People
Graeme Robertson
Director
3110 FedEx Global Education Center
Email • Phone: (919) 962-0445
Graeme Robertson is a professor in the UNC Department of Political Science. His work focuses on political protest and regime support in authoritarian regimes. He is the author of Putin v. The People (with Samuel Greene), published by Yale University Press in June 2019. The book presents a fresh new look at the social bases of support for and opposition to authoritarian rule in Russia. Graeme is also the author of Revolution and Reform in Ukraine, published by PONARS Eurasia (with Silviya Nitsova and Grigore Pop-Eleches) and The Politics of Protest in Hybrid Regimes: Managing Dissent in Post-Communist Russia, published by Cambridge University Press. Graeme currently serves as the associate editor for comparative politics for the American Journal of Political Science.
Adnan Džumhur
Associate Director
3109 FedEx Global Education Center
Email • Phone: (919) 962-0901
Adnan (Adi) Džumhur joined the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies as its associate director in 2015. He oversees the Center’s overall operations, development, grant administration, event programming and outreach. Adi received his BA in German from Sewanee: The University of the South and his MA in Russian and East European Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill. He teaches Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and is co-convener of the UNC Forum on Southeast Europe, a national platform for interdisciplinary research dedicated to the region.
Nataliia Bondarenko
International Education Program Coordinator
3111 FedEx Global Education Center
Email • Phone: (919) 962-5810
Prior to joining CSEEES, Nataliia Bondarenko founded and managed Soroban schools in Mariupol, Ukraine. She also served as a lecturer at Beetroot Academy Ukraine, mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. With prior experience as a public relations specialist at Ukraina TV channel, Nataliia manages the Center’s outreach initiatives and communications.
Pakiza Mammadli
Undergraduate Program Assistant, AY 2023-24
3108 FedEx Global Education Center
Pakiza Mammadli is majoring in Economics B.S. and minoring in Data Science. Originally from Azerbaijan, she lived and studied in Tbilisi, Georgia for ten years. She speaks Azerbaijani, Russian, and Georgian. Pakiza has also been a part of various organizations that focus on advocating for the rights of different communities. Reading Russian literature is one of her favorite hobbies.
Nika Mukasashvili
Graduate Program Assistant, AY 2023-24
3108 FedEx Global Education Center
Nika Mukasashvili is from Tbilisi, Georgia. He finished Georgian-American high school and earned his B.A. from Tbilisi State University. He worked for two years as a senior researcher at Tbilisi State University before enrolling in the Global Studies MA program with concentration in Russian and East European Studies. His main interests are in ethnic and nationalism studies of the Caucasus, political philosophy, and global governance.
Kathryn Ulrich
Business Manager
3106 FedEx Global Education Center
Email • Phone: (919) 843-0129
UNC Russian Flagship Staff
Advisory Board Members
Andrea Bohlman, Associate Professor • Department of Music
Erica Johnson, Director of Graduate Studies • Curriculum in Global Studies
Alexander Kabanov, Distinguished Professor • School of Pharmacy
Klara Peter, Associate Professor • Department of Economics
Eliza Rose, Assistant Professor • Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages
Michele Rivkin-Fish, Associate Professor • Department of Anthropology
Graeme Robertson, Professor • Department of Political Science; ex officio, CSEEES
Stanislav Shvabrin, Associate Professor • Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages
Charles Szypszak, Distinguished Professor • School of Government
Eren Tasar, Associate Professor • Department of History
Kirill Tolpygo, Librarian • Slavic & East European Collections, UNC Libraries