Regional Affiliates & Research Associates

REEEC Regional Faculty Affiliates

REEEC Regional Faculty Affiliates are faculty at smaller universities and colleges in our region who specialize in Russian, East European, and/or Eurasian studies. We invite others to join our community. If you are interested in becoming a REEEC Regional Faculty Associate, please contact REEEC at reec@illinois.edu

 

REEEC Research Associates

REEEC Associates are colleagues who fall under at least one of four distinctions: 1.) they are currently employed by the university in a non-faculty position but wish by zero-time appointment to certify scholarly interests that would not be clear from their appointment; 2.) they are independent scholars who possess research interests in Russian, East European, and/or Eurasian studies and affiliation with REEEC gives standing to their individual research efforts; 3.) they are recent graduates from Illinois who were affiliated with REEEC during their studies at Illinois and wish to stay connected to the community; 4.) they are former Illinois faculty who were affiliated with REEEC and wish to stay connected. If you are interested in becoming a REEEC Associate, please contact REEEC at reec@illinois.edu

 

Regional Faculty Associates

  • Elise Ahn, eahn@international.wisc.edu Project Manager, International Projects and UW-Madison Partnership with Nazarbayev University, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Marina Balina, mbalina@iwu.edu Professor Emeritus of Russian Language and Literature, Illinois Wesleyan University. 20th century Russian literature.
  • David Borgmeyer, dborgmey@slu.edu Director of the Center for International Studies, Saint Louis University. PhD, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Cultural Identity and Civil Society in Russian and Eastern Europe, and 19th century Russian Literature
  • Charles Bukowski, cjb@bradley.edu Director of the Institute for International Studies, Bradley University. PhD, University of South Carolina. Politics and economics of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republics, especially Slovenia.
  • Andy Bruno, abruno2@niu.edu Associate Professor of History and Faculty Associate in Environmental Studies, Northern Illinois University. PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. History and Russian Studies.
  • John P. Carlson, JP-Carlson@wiu.edu Professor of Agriculture, Western Illinois University. PhD, Iowa State University. International Agriculture.
  • Terry D. Clark, tclark@creighton.edu Professor of Political Science and Director of the Graduate Program in International Relations, Creighton University. PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Russian and Lithuanian politics, democratization theory.
  • Laura Dean, ldean@mail.millikin.edu Assistant Professor of Political Science, Millikin University. PhD, University of Kansas. Comparative politics, social movements, human rights, transnational feminism, gender and politics, migration politics and policy.
  • Kyle Evered, ktevered@msu.edu Associate Professor of Geography, Michigan State University. PhD, University of Oregon. Cultural, environmental, and political geographies of Middle Eastern and post-Soviet regions.
  • Carol Gayle, gayle@lfc.edu Associate Professor of History, Lake Forest College. Russian and East European History, and Russian literature and film.
  • Elza Ibroscheva, eibrosc@siue.edu Associate Professor of Mass Communications, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. PhD, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Bulgarian mass media industries; visual media analysis.
  • Daniel Kaiser, kaiser@grinnell.edu Professor of History, Joseph F. Rosenfield Professor of Social Studies, Grinnell College. PhD, University of Chicago. Medieval and early modern Russian history; Russian law; family life and urban culture.
  • Ann Kleimola, akleimola1@unl.edu Professor, History Department, University of Nebraska. Eastern Europe, Medieval Russia, Women.
  • Mark Richard Lauersdorf, lauersdorf@uky.edu Associate Professor of Languages and Linguistics, University of Kentucky
  • Brian Locke, b-locke@wiu.edu Associate Professor of Musicology, Western Illinois University. Music in the Czech Lands (Art music, Popular Music, Jazz), Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Century Music, Jazz in Europe.
  • Jacek Lubecki, jlubecki@mail.millikin.edu Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Coordinator of International Studies and Middle Eastern Studies.
  • Alyssa Matthias, amathias@knox.edu Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, Knox College. PhD, University of California, Los Angeles. Arts-based development in the South Caucasus; Conflict Transformation, Information Technology, Sustainability. 
  • Susan Mikula, smikula@ben.edu Professor of History, Benedictine University.
  • Anna Muller, anmuller@umich.edu Associate Professor of Social Sciences, University of Michigan-Dearborn. PhD, Indiana University, Bloomington. Modern and cultural history in Central and East Europe and gender in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union.
  • Rosina Neginsky, rnegi1@uis.edu Associate Professor of Women's Studies, English and Liberal Studies/Individual Option, University of Illinois at Springfield. European cinema, international women writers and the Symbolist Movement in Europe.
  • Bruce Newman, bnewman@depaul.edu Professor of Marketing, DePaul University. Editor, Journal of Political Marketing. Political Marketing and Consumer Behavior.
