Each Olympics shines a spotlight on its host country, illuminating not only a culture's richness, but also its problems.
This year in Russia, the focus is on recent anti-gay legislation that threatens freedom of expression and singles out gay couples with children as 'harmful' examples of family life.
The new law, passed in June ostensibly to 'protect' Russian children from exposure to homosexuality, has drawn criticism from world leaders as well as activists, athletes, and Hollywood, particularly as the Olympics approached. Among the questions raised: What would happen to athletes who wore pins or badges or waved rainbow flags? Would openly gay figures, such as actor Ian McKellan, be welcome at the games?
Here on campus, University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty members are concerned about how the law will play out after the Olympics.
Shevelenko
"[Russian president Vladimir] Putin knows the world is watching at the Olympics," says Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature Irina Shevelenko. "No one is in danger there. It's what happens after Sochi, or in cities far from Sochi, that is worrisome."
The legislation could affect how students in UW-Madison's relatively new Russian Flagship Program, for example, experience their year in St. Petersburg. Gay or straight, students living in Russia who participate in or support LGBT organizations — or even express tolerance for homosexuality — could face consequences.
"When we prepare our students for Russia, we are advising them not to participate in demonstrations," says Karen Evans-Romaine, director of the Russian Flagship Center and chair of the Slavic Department. "Be yourselves, but do not make yourselves vulnerable."
Providing students with on-the-ground experience in strategically-important countries like Russia and China is a growing priority for colleges and universities nationwide. UW-Madison is one of four campuses to offer the Russian Flagship Program, funded by the national Language Flagship initiative, which emphasizes rigorous study and immersion in the culture. Russian is one of 10 languages seen as critical to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness.
There is no denying the difficulties scholars face in strategically important countries with harsher laws. Knowing how to navigate that terrain is a part of their learning process.
Prinz
Ryan Prinz (B.A.'12, International Studies and Russian) was among the first cohort of Russian Flagship graduates. He spent the 2011-12 school year in St. Petersburg, where a regional version of the country's anti-gay law was passed during his stay. Suddenly, a look-the-other-way attitude about homosexuality changed seemingly overnight to overt hostility.
"It's not like homophobia was new to Russia," says Prinz. "I already knew to be careful about who I talked to, and what I said. But the law suddenly made everything seem that much more threatening."
Prinz, a native of West Bend, Wis., says he found Russian culture hard to navigate at first, but was ultimately able to "break down barriers" through his total immersion experience.
Now working at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C., Prinz says his knowledge of Russian civil society has been beneficial to his job "from day one."
Moving about freely in Russian society is vital for UW-Madison professors Shevelenko and Evans-Romaine. They often go to Russia for work and to visit Shevelenko's parents in St. Petersburg. But the two can no longer travel as a family. They are concerned for the safety of their child, who is seven.
"We have never asked him to call us anything but mother and mother," says Shevelenko. "Now, in a public place in Russia – 'mom and mom?' I just don't know. The consequences are too unpredictable."
The Olympic spotlight may actually help.
McDonald
History Professor David McDonald, an expert on Russia and the history of sport, says the Olympics have provided many opportunities to reflect on human rights issues, international relations, and politics.
"Take the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, so glaringly and obviously a forum to promote the Nazi order," says McDonald. "You had [sprinter] Marty Glickman swearing that the [United States Olympic Committee] president wouldn't let him run, even though he'd qualified, because he was Jewish."
Then there was Munich in 1972, when 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and judges were taken hostage and killed by Palestinian terrorists. Four years later, in Montreal, 22 African nations boycotted the Olympics to protest apartheid in South Africa.
The fleeting Olympic spotlight can seem like "one grain of sand" in the effort to address grinding social issues, says McDonald. But he points out that the Montreal boycott forced some countries that had been engaging with South Africa via sports to re-evaluate those relations.
"It's a tightrope [Putin is] walking," McDonald says. "He's taking a lot of flak from foreign reporters."