Events Calendar

The European Studies Group (ESG), an International Programs Affinity Group, will present a panel discussion entitled "A Year of War: Commemorating the Anniversary of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine" on Friday, Feb. 24, from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m., in the Iowa Theater, room 166 inside the Iowa Memorial Union (IMU).

Light refreshments will be served in the Hubbard Commons from 4:45 to 5:15 p.m. before the discussion begins.

The discussion will engage leading experts from Midwestern universities in a conversation about Russia's war against Ukraine. The panelists will be invited to take stock of events that occurred during the year since the invasion, discuss the implications of the Russia-Ukraine conflict for global security, and consider the possible ways in which it may unfold in the future. The audience will then be invited to pose questions and offer comments.

“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has shaken Europe to its core and set off a global humanitarian crisis,” said Marina Zaloznaya, director of the European Studies Group and associate professor of sociology and political science at the University of Iowa. “The future of this conflict will have a profound impact on millions of people around the world—by shaping their access to food, affecting their ability to exercise their political freedoms, and resurrecting the fears of nuclear escalation. Here, in the Midwest, we are lucky to have some of the leading thinkers on the sociological-political situation in the former Soviet Block."

This event is co-sponsored by the UI Department of Sociology and Criminology and the UI Department of Political Science.

Panelists:

• Scott Gehlbach is the Elise and Jack Lipsey Professor in the Department of Political Science, the Harris School of Public Policy, and the College at the University of Chicago. Gehlbach is a scholar of authoritarian and post-authoritarian regimes, whose research is motivated by the contemporary and historical experience of Russia and Ukraine.
• Cynthia Buckley is a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, whose work centers on issues of population, social equity, and development in Eurasia. Through her work with the Central Eurasian State Capacity Initiative, Dr. Buckley is engaged in the assessments of threats to geopolitical stability along Russia's periphery.
• Ted Gerber is a Conway-Bascom professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the recent director of the University of Wisconsin's Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia. Gerber's research focuses primarily on social stratification, immigration, and inequality in Russia and near abroad.
• William Reisinger is a professor of political science at the University of Iowa, whose research concerns politics in the former communist states, especially Russia. Dr. Reisinger works on the popular foundations of regime support, electoral competition, and subnational politics in the region.
• Marina Zaloznaya is an associate professor of sociology and political science at the University of Iowa, where she also serves as the director of the European Studies Group. Zaloznaya researches the political dimensions of public sector corruption and the anti-corruption reforms in Russia, Ukraine, and other post-Soviet countries.