Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences

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Logo of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences
Logo of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences

Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU) is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, cultural organization, dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, the free dissemination of ideas, and the fostering of contacts among people. It brings together scholars, scientists, artists, writers, students, lawyers, businessmen, and others throughout the world who have a professional, family or other interest in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, their history, peoples, or their cultural and intellectual contributions.

The SVU was established in 1958 in Washington, D.C.. Local chapters of SVU have been functioning in major cities around the world. After the peaceful 1989 “Velvet Revolution”, the SVU has expanded its activities to Czechoslovakia and its succession states, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

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[edit] The Society Membership

Present membership of the Society is some 3,000. It is scattered throughout the world, but concentrated in the U.S., Canada and Europe, the majority being associated with academic or research institutions. SVU members can be found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Grenada, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Mexico, England, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Israel, Irak, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Japan, South Africa. Since the Velvet Revolution, a large membership has grown in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Among names of the SVU Members there are historian Francis Dvornik, historian Otakar Odlozilik, theologian and church historian Jaroslav Pelikan, linguist Roman Jakobson, conductor Rafael Kubelik, pianist Rudolf Firkusny, opera singer Jarmila Novotna, artist Oskar Kokoschka, mathematician Vaclav Hlavaty, literary scholar Rene Wellek, social scientist Karl W. Deutsch, playwright and President Vaclav Havel, novelist Egon Hostovsky, novelist Milan Kundera, writer Bohumil Hrabal, poet and Nobel Prize laureate Jaroslav Seifert, composer Eugen Suchon, and others.[citation needed]

The Society is no elitist group, it admits anyone who subscribes to its aims.

[edit] Governance

The general membership meets each year at the annual General Assembly, the highest statutory body of the Society. Its governing bodies, the Executive Board and the Council, are elected every two years. All SVU officers work as volunteers and receive no compensation from the Society.

[edit] SVU Presidents

1958-62 Vaclav Hlavaty

1962-66 Rene Wellek

1966-68 Vaclav Hlavaty

1968-70 Jaroslav Nemec

1970-72 Jan V. Mladek

1972-74 Francis Schwarzenberg

1974-78 Mila Rechcigl

1978-80 Jan F. Triska

1980-84 Leopold J. Pospisil

1984-88 Jiri Nehnevajsa

1988-90 Igor V. Nabelek

1990-92 Jan F. Triska

1992-94 Zdenek J. Slouka

1994-2006 Mila Rechcigl

2006- Karel F. Raska

[edit] Local Chapters

The Society has active local chapters worldwide, including these locations: Washington, DC, Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Cleveland, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, College Station, TX, Minneapolis, Lincoln, NE, Spillville, IA, North Miami, FL; Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver; Melbourne, Sydney, Perth; Wellington; Pretoria; London, Stuttgart, Munich, Basel-Bern-Zurich, Vienna; Prague, Plzen, Olomouc, Ceske Budejovice, Bratislava, Kosice; and Tokyo, Japan.

[edit] World Congresses

The Society held its First World Congress, held April 20-22, 1962 in Washington, DC, attended by more than 200 scholars, scientists, and artists from all over the world. There were sixty papers read at these meetings, their subject ranging from linguistics to sociology and science. This was followed by the Second Congress on September 1l-l3, 1964, on the campus of Columbia University in New York City. This time, about 120 papers were presented by scholars - not just by the Society members but also by a number of invited guests from all over the United States, Canada, South America, Australia and Western Europe. The papers covered most major fields of intellectual endeavor, including history, literature and linguistics, music and fine arts, social sciences, and the biological and physical sciences.

Since then, every even year, the Society has convened a world congress. The program includes presentations of scholarly papers, discussion panels, concerts, artistic exhibits and social events. The lecture program covers a wide range of subjects and disciplines, providing platforms for exchanges of views. The lectures, seminars and symposia, as well as printed materials are generally presented in English.

The first fifteen world congresses were held in the U.S. or Canada, usually on university campuses. In 1992 the SVU Sixteenth World Congress was held for the first time in Prague and Bratislava, a major event bringing together more than 400 active participants from overseas and some 1,000 from Czechoslovakia. The Seventeenth World Congress, also held in Prague, had as its central theme "Czech and Slovak Contributions to World Culture". Practically all subsequent conferences were held in the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Thus the 1996 Congress was held in Brno, the 1998 Congress in Bratislava, the 2002 Congress in Plzen, the 2004 Congress in Olomouc and the 2006 Congress in Ceske Budejovice. In the Millennium year 2000, the SVU Congress was convened in Washington, DC.

