Washington, DC—With Russia launching an extensive assault on Ukraine, the American Sociological Association has compiled a list of experts who can provide sociological perspectives on issues related to this crisis. These experts are available to answer media questions and provide insights for news stories.
Cynthia Buckley is Professor of Sociology and Faculty Affiliate of the European Union Studies Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. A social demographer, she is currently engaged in two research projects focused on social and political stability in Ukraine. Informed by more than three decades of fieldwork across Eurasia, her recent publications in professional journals have focused on the social implications of damage to humanitarian infrastructure in Donbas, health care capacity and COVID in Ukraine, and the importance of health diplomacy. She is working on issues of migration, displacement, and resettlement in Ukraine, and the socio-demographic declines associated with de facto states.
Daina Eglitis is Associate Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at George Washington University, Washington DC. Her research focuses on the social dimensions of post-communist transformations in Eastern Europe. She is especially interested in the ways in which transformation has affected women in the region and the ways in which women have responded to the dramatic changes of the last decade. Her work has been featured in numerous professional journals and edited volumes.
Michelle Kelso is Director, Human Services and Social Justice, and Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at George Washington University, Washington DC. Kelso's research focuses on the Holocaust in Romanian controlled territory. In her most research on Holocaust atrocity sites in Ukraine, Kelso uses a digital humanities framework that incorporates GIS mapping and memory studies. She has been the recipient of several prestigious national awards and her documentary film, Hidden Sorrows: The Persecution of Romanian Gypsies During WWII has been screened in seven countries, numerous film festivals, and aired on three national television channels. She has consulted for the Council of Europe, USAID, several nonprofits, Holocaust compensation programs, as well as the Romanian and American governments.
Michael D. Kennedy is Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. Throughout his career, Kennedy has addressed the articulations of democracy, dictatorship, war and social change in Europe and Eurasia, with particular regional expertise in Poland, Ukraine, Russia, and Kosovo. His work has appeared in Polish, Ukrainian, and Kosovar journals, as well as those focused on the region, including Problems of Post-Communism and East European Politics and Societies. His three monographs as well as his contributions to numerous other professional journals and edited volumes also reflect this regional interest. In the public sphere, his accounts have appeared in the Guardian, Chicago Tribune, HuffPost, Detroit Free Press, The New York Times, and the Providence Journal, and through various audio and visual media, including BBC News, Rhode Island Public Television, and local commercial television and radio. His most substantial recent reflection on the current Ukraine crisis before Putin's invasion appeared on February 2, 2022 in the interview, “When It Comes to Russia and Ukraine, Nothing Is Simple” by Dan Richards in Trending Globally.
Juho Korhonen is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, and a visiting fellow at the Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington DC. He is a historical and political sociologist and has published widely on post-socialist politics and imperialism. His areas of interest include Eurasian history; global and transnational history; sociology of empires; nationalism; and post-socialism.
Ori Swed is Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University and Director of Peace, War, & Social Conflict Laboratory, Lubbock, Texas. He studies contemporary trends in warfare, specifically Russian cyber and proxy capabilities. His research focuses on organizational change in the context of humanitarian crisis or armed conflict. Swed also studies technology and organizations, with a focus on conflict and post-conflict settings.
For more experts or resources, contact the ASA.
________________________________________
About the American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association, founded in 1905, is a non‐profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society.
RSS