July 2020 Alumni Profile: Emma Pratt

Emma Pratt, MA in Slavic and East European Studies Class of 2011

Emma Pratt

Emma Pratt in Lechkhumi, Georgia

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I am an Invited Lecturer in English at the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University (ISET), as well as a freelance editor.

Tell us how you got there.

After graduating from CSEES into a tough job market (the previous recession), I moved to Georgia as a volunteer English teacher. My intention was to improve my language skills and cultural expertise. One of the things that I found I love about Georgia is that employers are often willing to take a chance on someone young and bright, but inexperienced. I was hired from my volunteer position into a full-time teaching job for the government, and a little later a friend tipped me off that ISET was starting a Bachelor’s degree program, and they needed someone to plan and execute the new English curriculum. ISET’s reputation for academic rigor and our famous family-like atmosphere made me eager to apply. They liked my teaching demonstration and gave me the position; I have worked there since, seeing the program grow. Next year our first cohort will graduate.

How has your CSEES MA helped you throughout your post-graduate life?

Most Georgians have never encountered a foreigner who studied Georgian formally and speaks (relatively) grammatically. The language skills I acquired at CSEES always endear me to new acquaintances in Georgia. My knowledge of Georgian/Russian/Soviet history and literature has helped me understand some of the background of situations I am walking into and given me a better understanding of current events.

What was your focus or research interest when you studied at OSU?

My primary interest was democratization and post-Communist transitions and my thesis was on the 2010 amendments to the Georgian constitution. One of my favorite things about the program at CSEES was that I was able to study broadly. I also enjoyed a number of literature, history, and international studies courses.

If you are a traveler, what is one of your favorite trips you have taken?

It’s impossible to choose a favorite, but my most recent trip to Kyiv was wonderful. I was visiting family who live there, and it was a great balance of seeing the tourist attractions and relaxing with my relatives.

What are your future plans?

My previous future plans were derailed by Covid-19 closures and delays, so I’m waiting until there is some clarity about the situation and timelines before regrouping. I think I will be ready to return to the US in the medium-term and I’d like to continue working in higher education.

Updates from the Field

To wrap up our Notes from the Field series, we reached back out to our respondents for updates. Roughly two months have passed since we began this series, so we were interested to hear what has changed and what the future looks like now versus back in April. Below we have some updates from Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, and Russia.

Ann Merrill, Kyiv, Ukraine

Ukrainian President Zelensky sits in a café with his team despite cafes remaining closed to dine-in customers.

In Ukraine, it seems to me the government is caving under pressure from the business community to return to “normal life.” The Ministry of Health set specific conditions for easing the quarantine, which were not met by Kyiv city and several oblasts, but I guess keeping the capital and rest of the country shut down just doesn’t seem to be a viable option anymore. And with almost no enforcement of quarantine measures, and no repercussions for breaking them, it’s not surprising that many Ukrainians are not taking it seriously anymore -even the president. His office posted a photo on the Office of the President’s official Telegram channel of him inside a café during a working visit to Khmelnitsky. Cafes were not yet permitted to allow customers inside, so it caused a bit of a scandal. While the number of confirmed cases in Ukraine is still relatively low compared to many other countries (25,411 as of June 4, with 742 fatalities and 11,402 recovered), the curve is not flattening and certainly not declining. Yesterday had the highest number of new confirmed cases in one day to date with 588. The unseasonably cool and rainy weather has helped keep more people inside than usual for spring, but I worry what the coming weeks will look like as the weather improves.

 

Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia

The pandemic has certainly given me some insights into my daily life, especially into my work as a teacher. Delivering my course online has made clear to me which parts of teaching I like and which I dislike. Unfortunately, face to face interaction seems to be one of the things I like most, which I hadn’t fully realized before. Student requests come across differently online than they do in person, often in a negative way. On a similar note, it seems I should focus more on email-writing in the future. Some of the online activities born out of necessity have been very effective, and I hope to integrate them into future courses, even if they don’t have an online component.

I’ve realized that though cooking is my hobby, it is also a chore. There isn’t easy access to grocery stores and restaurants and the dishes are endless! Although I have been cooking for myself and my family for years, I never understood the “double burden” so well before. There was always the option to just grab something if I was tired or out of an ingredient. Don’t be mistaken. My family has also been doing an increased amount of cooking and dishwashing at this time. We just seem to need a LOT of food and dishes.

The biggest insight, though, has been into the political situations in the US and in Georgia. As America struggles, I worry about my friends and family there. However, Georgia has remained relatively calm and we are slowly returning to normal life, with the addition of masks and lots of hand sanitizer (both of which are now easily available). This is having an effect on the way I think about my future plans, though it’s too early for anything to be certain.

