What is SVU
Most scholars of the Central European region now readily recognize the acronym SVU which in Czech and Slovak languages stands for the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences. Since its inception in 1958, the SVU has grown into a respected international organization with chapters in major cities around the world. Although the Society until recently functioned almost exclusively in the West, ever since the peaceful 1989 Velvet revolution, it has expanded its activities to Czechoslovakia and its succession states, the Czech and the Slovak Republics.
The SVU is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, cultural organization, dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, the free dissemination of ideas, and the fostering of contacts among people. It brings together scholars, scientists, artists, writers, students, lawyers, businessmen, and others throughout the world who have a professional, family or other interest in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, their history, peoples, or their cultural and intellectual contributions.
Historical Background
The Society was officially organized in 1958, at the initiative of Czech and / Slovak intellectuals living abroad, at a time when the communist regime in Czechoslovakia had repudiated the country's historical traditions and suppressed free expression. The SVU wanted to provide a forum for the free development of Czechoslovak culture in exile and make the world aware of the Czech and Slovak cultural traditions, which date back more than a millennium.
Its activities, as outlined in the original bylaws, consisted of supporting and coordinating the educational, scholarly, literary and artistic endeavors of the Czechoslovak intelligentsia abroad. However, the Society was subsequently broadened into an organization open to all individuals, regardless of ethnic origin, interested in fostering Slovak and/or Czech culture.
Following the end of the communist regime in 1989, the SVU's functions greatly expanded. Now, in addition to its original mission, the Society has become a bridge between Czech and Slovak professionals and those in other countries. It allows scholars abroad to benefit from contact with their Czech and Slovak colleagues, as well as helping to reintegrate the intellectual life of these two nations into the main stream of world science, arts and letters, from which they were separated for so long by political barriers.
Our chapter was established during the August 2001 SVU Conference in Nebraska. It was the third SVU conference devoted to the subject of Czech and Slovak Americans and the preservation of their heritage. Nebraska was selected for its site because of the large Czech and Slovak community here and their rich cultural traditions and contributions. The University of Nebraska, where the meetings was held, is also one of the few universities in the U.S. that offers the Czech language and has been teaching it since 1907.