Institute for European Studies
Esra Akcan
Professor, Architectural Theory
Esra Akcan is the Michael A. McCarthy Professor of Architectural Theory in the Department of Architecture. Her scholarly work on a geopolitically conscious global history of urbanism and architecture inspires her teaching. She is the author of Architecture in Translation: Germany, Turkey and the Modern House (Duke University Press, 2012); Turkey: Modern Architectures in History (with S.
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Music Historian Explores Black European Pop Stars
By: Kaitlin Findlay and the IES Team
Professor Kira Thurman, a musicologist and historian at the University of Michigan, shared her groundbreaking research on the layered influence of the postimperial subjects in Europe’s high era of disco. Thurman was invited to speak at Cornell by the Institute for European Studies graduate fellows. She lectured to a packed room at the A.D. White House on April 14, 2026.
For Thurman, it began with a nagging question: who, exactly, were the performers of the well-known Belgian band, Technotronic? (best known for their 1989 hit “Pump Up the Jam.”) The group’s vocalist, Ya Kid K, a Congolese Belgian rapper, is absent from the music videos. Instead, they feature Congolese Belgian model Felly Killingi. This case of musical “mimicry” thus sparked Thurman’s search into the layered influence of postimperial subjects in Europe’s high era of disco.
Her first book, Singing Like Germans: Black Musicians in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms (2021), received major awards from the American Historical Association, the Royal Musicological Society, and the German Studies Association. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Frieze Magazine, and The New York Review of Books, and she has contributed historical materials for numerous orchestras internationally.
“How has empire transformed European music culture?” Thurman asks, challenging pervasive assumptions about race and belonging in European history.
Using pop charts, recordings, published reviews, and music magazines, Thurman traces a surge of Black European presence in Western European music after World War II. At the same time, she reveals the complicated realities of who benefited from their labor and how these performers were visually linked to, and often conflated with, American Black culture. During Munich’s rise as Germany’s disco capital, producers frequently placed Black performers at the forefront as the public face of the industry, as seen with groups like Boney M., whose male frontman, Bobby Farrell, lip-synced to tracks recorded by producer Frank Farian, while serving as the visual embodiment of the music. Through a nuanced analysis informed by theories of masquerade and mimicry, Thurman untangles transnational histories of belonging and exclusion, as well as the construction and erasure of race.
In addition to her lecture, Professor Thurman engaged with the IES graduate fellows over a breakfast workshop, where she discussed strategies for young scholars to engage in public humanities by publishing articles and op-eds to reach a wider audience.
If you would like to be a part of our European Studies community as a graduate fellow, please apply by May 11, 2026.
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Program
Bartels Lecture: Samantha Power
Former USAID Director Calls for Rebuilding Foreign Aid
Samantha Power challenged students to “build what comes next” during the Bartels World Affairs Lecture on April 16.
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Information Session: Careers for International Relations Minors
April 29, 2026
11:00 am
Join the International Relations Minor for a virtual career information session featuring Cornell alumni working in diplomacy, education, and law. Panelists will reflect on their career paths, share advice on internships, graduate school, and professional transitions, and answer student questions about careers connected to international relations.
Register here.
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Speakers
Eric Andersen is the Political-Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique. Having joined the U.S. State Department in 2009, he previously served as Political Counselor (Acting) in Islamabad, Pakistan. His other assignments have included Cairo, Kyiv, and Khartoum, as well as in Washington, D.C. as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Prior to entering the Foreign Service, he spent four years on Capitol Hill as a Professional Staff Member for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. In his first stint with the U.S. Government, he flew the SH-60B “Seahawk” helicopter as an aviator in the U.S. Navy. He holds an M.A. in Security Policy from the George Washington University, and a A.B. in English Literature from Cornell University (Class of 1996).
Angie Yucht Swenson, M.S.Ed., Ed.M., is the founder and principal tutor of AYS Tutoring and Consulting, a practice she launched after more than a decade working in both private and public schools across New York City. She specializes in supporting elementary through high school students with learning challenges and has worked with families from diverse international backgrounds, including Russia, Israel, and France. Angie graduated from Cornell University in 2010, majoring in Human Development and minoring in International Relations, followed by a master’s in General and Special Education from Hunter College, and a master’s in School Leadership from Bank Street College of Education. She resides in NYC with her husband, two daughters, and a goldendoodle.
Emma Marshak is a commercial litigator in Washington, DC who specializes in judgment enforcement. She has enforced domestic and international judgments, including awards from investor-state arbitration, in federal and state courts across the United States.
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This session is presented by the Einaudi Center for International Studies. The International Relations minor is open to all Cornell undergraduate students interested in learning about the politics, economics, history, languages, and cultures of the world.
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Migrations Program
Southwest Asia and North Africa Program
Classical Art Historian Annetta Alexandridis Dies at 58
Annetta Alexandridis, IES
Annetta Alexandridis, a classical archaeologist known for her hands-on approach to research and teaching, died April 13 in New York City. She was 58.
