The university will welcome a plethora of speakers from East Europe to bring to life the realities of people from that area during the seventh annual Symposium on East Europe Friday and Saturday.

Ten years ago the Soviet power that dominated most of eastern Europe collapsed. Since then, the people from countries such as Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania have been rebuilding their lives and nations. This symposium offers students, faculty and professionals the opportunity to hear about the events that have occurred since 1991 from witnesses.

Speakers include Andrzej Bryk, professor of history at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland; Zoltan Barany, professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin and author of “Legacies of Communism in Eastern Europe;” Paul Goble, director of the communication division at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Sven Juergenson, ambassador of Estonia to the United States; Sandra Kalniete, ambassador of Latvia to France; Maciej Kozlowski, ambassador of Poland to Israel; Valdis Krastins, ambassador of Latvia to Finland and Alfred Senn, professor of history at UW-Madison and author of twelve books.

“(The symposium can offer) a lesson in human development and condition,” said Paulis Lazda, a history professor and founder and co-chair of the symposium.

Lazda said it is important to learn about other cultures and their histories.

“To be a truly integrated and diverse society . we need to interact and engage in the world,” he said.

Midred Larson, co-chair of the event, agreed with Lazda. She said it is important for students to learn about East Europe, “because we live in a global economy and what happens in east Europe affects us.”

Lazda hand-picked each of the speakers, having known all but one of them.

“I can vouch for each one of them,” he said.

When Lazda was in Europe in the 1980s, he heard Maciej Kozlowski speak. He was intrigued so much by him that he arranged to meet with Kozlowski in a caf‚ in Krakow. The two had a long talk and began to correspond with each other over the years.

Seven years ago, Lazda invited Kozlowski to speak in Eau Claire along with two other people. That was the first symposium.

Many of the speakers have come to the university before and Eau Claire is sort of a second home to some of them, Lazda said.

“Universities should be doing more of this – bringing in the great minds of the world, people who have shaped events.”