Caroline Wisler on Ringing the Bells at the Banner of Peace

by Caroline Wisler The central belfry of the Banner of Peace Monument in Mladost Early in the fall semester, Stefan, another American Research Center Sofia (ARCS) fellow and doctoral student from the History Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and I spoke about visiting the Banner of Peace Monument, a socialist monument located in Mladost, southeast of the Sofia city center. Not until late November, when I had only a couple days remaining on my visa and on what may...

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Zach Grotovsky’s Summer ‘13: 14 Weeks, 15 Cities, One Long Adventure

by Zach Grotovsky The old and the new: new skyscrapers behind Soviet buildings After a very long and difficult academic year, summer 2013 could not have started any better. I finished my papers, drove to my dad’s that same night, and was on my flight from Chicago to Warsaw the next morning. From there, I had a long train ride to Kiev waiting for me. With a fair amount of hand movements and confusion, I was able to buy my ticket right on the platform and was soon on my way for a summer in Eastern...

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Brussels: Go for the Study, Stay for the Waffles

by Justin Ostrowski Brussels was filled with breathtaking architecture As I checked into the Euroflat Hotel I was still in disbelief of just how close I was to such a powerful entity. I excitedly rode the elevator to my room and, after meeting my roommate for the week, looked out of our (not-so-child friendly) hotel room window to admire the Commission building.  Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE ...

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