  • Joel Ostrow, jostrow@ben.edu Professor of International Business and Political Science, Benedictine University. PhD, University of California, Berkeley. Political and economic transformation of the postcommunist states of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
  • Ronald Pope, rrpope@ilstu.edu Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Illinois State University. PhD, University of Pennsylvania. Russian politics and society, business and legal culture.
  • Stephen D. Press, spress@iwu.edu, Associate Professor of Music History, Illinois Wesleyan University. PhD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
  • Sean Pollock, sean.pollock@wright.edu, Associate Professor of History, Wright State University. PhD, Harvard University. History.
  • Robert Przygrodzki, rlprzygrodzki@yahoo.com Course Instructor, Western Governors University. Architecture, Arts & Culture, Civil Society, Russia, Poland.
  • Joel Quam, quamjo@cod.edu Professor of Geography, College of DuPage. Regional Geography of the former Soviet Union (especially Russia, Estonia, Latvia).
  • Steven D. Roper, steven.roper@nu.edu.kz Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nazarbayev University. PhD, University of Missouri. European and Post-Communist politics focusing on southern Europe, specifically Romania and Moldova; international law and human rights.
  • Nancy Scannell, Scannell.Nancy@uis.edu Associate Professor of Business Administration, University of Illinois, Springfield. Finance, Money & Banking, Transitional Economies, European Union.
  • Edward A. D. Schatz, chair.pol.utm@utoronto.ca Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto. PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
  • Anita Shelton, ashelton@eiu.edu PhD, University of Washington. Professor and Chair of History, East Europe, Russia, modern Europe.
  • Susan Smith, snsmith@bradley.edu Temporary Assistant Professor of History, Bradley University
  • Ronald Spahr, rspahr@memphis.edu Professor and Chair, Department of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate, University of Memphis. PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Finance and Banking in Russia; Consulting and teaching in an MBA program in Russia since 1995.
  • Charles Steinwedel, c-steinwedel@neiu.edu Associate Professor of History, Northeastern Illinois University. PhD, Columbia University. Russian/Soviet history; empire, nation, religion and social status in late imperial Russia; Bashkortostan and the Volga-Urals region.
  • Roshanna Sylvester, rsylvest@depaul.edu Associate Professor of History, DePaul University. PhD, Yale University. Russian history, history of crime, gender, class, ethnicity, urban history.
  • Paul Valliere, pvallier@butler.edu Professor of Religion, Butler University. PhD, Columbia University. Russian Orthodoxy and culture; modern religious thought.
  • Christine Varga-Harris, cvargah@ilstu.edu Associate Professor of History, Illinois State University. PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Russian/Soviet history; post-war Soviet cultural history.
  • Anika Walke, awalke@artsci.wustl.edu Associate Professor of International and Area Studies, Washington University in St. Louis. In-depth analysis of the confluence of memory discourses and perceptions of migration in the German and Soviet/Russian contexts.
  • Robert Bruce Ware, rware@siue.edu Professor of Philosophy, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. DPhil, Oxford University. Political philosophy, Political Islam, Caucasus and Central Asia, Post-Soviet politics.
  • Theodore R. Weeks, tadeusz@siu.edu Professor of History, Southern Illinois University. PhD, University of California at Berkeley. Minority nationality in Late Imperial Russia; Polish-Jewish relations.
  • Sally West, swest@truman.edu Professor of History, Truman State University. PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Imperial Russia, consumer culture, nationalities, world history.
  • William B. Whisenhunt, whisen@cdnet.cod.edu Professor of History/Political Science, College of DuPage. Ph.D. University of Illinois at Chicago. Russian and Soviet History; 18th and 19th century Russian intellectual, political and social; Russian-American relations.
  • Robert L. Whiting, Robert.Whiting@wgu.edu Course Mentor, General Education: Geography, Western Governor's State. PhD. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
  • Richard Wolfel, Richard.Wolfel@usma.edu Associate Professor of Geography, United States Military Academy. PhD, Indiana University. Cultural and political geography with regional interests in Central Asia; nationalism and the urban built environment, post-Soviet political development and the influence of nationalism on tourism.
  • Christine Worobec, worobec@niu.edu Professor of History, Northern Illinois University. PhD, University of Toronto. Social and cultural history of Imperial Russia and modern Ukraine, focusing on Russian and Ukrainian peasantries, the history of women, and popular religion.
  • Tatyana V. Zabotina, Zabotina.Tatyana@uis.edu Professor, College of Business and Management. PhD, University of SUNY-Binghamton. Market Microstructure, Investments, International Financial Markets, Time Series Analysis, Corporate Finance.
  • Russell Zanca, rzanca@neiu.edu Professor of Anthropology, Northeastern Illinois University. PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Cultural anthropology of Central Asia, post-Soviet economies, Islam and Muslim societies, Eurasian labor migration and globalization.

