I wish to extend a warm welcome to readers of the seventh issue of the UC Undergraduate Journal of Slavic and East/Central European Studies. Our forum continues to attract compelling and original research by young scholars from around the country. This year’s essays showcase both the intellectual vitality and the interdisciplinary focus of these scholars.

Several papers draw substantially from other disciplines—including the social sciences, the arts, athletics, and music—to make valuable contributions to Slavic studies. Michael Chruściel (Wayne State University) analyzes a number of factors influencing views on organ transplantation in Poland and sheds light on important issues ranging from the responsibility of healthcare professionals to the role of Catholicism. Yelena Muratova (UCLA) examines the cultural reception of Ludwig van Beethoven in the Soviet Union. Soviet intellectuals colluded, Muratova argues, in a tradition of (mis)interpreting Beethoven as a revolutionary. Keith Philippe (University of Minnesota) considers the future of Russia’s coal industry, calling attention to the geopolitical complexity of today’s integrated world economy.

Matej Silecky (Berkeley) provides a history of the development of elite athletics in five Central Asian republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Silecky’s paper is timely indeed for the year that saw Russia host the Olympic games and continue its efforts to reshape its relations with the former Soviet republics. Emily Kanner (Columbia) offers a nuanced reading of Osip Mandelstam’s poetry in relation to the poet’s interest in architecture. Brian Tich (Stanford) conducts an eloquent and cogent reading of Ivan Bunin’s “Light Breathing.” Hannah Strassburger (UCLA) juxtaposes Soviet and Nazi art production, paying close attention to the way power mechanisms worked in each regime.

This edition has benefited from the generous contributions of its authors, editors, and reviewers. Special thanks are due to Professor Boris Dralyuk, Professor Roman Koropeckyj, Dr. Yelena Furman, Professor Olga Kagan, Susan Bauckus, Naomi Caffee, Armani Rosiles, and Sydney Heller. I would also like to thank our undergraduate editor, Yelena Muratova. On behalf of our entire team, I thank the Center for World Languages and the International Institute for staff support, and the European and Eurasian Studies and the UCLA Office of the Dean of Humanities for their financial support.