“A Shared and Unshared City: Grade and Miłosz on Vilnius” by Sherman Garnett

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Serling Institute Faculty Research Seminar – Open to All!
Complimentary lunch provided

Friday, April 11 12:00-1:30 pm James Madison College Library, 332 Case Hall, 842 Chestnut Rd.

Chaim Grade’s and Czesław Miłosz’s shared city—Vilnius (Wilno, Vilna)—became a theme in the works of both writers. Yet in what ways are the writers describing a shared city, and in what ways are they revealing the deep differences between a city named Wilno and the same city named Vilna? Using a selection of works from both writers, especially My Mother’s Sabbath Days and Native Realm, the presentation will examine both the shared city of both writers but also how the writers explore a city that is radically different and perhaps unsharable.

Sherman W. Garnett is Professor in James Madison College and was previously Dean of the College for over two decades (1999-2020). He is a faculty affiliate of the Serling Institute. He teaches courses in international security, Russia and the former USSR, nuclear weapons, and literature and politics. He is teaching a freshman writing seminar on interwar Vilnius and Nazi occupation through the eyes of Czesław Miłosz and Chaim Grade. His book—The Reluctant Political Thinker: Czesław Miłosz on Crisis, the Poetic Life, and the Cold War Political Imaginary—will be published by De Gruyter this year. Dr. Garnett is also directing the Distinguished Nuclear Policy lecture series for FRIB and serves as a principal investigator for the project, Science, Art & Faith: Exploring the Multi-Faith Heritage of Islamic Architecture, funded by the Templeton Religious Trust. From 1995 to 1999, Dr. Garnett was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing in the foreign and security policies of Russia, Ukraine, and other states in the former USSR.   He is the author or co-author of works on Russian foreign policy, European security, and Eurasia’s foreign and security policies. He has lectured at leading universities and institutes in the United States and worldwide and advised the U.S. Government on arms control and security issues. From 1983 to 1994, Dr. Garnett worked in various positions in the US Government, specializing in arms control and the former USSR, ending his service as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. Dr. Garnett received his Ph.D. in Russian Literature from the University of Michigan in 1982.  He has an MA in Russian and East European Studies from Yale University and a BA in Political Philosophy from James Madison College at Michigan State University.