exclaimed, “It is so thrilling to have a full house to share our special event. We are all now ambassadors to unite and share.”
The new Chair of the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Dr. Anne Duggan addressed the students, faculty and guests briefly. She said, “This event reminds me so much of the holidays that I shared in my native Milwaukee when I was a young girl. This group of students is unique as their passion for culture and traditions is so very well showcased by this outstanding presentation. Drs. Klin and Kline are to be congratulated this evening for their passion and enthusiasm. It is wonderful that so many Master candidates and recent graduates are participating also.”
Other special guests included Vera Andrushkiw, Professor Kenneth Brostrom, Professor Alfred Cobbs and Hamtramck Mayor, Karen Majewski. Professor Brostrom gave a short history of the Wayne State Slavic Department. Professor Cobbs added, “I look forward to this event every year and it has much more meaning since I travelled to Krakow last summer.”
Proprietor Carolyn Wietrzykowski of the Polish Village Café and her staff served a well-received multi-course dinner with symbolic Christmas delicacies. The meal included 12 courses. The festivities started with the sharing of the Opłatek (wafers) and extension of good wishes among the partakers. Former student Marie Molinik explained the custom of opłatki, encouraging everyone to break off pieces of their wafers to share and wishing luck, joy and good health in the upcoming year. Student president of the organization, Karyna Sitkowski, gave a short presentation and explained about some of the showcased holiday art.
The dinner included, Kutia (wheat-honey-poppy seed appetizer), Sledzie (creamed herring with onions), traditional vegetables, Barszcz e uszka (beet-root soup with forest mushroom dumpling), fish, groch i kapusta (sauerkraut with yellow sweet peas), pierogi (assorted dumplings) buckwheat with mushroom sauce and compote (fruit beverage). Traditional makowiec (poppey- seed cake) and gingerbread rolls, along with a custom cake creation highlighted the dessert options.
After dinner, current student Ernest Barnett, who had emceed the festivities, led off the singing of Kolędy (Christmas Carols) in English, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and German. The enthusiastic vocals by the dinner participants were accompanied by strings and violins. The evening’s program emphasized inclusion of all the Slavic nations. Dr. Kline was especially enthusiastic getting all the tables to participate and she noted that cultural enrichment is also an important part of the mission statement for the WSU Slavic Klub. Her efforts produced many wholehearted Christmas voices to highlight the live musicians that accompanied.
The audience and public were also invited to a special exhibit hosted by the WSU history department throughout December at the undergraduate library on campus (near Gullen Mall) titled, Democracy in the Age of Extremes: Spotlights on the History of Europe in the Twentieth Century”. The exhibit portrays Europe’s twentieth century as a dramatic history of the struggle between freedom and tyranny, democracy and dictatorship. Inspired by the year 2014, it invites viewers to take a historical pulse of the past century. The exhibition presents 190 photographs and images from numerous European archives.
http://events.wayne.edu/2014/12/16/dictatorship-and-democracy-in-the-age-of-extremes-spotlights-on-the-history-56512/
http://www.langlab.wayne.edu/slavicprogram/slavicclub.html
