Jon Giullian

Primary office:

Summary

MA, SLL 1997

Career: Librarian for Slavic and Eurasian Studies, KU Libraries. Responsible for development and management of collections related to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Baltics, Caucuas, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Coordinate library research instruction program for Slavic and Eurasian studies. Promote collections in Slavic and Eurasian studies to KU and local community, including K-12 schools.

Languages: Russian, Polish, BCS, Czech (currently studying), Portuguese.

Countries lived in: Russia (Saint Petersburg, Voronezh), Portugal (Lisbon, Setubal, Tavira, Santiago de Cacem, Grandola, Seixal), Czech Republic (Prague).

Countries visited: Austria, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Hobbies: Making friends from faraway places, hiking in the mountains with my family, gardening, tennis, dancing, violin and mandolin, cooking, and, of course, traveling.

Favorite place: Colorado Mountains

Favorite sayings: You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you've collected a lot of empty yesterdays. (The Music Man). I don't want to wait until retirement to enjoy life because you never know what's going to happen (Lisa Giullian). Every failure is one step closer to success (anonymous).

Favorite books: Book of Mormon. With Fire and Sword (H. Sienkiewicz); Lord of the Rings (Tolkien), War and Peace (L. Tolstoy).

Favorite foods: European style bread and pastries; Brown Cow maple yoghurt.

Favorite drinks: Cranberry juice or Gingerbread flavored steamed milk; its a toss-up.

 


In Memoriam

Reed Rankin ✝ 12/29/2019

The faculty and students in the Department Slavic Languages and Literatures are deeply saddened that one our undergraduate majors, Reed Rankin, passed away last week (12/29) in Fredonia, Kansas. Reed was a beloved student in the department and is fondly remembered by his peers and professors. He began studying Russian as a Freshman and stayed with a challenging but rewarding language for three and a half years, tackling introductory, intermediate, advanced levels, and even continuing his studies into his senior year with Russian for the Professions. We know that he was planning further study in Moscow in the next academic year, prior to matriculation at KU School of Law.

A thoughtful student, Reed often contributed insight and posed challenging questions in class. ​​ Reed’s dedication to the study of Russian language, culture, and history was tremendous and fueled by infectious curiosity. He showed great acumen in translating from Russian into English, always finding English-language equivalents for Russian cultural concepts through skillful use of one-liners from American films. We also treasured his ability to speak in fluid Russian about rural, farm life in Kansas, and the effects that natural phenomena, like floods, on a farming community. He was a pleasure to know and teach, and will be remembered for his kind and polite demeanor. Our thoughts are with Reed’s family at this time

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KU’s Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies program is one of only 12 federally-funded national resource centers in the US
Only doctoral program in Slavic Languages and Literatures between the Mississippi and the West Coast
100% of graduate students in the Slavic program had funding in academic year 2012-13
KU's Libraries house over 500,000 volumes of Slavic books and electronic editions
Two of the department’s last four doctoral candidates have won a Fulbright grants to conduct dissertation research abroad