Events/Courses - Event View

The first session of the four-week course will cover the history of Ukrainian and Russian life together through the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and the emergence of Ukraine as an independent state. Subsequent sessions will deal with (2) Russia and Ukraine’s efforts to live together as separate states, the Maidan revolution, and Putin’s first and second invasions; (3) followed by two years of war and international response up to the present moment; (4) ending with the role of the Ukrainian conflict as a catalyst in the emerging global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. Short suggested readings will be made available electronically before each class. PowerPoint projections will be used for maps, pictures, and other visual material. Questions and discussion will be encouraged. Class Limit: 20       
 
Instructor Louis Sell had a 28-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, dealing in many aspects of US–Soviet relations, including six years at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. He witnessed the collapse of the USSR and the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum. His two books are From Washington to Moscow: US–Soviet Relations and the Collapse of the USSR and Slobodan Milosevic and the Destruction of Yugoslavia. Sell is one of the founders of the American University in Kosovo and taught at the University of Maine at Farmington. He speaks Russian and Serbo-Croatian.