Free bread for those in need in Tbilisi

The following passages were pulled from a blog essay written by Tatiana Shchyttsova discussing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global society as well as Belarus’s response the pandemic. The essay was published in April 2020.

Tatiana Shchyttsova, Vilnius, Lithuania

The pandemic confirmed a truth already known to all: a crisis situation reveals weak spots and flaws in public systems: poorly functioning institutions, a deficit of material resources, various forms of social injustice.

The global spread of the virus has worked like a perception enhancer or a magnifying glass: it has sharpened our ethical, social, and political sensitivity, bringing about a new wave of critical hostility toward those things we already knew. That there are particularly vulnerable groups–the elderly, the critically ill, the unemployed, the homeless–who are not receiving sufficient social support. That the wealthy have privileged access to high-quality medical care. That corruption impedes the development of social institutions. That neoliberal capitalism does not facilitate social equality. That authoritarian government tends toward irrational decisions and the misuse of a crisis situation.

Liya Bushkanets, a literature professor in Kazan, Russia, honed her sewing talents during the Soviet era and now has created masks “in every size and color” for her family to wear during the pandemic.

Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia

Lyudmila Skryabina shared her “outing schedule” for the first half of June: her building fell into Group 3 for her region and residents were permitted to go outside only three days a week: from 9 AM to 9 PM on June 2, 4, 6, 10, 12 and 14th.

Compared to many other countries, Russia has not had as many human losses in this epidemic. And that’s probably why large numbers of people outside of Moscow and the Moscow region don’t believe the virus is particularly dangerous. They argue that percentage-wise about as many people—and sometimes more—die each year from ordinary flu viruses.

In my opinion, the epidemic has not caused a collapse in Russia because quarantine measures were taken in time, the healthcare system was reoriented as the situation changed, and epidemiological controls were well-organized. This, I think, is where the habits of the Soviet-era planned economy come in handy.

Officially, unemployment stands at about 3 million people, and some estimates suggest it may rise to 6 million. Most of all the service sector—especially trade, food service, tourism—has suffered, and it won’t soon recover. Everyone I know who worked in cafes and bars has now registered for unemployment. In Moscow, civil servants have not stopped working but are still on a “distanced” regime. The plan now is to return to offices June 15, but construction and industry have already reopened.

Moscow instituted a walking schedule which residents were required to follow (although it was canceled on 9 June, 2020) and has now introduced a mobile tracking app.

 

Thank you for reading Notes from the Field, and thank you to all of our respondents for sharing their experiences during what we hope will turn out to be a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Life in a Pandemic: What Could the Future Hold, continued

In continuation of yesterday’s post about what the next six months could look like, here are some responses from Ukraine, Hungary, Georgia, and Russia.

 

Ann Merrill, Kyiv, Ukraine
Ukrainians are pretty awesome people with (unfortunately) a lot of experience dealing with disasters and difficult situations. Within the first couple of weeks, there were already numerous volunteer initiatives to help elderly and vulnerable people who are home alone during the quarantine. Many businesses are adapting to an online world (and Ukraine is, after all, one of the top IT countries in the world). I won’t speculate on what will happen, there are too many unknown and unpredictable variables. But I do know this wonderful country and the great people here are hardy, determined, and good at taking care of each other. I’m glad I am here.

 

Jessie Labov, Budapest, Hungary
I expect to see the slow but steady erasure of more civil liberties and attacks on migrants/stiffening of immigration and visa regulations in the name of preventing a second wave of COVID-19.

 

Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia
I think that we will remain on lockdown into summer. I hope that by fall the country will begin to reopen, though unfortunately many businesses will not be able to do so. I hope that the threatened food shortages have reinvigorated Georgian agriculture and the harvest will be fruitful. If the situation remains under control, fall has the potential to bring in tourists* again for the wine harvest and begin the slow economic recovery.

Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia
I am sure that we’ll solve the problem within six months and will celebrate two Victory Days** simultaneously – WWII and the victory over COVID! I wish everyone GOOD HEALTH!!! May our world become kinder after this pandemic!

*Update: Georgia plans to open to tourists starting 1 July, 2020, but with restrictions. Read more here 

**Russia is planning to hold its Victory Day celebration on 24 June, 2020 despite having the third highest number of COVID-19 infections in the world.

<< Come back next week as we wrap up Notes from the Field with some updates from our participants!

Opening Up

Many US states began slowly reopening in May while others extended their stay-at-home orders indefinitely. The following responses to the question “do you see any signs of reopening the economy? Do you think that’s a smart idea?” were collected in early April, 2020.

