Dear all,
The Jordan Center enters its fifth year of existence with, appropriately enough, its own transition. After an incredible four year run as the founder and first director of the center, Professor Yanni Kotsonis has decided to step down and will enjoy a well deserved sabbatical this spring to focus on his next research project.
I am humbled, honored, and excited to replace Yanni as the second Director of Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia. As a way of brief introduction
for those of you I have not yet met, I am starting my 11th year as a faculty member at NYU, and am a Professor of Politics and an affiliated Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies and Data Science. My research interests lie primarily in the field of mass political behavior, and I have written on elections, voting, partisanship, protest, and public opinion formation in post-communist countries. My newest book, Communism’s Shadow: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Political Atittudes, co-authored with Grigore Pop-Eleches, will be published by Princeton University Press in 2017. I also serve as one of the co-Directors of the NYU Social Media and Political Participation (SMaPP) lab, and as one of the co-authors and associate editors of the award winning Monkey Cage blog at The Washington Post. You can follow me on Twitter @j_a_tucker.
2016-2017 promises to be another very important year in terms of both Russia’s domestic development and Russia’s role in the world. With Duma elections in September, the United States presidential election in November, the ongoing redefinition of Britain’s relationship with Europe and the continuing conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, knowledge of all things Russia will continue to be crucial for those hoping to understand global developments. The core goal of the Jordan Center will continue as always: to enhance knowledge of Russia – its history, culture, politics, and economics – to share that knowledge as widely as possible. Moreover, we strive to do so in a way that is free from partisan bias, instead privileging the depth of academic research and the rigor of academic debate.
The Jordan Center is in a unique position to accomplish these goals: self-reliant and autonomous as an academic institution and situated in a global city. As such, we will continue to do so both by sponsoring high level programming – lectures, panels, colloquia, and conferences – from a wide variety of academic disciplines, as well as by providing support for research to graduate students, faculty, visiting scholars, and our writers in residence. Please keep an eye on our website: http://jordanrussiacenter.org/ and follow us on Twitter @NYUJordanCenter to keep up to date on events and announcements.
We hope you can join us!
Sincerely,
Joshua A. Tucker
Director