UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 13, Page 5
December 5, 1991
University of Latvia honors U.D. professor of geography

     Last spring, Edmunds Bunske, assistant professor of geography
at the University, spent six months in Latvia. It was the first
time this native Latvian had visited his homeland since he fled the
country with his family when he was only 9 years old because of
Communist rule.
     As a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Latvia, Bunske
taught courses in cultural principles of geography and the
historical geography of the American West.
     Bunske taught his lectures in Latvian, a language he had
forgotten but relearned as he taught. "It is wonderful to grasp the
beauty of being able to use your own language. It is
indescribable," he said.
     Last spring, he also was granted an honorary doctorate of
geography by the Ministry of Education and the University of
Latvia, in recognition of his contributions to education and
research.
     Bunske said, "The country is the same as I remember it, only
now it is economically and socially devastated."
     Bunske said his most valuable experience was "getting rid of
the pain and hurt that I felt about having to flee my country.
Having the privilege and good luck to go back was a payback for all
wonderful things that have happened to me in the U.S.," he said. "I
could give something back to the land of my birth."
                                        - Lisa Greiner