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Join the monthly COA Local and Global Discussion Group of the Weston Council on Aging on March 9 for an update on Ukraine a year after the Russian invasion. Professor Alexandra Vacroux, Executive Director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard, will return to the COA to talk about whether or not economic sanctions have worked, what have been the ripple effects of the war and theorize about what is Putin’s endgame. And what should we do now?

Because the Owl is who she is and has to editorialize literally EVERYTHING, I have to say I am a huge fan of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies for two major reasons. The first of which is that the Davis name is for Kathryn Wasserman Davis (and her husband) who was a TITAN at Wellesley College–giving more than $50 million to the college over her lifetime. And it was a very long lifetime–she passed away at 106 and had been swimming actively just a few weeks before. She played tennis into her nineties. She would have loved pickleball. I met her only once and what struck me most was how much energy could be bottled up in what had to be less than five feet of height. I could go on about Ms. Davis for days but you can read her bio here.

The second reason for my love of the Davis Center is that my advisor at Wellesley, Marshall Goldman, was a trustee and I believe associate director there. He was definitely the Kathryn W. Davis Professor of Russian Economics at Wellesley, and passed away in 2017. Because of him, I have a degree in Soviet Politics, which while not entirely useful was MUCH fun to get. He brought light and attention to what was a scary place then, and perhaps now again. You know how you have one or two professors in your history who are standouts? Yes, this one.

If you don’t know the Davis Center, I would say it is well worth an afternoon with the COA.

The March 9 meeting will be held in person at the COA, with an opportunity to participate via Zoom, from 1:15 to about 3 pm. It is open to anyone who wishes to engage in a civil discussion of the issues with a wide variety of participants.

For further information or to request a Zoom link, call the COA at (781) 786-6280