 

Research Associates

  • Sara Brinegar, sara.brinegar@yale.edu
    Former REEEC MA student and PhD, History, University of Wisconsin – Madison. Rice Fellow, European Studies Council at The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. The role of the development and exploitation of oil in the formation of the Soviet Union, with particular reference to Azerbaijan.
  • Francis Butler, fbutler@illinois.edu
    Slavic Languages and Literatures. PhD, Slavic, University of California, Berkeley. Early Russian writings; Kievan Rus.
  • Ralph Clem, clemr@fiu.edu
    Emeritus Professor of Geography, Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University. PhD, Geography with a concentration in Soviet Studies, Columbia University.
  • Celia Elliott, cmelliot@illinois.edu
    Director, External Affairs and Special Projects, Department of Physics. Since 1993, Eliot has assisted former nuclear weapons and bioweapons scientists from the former Soviet Union (FSU) to adapt to their new globalized world, traveling to the FSU 27 times. She is the author of two books that have been published in Russian by the International Science and Technology Center, one on preparing grant proposals and one on preparing scientific papers for publication in Western technical journals, and is finishing a third book on technical communications for scientists and engineers.
  • Rick Esbenshade
    Hungarian History
  • Erik Herron, esherron@mail.wvu.edu
    Eberly Family Professor, Department of Political Science, West Virginia University. PhD, Political Science, Michigan State University.
  • Jack J. Hutchens, jhutchens@luc.edu
    Instructor Polish and European Literature, Loyola University Chicago. Slavic Languages and Literatures PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
  • Richard L. Jaehne, jaehne@fsi.illinois.edu
    Director, Illinois Fire Service Institute. Former NATO commander. NATO involvement in the Balkans; International/homeland security; counter-terrorism.
  • Sara Kendzior, skendzior@gmail.com
    Journalist, researcher, and consultant. Op-ed columnist for Al Jazeera English and for the Vitae section of The Chronicle of Higher Education. PhD in Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis. Political anthropology, the internet and digital media, dissident politics, diaspora, nationhood, state conflict and violence, Islam, former Soviet Union, Central Asia, Uzbekistan.
  • Jung Ah Kim
    Lecturer, Russian Languages and Literatures, Seoul National University. PhD, Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Illinois. 19th c. Russian literature; Dostoevsky.
  • Sanja Koric, skoric@illinois.edu
    Engineer Specialist, Facilities and Services
  • Barbara Maggs
    Russian History
  • Katherine McCarthy, mkmccart@illinois.edu
    PhD, History, University of Pittsburgh. Croatian history.
  • Ivan P. Nikolov, inikolov@valdosta.edu
    Director, Center for International Programs, Valdosta State University, Georgia. PhD, University of Sofia, Bulgaria. International education, Bulgarian education.
  • Richard Remnek
    Russian politics; EU enlargement and Eastern Europe.
  • Curtis Richardson, curtrich@live.unc.edu
    Independent Researcher and former REEEC instructor. Faculty Course Instructor at Western Governors University, and Research Fellow at the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies (CSEES) at the University of North Carolina. 20th century Russian literature; international disarmament and security.
  • Matthew Rosenstein, rosenstn@illinois.edu
    Director, Global Education and Training, Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs and Global Strategies, University of Illinois. PhD, Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Illinois. 20th century Russian literature; international disarmament and security.
  • Helen Sullivan
    Librarian, Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library, University of Illinois
  • Elizabeth Talbot
    Retired Outreach Coordinator of REEEC. PhD, Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of North Carolina. Reviewer of textbooks on REEES for the Library Journal.
  • Alexandra Tipei
    Illinois alumna (BA, 2004) and Champaign native. PhD, History, Indiana University. Modern and Eastern Europe.
  • Brenda Trofanenko
    Trofanenko is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Culture, Community and Education at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS. She is also a visiting professor at the University of Toronto.
  • Sasha Tsenkova, tsenkova@ucalgary.ca
    Professor in International Development and Planning, University of Calgary, Canada. PhD, Architecture, Technical University, Prague; PhD, Planning & Geography, University of Toronto. Comparative urban and housing policy in Central and Eastern Europe.
  • Richard Vogen, vogen@illinois.edu
    Director of Planning, College of ACES. MBA, University of Illinois. Former Director of the International Operations for the US Grains Council. Russian grain market development and agribusiness management.
  • Rade Zinaic, rade_zinaic@hotmail.com
    Independent Researcher. PhD, Social and Political Thought, York University, Toronto. Knowledge production on the Balkans; Balkan revolutionaries; Marxism; dissidents; Cultural Studies; and South Slavic folklore.