 

Jessie Labov, Budapest, Hungary
No, I don’t. We will probably stay in semi-lockdown for a prophylactically long period of time. And yes, that does seem like a smart move.

 

Ann Merrill, Kyiv, Ukraine
Some parts of the government talk about it, but other parts (MinHealth) insist it is much too early. I understand the desperate need for people to have income, but Ukraine could be devastated if the virus spreads significantly here. I do not envy those who have to make the very difficult decisions on how to handle this situation.

 

Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia
Georgia has been successful in delaying the peak, but that means that reopening the economy is still a long way away. I agree that keeping most things closed is the right decision, but the longer it lasts, the more painful it will be. Many people have lost their jobs already and fear they will go hungry. One thing that gives me some hope for the economy is the creative pivots I have seen many small businesses make: chacha distillers making hand sanitizer, wineries hosting online tastings, pub quizzes migrating online with a “virtual tip jar” for the staff of the bar that used to host, etc.

 

Jesse Smeal, Rome, Italy
Like many countries, Italy has slowly reopened. Some industries and factories started to reopen in April and some small business such as bookstores, stationary stores, and children’s clothing stores. In May, more have followed.

 

Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia
In Russia the peak of the pandemic is just being reached, in particular in the Moscow area, according to the government and it’s conceivable that the economic situation will continue to get objectively worse, despite the unprecedented supportive measures on the part of the government. April and May largely became state mandated vacations but in June we will see how things stabilize or what further actions are taken.

 

<<Return next week, June 22nd, to read our participants’ predictions for the futures of their countries.

The Consequences of a Pandemic, continued

To continue yesterday’s discussion of political and economic flashpoints, here are three more responses from Hungary, Russia, and Georgia.

 

Jessie Labov, Budapest, Hungary
Well, the government has declared emergency, absolutist powers with no expiration date. Extendable indefinitely, at their discretion. Elections can be postponed, the entire system of government can be reshaped according to their liking, etc. So far there has not been any great abuse of these powers, but we are all just waiting to see what happens next. More details here.

 

Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia
The global economic crisis has already begun. I don’t dare make political predictions. But clearly the world will change.

 

Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia
In terms of the virus itself, Easter (April 19) was a flashpoint, and we saw the medical results two weeks from then. This is an election year for Georgia, so the stakes are high for Georgian Dream. Their initial response led to increasing popularity, or at least grudging respect. Especially in the early days, the opposition was on board with the government’s response. Last summer’s protests were starting to calm down with a deal having been made between the government and the opposition regarding parliamentary elections, but the state of emergency endangers it. The recent arrest of opposition leader Okruashvili in connection with the June protests is also causing discontent. Further legal action towards the opposition would constitute a political flashpoint. The opposition’s support for the government response is already starting to weaken—the libertarian “Girchi” movement filed a lawsuit claiming the lockdown is illegal.

 

<< Stay tuned for next week’s post about reopening countries and economies!

Who is Most Vulnerable in a Crisis?

This week we asked our participants about vulnerability. What groups are being most impacted physically, financially, etc. by COVID-19?

 

Jesse Smeal, Rome, Italy

I believe the most vulnerable groups are the elderly, homeless, and small/independent business owners. The elderly because they are extremely susceptible to the virus and have minimal support and help due to social distancing and movement restrictions. The homeless because they are more exposed to the virus and have little help available. Small business owners because they do not fall into any category to receive government help and they rely solely on the revenue from their business. They are mostly closed and have zero revenue.

Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia

As far as I know, unlike in Europe where the most vulnerable have been the elderly, in Russia more people between the ages of 18-45 have been infected.

Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia

The ethnic minority communities were hit particularly hard early on. The first community cluster occurred in the Marneuli-Bolnisi area, where a large portion of the population are Armenian and Azeri. The language barrier may have made things worse, since locals don’t receive information from the Georgian media, which has generally been giving accurate and helpful information. Since then, the government’s website  has been translated into Azeri, Armenian, Abkhaz, and Ossetian. South Ossetia and Abkhazia are huge question marks in their handling of the situation, which leaves many people vulnerable. The homeless population is also particularly at risk.

Ann Merrill, Kyiv, Ukraine

The Ministry of Health posts updates and has a press briefing every day, so we know the stats quite well. As of early April, 54% of those infected are women and 49% men, which seems to be different from the trends in other countries where men have higher rates of infection. MinHealth also reports that the majority of people who have died had concomitant illnesses (heart disease, diabetes, etc). The initial infections were in Ukrainians who had returned from working in Italy and those with whom they had contact. Most recently, it has been sweeping through the monks at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, who refused to follow any quarantine practices until this week.

