Ukraine is in crisis. In fact, the world is in crisis as well.

In order to lend perspective to any crisis, it is wise to research the whole situation, especially its history…in newspaper terms, “the story behind the story.”

On Wednesday, March 16, 2022 a zoom lecture at 7pm will be presented by Michael Strmiska, PhD. The Crisis in Ukraine in Historical Perspective ~ will offer information and insight into the plight and position of Ukraine during the last 1200 years.

Access the program via zoom link: https://sunyorange.zoom.us/j/96169766211

The lecture will cover

1. Historical Overview Kyivan Rus or Kievan Rus as original Ukrainian/Russian
    state circa 1000
    Ukrainian people and lands under various rulers:
    Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
    Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,
    Zaporozhian Sich (Cossack State),
    Tsarist Russian Empire,
    Socialist Republic of Ukraine within USSR

2. Creation of independent Ukraine at end of Soviet Union in 1991.

3. Ukraine Between East and West.
    Since 1991, continuing relationship with Russia while also developing closer ties
    to the EU and the West.

4. 2013 Maidan Revolution and 2014 Russian seizure of Crimea.

5. Russian-Ukrainian Conflict in Eastern Ukrainian Donbas region, from 2014
    to present.

6. Current situation with Russia invading Eastern Ukraine and Putin rejecting
    Ukraine’s existence as independent nation. Role of Russian propaganda.
    American and NATO response.  

SUNY Orange Global Studies Professor Michael Strmiska is a scholar and researcher of eastern and northern Europe. As a Fulbright Fellow, he was a visiting lecturer at Šiauliai University in Lithuania in 2004, and has been a guest lecturer for Vilnius University in Lithuania. He was a visiting professor at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic in 2015, and in 2020 was a Fulbright Fellow teaching at Rīga Stradiņš University in Latvia. Dr. Strmiska has traveled extensively in Eastern Europe, including Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Croatia, Russia, and Ukraine. In 2017, he was chosen as a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award, Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities. He holds a B.A. from Hampshire College, and M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. from Boston University. He is the author of Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives, and is currently working on a book tentatively entitled Unchristian Eastern Europe: Pagans, Jews, Gypsies and Muslims. He also has published articles on new religious movements in Iceland, Lithuania, and Latvia.

This event is a joint effort by Cultural Affairs and the Global Studies Department. Questions may be directed to cultural@sunyorange.edu