[edit] Regional Conferences

The SVU has established the practice of convening a special Regional Conference every other year, usually in between the World Congresses. These conferences are smaller than the World Congresses and are usually focused on one specific topic. Thus in 1997, there was a conference in Texas on "Czech-American Transition- Challenges and Opportunities for the Future." In 1999, a conference entitled "Czech and Slovak America: Quo Vadis?", was held at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in conjunction with the visit of President of Czech Republic Vaclav Havel. In 2001, there was a conference at the University of Nebraska with the general scheme "The Czech and Slovak Legacy in the America: Preservation of Heritage with the Accent on Youth." Another conference was convened in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2003, which was organized under the patronage of the Presidents of the Czech and Slovak Republics, Václav Klaus and Rudolf Schuster, respectively, at Coe College, and had as its general theme "The Czech and Slovak Presence in America: A Retrospective Look and Future Perspectives." And finally, in 2005, another conference was held in North Miami, Florida, with its central theme "Czech and Slovak Heritage on Both Sides of the Atlantic", which was co-sponsored by the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad under the aegis of both the Czech and Slovak Presidents, Václav Klaus and Ivan Gasparovic, respectively.

In November 2003, the Society sponsored "Working Conference on Czech & Slovak American Materials and their Preservation", held at the Czech and Slovak Embassies in Washington, DC . The conference led to the establishment of the new Czech & Slovak American Archival Consortium (CSAAC).

[edit] Society Publications

For its members, and included in the membership dues, the SVU publishes a newsletter in the English and Czech/Slovak languages. In addition, the SVU members, as well as others, may subscribe to an English periodical of scholarly and literary substance, the semi-annual Kosmas - Czechoslovak and Central European Journal.

During the communist era in Czechoslovakia the Society published a Czech language and Slovak language literary and humanistic periodical: Promeny - Premeny (Metamorphoses) for nearly thirty years, which frequently included articles by forbidden authors and which was widely respected among intellectuals in the oppressed Czechoslovakia. A recently updated SVU Biographical Directory, now in 9th edition, lists over 3,000 biographical entries of members all over the world.

Among the Society’s monographs, mention should be made of Rene Wellek’s Essays on Czech Literature, the Anthology of Czech Poetry, edited by Alfred French, the voluminous SVU Congress Proceedings, edited by Mila Rechcigl, under the title, The Czechoslovak Contribution to World Culture and the two-volume set Czechoslovakia Past and Present, Joseph Chada’s The Czechs in the United States, Roman Jakobson’s Studies in Verbal Art, Matthew Spinka’s English translation of Jan Amos Komensky’s (Comenius) The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart, Peter Kussi’s translation of Arne Novák’s Czech Literature, and Anthology of Czech Prose, translated and edited by William E. Harkins, Vaclav Havel’s essays Do ruznych stran,: Eseje a clanky z let 1983-1989 and Charta 77, 1977-1989, edited by Vilem Precan.

More recent titles include: On All Fronts: Czechoslovaks in World War II, edited by Lewis M. White; Zdenka Fischmann’s Essays on Czech Music, edited by Dagmar White; The Taste of a Lost Homeland - An Anthology of Exile Poetry, edited by Vera Borkovec ; Czechs Americans in Transition, edited by Clinton Machann; Czech-American Historic Sites, Monuments, and Memorabilia and Czechoslovak American Archivalia, both edited by Mila Rechcigl; and Rechcigl’s Czechs and Slovaks in America.

[edit] Society Awards

Honorary Member - Honorary membership may be awarded to outstanding personalities who by their scientific or artistic works contributed significantly to the development of world culture. See SVU Honorary Members.

Founding Member - Founding membership may be awarded in recognition of exceptional service to the Society and/or the propagation of Czechoslovak culture. See SVU Founding Members.

SVU Fellow - Members of the Society may be elected Fellows of the Society in recognition of their outstanding record as scholars, scientists, educators, technologists, writers, or artists, or in other appropriate creative fields. See SVU Fellows.

Presidential Citation - Awarded to selected individuals and organizations by SVU President "in recognition of their work on behalf of the Society and its aims". See SVU Presidential Citations.

Student Award - Awarded annually as a part of an organized annual competition among undergraduate students and graduate students who have submitted the best essay dealing with some aspect of Czech and/or Slovak culture. See SVU Student Awards.

[edit] External links