Tatiana Shchytssova, Vilnius, Lithuania

The most vulnerable are doctors and teachers. Actually, all groups that must continue working in close contact or large groups are vulnerable.

<<Check back tomorrow for a special post about the situation migrants are facing in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dealing with a Pandemic

A global pandemic is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so it’s no surprise that there have been countless different approaches to handling this crisis. This week in Notes from the Field, we asked our participants:

What are the opinions that you are hearing in your country of how your government has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic?

Jesse Smeal, Rome, Italy

In my opinion and the opinion of many peers, we are very upset with how the government has and is handling the crisis. We are particularly upset with the lack of economic help and ineptitude of the government as a whole.

Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia

The Georgian government has received international praise for their response, and most people here concur (sometimes to their own chagrin). However, many people (in my circles, anyway) are worried that the Georgian Orthodox Church’s refusal to follow social distancing recommendations will cause a major outbreak, and are angry at the church itself, as well as at the government for not standing its ground. In mid-April, in the weeks leading up to Orthodox Palm Sunday and Easter, church attendance dramatically increased despite prohibitions against large gatherings.

Adela Muchova, Prague, Czechia

The prevailing opinion is that the government’s decisions are chaotic, communication unclear, and rules can be interpreted in many different ways. At the beginning, the government met daily and held long press conferences to demonstrate its readiness. People believe that strict measures (such as face masks, quarantine, closing businesses) are necessary to prevent the disease spreading. So public trust in the government is rather high, although experts (journalists, doctors) are rather critical towards the practical political decisions and steps taken.

Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia

I think that our government is taking adequate measures in fighting the pandemic and in supporting the economy. Just recently the decision was made that the government will give money to small and medium-sized businesses to pay minimum wage salaries (currently 12,130 rubles/month) to workers in April and May in order to avoid massive unemployment. It seems to me that it’s possible to live on this amount of money in self-isolation. In addition, mortgage and credit payments have been delayed and penalties for late housing payments have been waived.

What has been overlooked? It seems to me that we should have closed the borders much sooner and not allowed travel abroad, starting in February. Unfortunately, people who returned from Europe and Asia at the end of February and beginning of March have spread the disease across Russia, especially in Moscow. They did not quarantine themselves but went to work, took public transportation, and now we have the lamentable result. Unfortunately, even when the quarantine was announced many people did not follow it immediately and instead continued to serve as sources of infection, not knowing that they were already ill themselves since they were not showing symptoms. Alas, that’s the trickery of COVID-19.

<< Check back tomorrow for a continuation of this post with answers from Hungary, Ukraine, and Lithuania!

COVID-19: The Bread Baking Renaissance

Food is one of the few things that can unite, sustain, and soothe us no matter where we are in the world. In these troubling times, many people have turned to bread baking and vegetable gardening both to feed themselves and to pass time. In this week’s Notes from the Field, we asked our participants what their go-to comfort food is.

Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia

Khachapuri is a traditional Georgian bread filled with cheese and egg.

Most Georgian food makes good comfort food. There has been a popular social media challenge of people around the world making adjaruli khachapuri or khinkali and posting photos of their results. I think I will try to make my first adjaruli khachapuri soon.

Jesse Smeal, Rome, Italy

Any pasta dish. Cheap, easy and delicious.

Ann Merrill, Kyiv, Ukraine

Carbs, carbs, carbs.

Jessie Labov, Budapest, Hungary

My child has been sustained largely on “mákos tészta,” or poppy seed noodles, which is spaghetti or fettuccine coated with butter (or duck fat if you’re my mother-in-law), then sprinkled with a mix of ground poppy seeds and powdered sugar—the proportion of each depending entirely on the level of bribery necessary to get the child to eat. If you grew up in the U.S., you will probably find this weird and off-putting. If you grew up in this region, you will wolf it down like manna from heaven.

Eric Bednarski, Warsaw, Poland

We have been eating a lot of traditional homemade Polish pierogis in my household. Although I have been eating pierogis for most of my life, I’d never made pierogis myself until this pandemic struck, so it has been fascinating to see the whole pierogi-making process from start to finish. A lot of people I know in Warsaw seem to be baking their own bread now too. Many of them are baking bread for the first time.

Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia

A meat and fish counter remains open in an empty St. Petersburg supermarket.

I can’t say anything about my fellow countrymen, although I think many are cooking now. Personally, I have been making more soups in quarantine. Yesterday I made borscht. I am also trying to remember the recipes for all kinds of yummy dishes. I recently made the mini-khachapuris Dr. Brintlinger taught me to make several years ago. I have to admit that I’ve been eating better and healthier food in quarantine.

