CHICAGO — Experts from DePaul University are available to discuss topics related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Alberto R. Coll, Vincent de Paul Professor of Law

Alberto Coll is an expert in international law and U.S. foreign relations. Coll can discuss grand strategy and national security and diplomacy, U.S. alliance relations, and military force. During the first Bush administration, Coll served as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict. He also served as Dean of the Naval War College.

Dick Farkas, Professor of Political Science

An expert on post-communist and post-conflict societies and their challenges, Dick Farkas can discuss Russian leadership, Russian-Ukrainian relations, Russian-American relations and cyberwarfare. Farkas lectures regularly in East European countries including Ukraine, Russia and the Balkans. He was in Ukraine in late 2021 for a project with the U.S. State Department.

Patty Gerstenblith, Professor of Law

Director of DePaul’s Center for Art, Museum & Cultural Heritage Law, Patty Gertenblith is an expert on international law, the law of armed conflict and the protection of art and cultural heritage. She can discuss how museums and curators in Ukraine are affected by the violence and conflict, as well as which antiquities and archaeological artifacts may be most at risk.

Barry Kellman, Professor of Law

Barry Kellman works on the law of weapons and international security. For 25 years, he has consulted on the control and eradication of chemical, biological, nuclear and conventional weapons.  Kellman has consulted for the U.S. Departments of State, Defense, Energy and Homeland Security. He can discuss disarmament and control of directed energy weapons and missiles.

Thomas Mockaitis, Professor of History
Thomas Mockaitis is a nationally renowned expert on insurgency, terrorism and conflict. He can provide commentary on post-invasion occupation and how an insurgency might unfold. With expertise in international security and United Nations Peacekeeping activities, he can also cover how the U.S. might support such an insurgency. Mockaitis has spent considerable time in Eastern Europe, including Kyiv.

Shailja Sharma, Professor of International Studies

Shailja Sharma works on migration, refugee flows and diaspora. She can provide analysis on Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion and the refugee situation being created as a result of this war. Sharma teaches courses on citizenship.

Lydia Stazen, Director of the Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness

The Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness works in partnership with Depaul International, an organization that has been working on the ground in Ukraine since before the conflict to eliminate street homelessness. Lydia Stazen can discuss how war worsens the issue of homelessness, as well as the institute’s efforts to make ending homelessness a United Nations priority. Stazen is Ukrainian-American.

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