<<Check back in next Monday, May 25, to learn more about how countries in Central and Eastern Europe are dealing with the pandemic.

Pandemic Essentials

What is essential in a pandemic? Our correspondents in Central and Eastern Europe recommend these books, films, and other works of art.

Jessie Labov, Hungary

Giorgio Agamben’s State of Exception. Even though he has gone off the deep end and claimed at the beginning of this global health emergency that COVID-19 was a hoax and a conspiracy cooked up by governments in order to wield exceptional power. Yes, even though Agamben recently said those insane things, his book about the post-9/11 world is still very relevant and important to today’s reality. See: “Giorgio Agamben’s Coronavirus Cluelessness

Emma Pratt, Georgia

I can’t dazzle you with my intellect with my answer to this question, because I haven’t had the bandwidth for academic or intellectual reading. I tried to start Red Famine by Anne Applebaum when I returned from my trip to Ukraine, but I found it too emotional right now. The most fitting book I’ve read during this time has been Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory. It strikes the balance between being light and fun and reminiscent of better times, without being overly frivolous or silly.

Ann Merrill, Ukraine

Мої Думки Тихі (My Thoughts Are Silent), a quirky, lovely, funny Ukrainian independent film released earlier this year. It’s available online in Ukrainian with Russian subtitles. The scenery is gorgeous, and anyone who’s taken a road trip in Western Ukraine will find many familiar sights.

Jesse Smeal, Italy

Influenza 1918 – PBS film on the 1918 Pandemic. Very relevant to today’s crisis.

Conrad Rinto, Hungary

Luckily, prior to the pandemic I had ordered Eric Hobsbawm’s The Age of series. He is an author that I had discovered in Professor Dragostinova’s “Nations and Nationalism” course at Ohio State. Additionally, I am re-reading Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula series because when in Hungary why not read an alternative history series on Dracula.

Lyudmila Skryabina, Russia

It seems to me that during the pandemic we should read those things we’ve been unable to find time for. And watch as many comedies as possible!

<<Next Monday, May 18, our participants will be sharing their go-to comfort food recipes!

How to Pass Time in Quarantine, continued

To continue this week’s theme of passing time in quarantine, here are three more responses from Tbilisi, Kyiv, and Moscow.

Emma Pratt, Tbilisi, Georgia

I am working remotely and adapting my previously in-person class for online delivery has been a lot of work. I have also spent more time than usual cooking—trying to make the most efficient and delicious use of the products we have at home. So far, we have actually been eating better than usual. I’ve also been reading, but not as much as I had thought I would. We have a Nintendo Wii, which I have been using to get some exercise to clear my head. To be perfectly honest, I also spend a lot of time on Twitter waiting for updates. I haven’t gotten bored yet.

Boxes taped to the floor encourage social distancing practices in Kyiv, Ukraine

Ann Merrill, Kyiv, Ukraine

Ukraine has been in quarantine for 30 days at the time I am writing this. I’m actually fairly busy with my freelance work as a translator and editor, and was already quite used to working from home! I am working on the translation of my 3rd book for Awesome Heritage. Work on the magazine I edit also continues, The Ukrainian: Life & Culture. But there are a lot of hours in the day, so I’ve also rearranged closets and furniture, potted and repotted plants, and done a lot of cooking and baking. And I am going to finally tackle khachapuri, thanks to an American friend in Kyiv who is using the quarantine to launch his cooking channel!

Lyudmila Skryabina, Moscow, Russia

I have a ton of work. I can’t even get to much of what I have planned.

In the film industry, a lot of projects have had to be put off, and that’s true for us at Okapi Production as well. We had planned to start filming our first feature film in the beginning of May, but now in our best case scenario we’ll start at the end of the summer. Instead, while we’re staying at home we have increased our activity on social media and launched our YouTube channel. Since we’ve been doing casting calls for a year and a half we have a large base of contacts among active children and parents across Russia and the CIS.

Several regional television channels (Moscow region, Kuzbass, Rostov, Krasnodar, and others) have noticed our videos and we are now doing social advertising for them for free.

Since we’ll be working remotely for at least another month, I have started to write some new scripts for our children’s television program “Bad Advice from Helpful Kids.” We are learning a new format: not in the studio but via teleconferencing. The theme suggested itself: how to entertain yourself at home. Thus, I am extremely busy with video production work. But I still have a few articles planned for a scholarly volume at the Tomskaya Pisanitsa museum. Basically, there’s no time to be bored or depressed!

<<Next week, May 11, our participants will be sharing some book and film recommendations to help you pass the time!