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Faculty Workshop: "Green Friends and Garden-Factories"
April 28, 2026
12:10 pm
Uris Hall, 153
Maria Taylor (CALS) will discuss parts of an upcoming book with special guest Hannah Hopewell (LSU) and Cornell faculty.
Participation is by invitation only. Please email Maria Taylor (mct228@cornell.edu) if you would like to be invited to and receive the paper.
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Institute for European Studies
What the U.S. Naval Blockade Reveals About the Iran War’s Next Phase
Nicolas Mulder, IES
Nicolas Mulder, a Cornell University assistant professor of history, provides perspective on the historical and contemporary implications of the U.S. naval blockade of Iran.
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Research for Impact: Academic Expertise and the War in Ukraine
May 2, 2026
9:00 am
Uris Hall, G08
Participants
Aaron Erlich is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University, where he is a member of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship and an Associate Member of the Centre on Population Dynamics. He is also a faculty research affiliate with NYU's Center for Social Media, AI, and Politics. Much of Aaron’s research addresses information's role in developing democratic societies. His work also advances quantitative methods to measure the effect of information. aaron.erlich@mcgill.ca
Regina Faranda is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence & Research. A career member of the Senior Executive Service, Faranda previously served as Director of INR’s Office of Opinion Research, Chief of the Europe and Eurasia Division, and social research analyst for Russia and Ukraine. Throughout her tenure in government, Faranda was dedicated to informing U.S. policy through quantitative social research and to giving people around the world a seat at the U.S. policy table. gina.faranda123@gmail.com
Jordan Gans-Morse is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University. His research focuses on corruption, the rule of law, property rights, and political and economic transitions. He is the author of Property Rights in Post-Soviet Russia: Violence, Corruption, and Demand for Law (Cambridge). His articles have appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, the American Political Science Review, and World Development, and he has published commentaries in the Chicago Tribune, The Hill, The Moscow Times, US News & World Report, and The Washington Post. jordan.gans-morse@northwestern.edu
Kimberly O'Haver is a program manager at the Open Society Foundation, where she coordinates of a group of international drug policy experts working toward progressive drug policy reform for Ukraine's EU Accession process. Her work on drug policy focuses on veterans and affected civilian populations experiencing severe, war-induced trauma and regularly engages veterans and veterans’ groups to understand substance use trends both post-deployment and on the frontlines. ohaverkm@gmail.com
Bryn Rosenfeld is an Associate Professor of Government at Cornell University and a co-Principal Investigator of the Russian Election Study. Her research interests focus on public opinion and voter behavior in nondemocratic systems, development and democratization, protest, post-communist politics, and survey methodology. Her research has been supported by the NSF and the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research, among other sources. She is a former editor of The Washington Post Monkey Cage Blog. brr59@cornell.edu
Charles Whitehead is the Myron C. Taylor Alumni Professor of Business Law at Cornell Law School and the Founding Director of the Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship Program at Cornell Tech. He specializes in the law relating to corporations and other business associations, securities regulation, mergers and acquisitions, and financial regulation. His current scholarship focuses on securities and financial regulation and corporate governance. ckw26@cornell.edu
Workshop Schedule
9:00am. Coffee
9:15am. Opening Remarks
Bryn Rosenfeld (Cornell)
9:30am-11:15am. Panel: Research for Impact
Cristina Florea (Cornell), Moderator
Presentations:
Charles Whitehead (Cornell Law), “Corporate Governance Reform in Ukraine: Between State Design and Market Discipline”
Aaron Erlich (McGill), “The Past, Present, and Future of Public Opinion Survey Research in Ukraine: From Pen and Paper to Agentic AI (2015-2026)”
Jordan Gans-Morse (Northwestern), “Countering Authoritarian Censorship via Grassroots Communication Campaigns: Evidence from an Experimental Mega-Study in Wartime Russia”
Bryn Rosenfeld (Cornell), “Russian Public Opinion Spanning the Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine: Evidence for Policy and Public Diplomacy”
11:30am-12:30pm. Catered Lunch
1:00pm-2:45pm. Roundtable. Connecting Research to Policy Advocacy and Activism: Challenges and Opportunities
Sophie Pinkham (Cornell), Moderator
Participants:
Regina Faranda (former Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. State Department, INR)
Kimberly O’Haver (Open Society Foundation)
Aaron Erlich (McGill)
Jordan Gans-Morse (Northwestern)
Bryn Rosenfeld (Cornell)
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Institute for European Studies
Russia, Although Awed by Its Forests, Tried to Dominate These, with Surprising Results
Sophie Pinkham, IES
Sophie Pinkham, professor of the practice in comparative literature, shares her expertise on Russia's forest history and environmental challenges.
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Iran Weaponizes Global Oil Trade in War with the United States
Nicholas Mulder, IES
Nicholas Mulder, a sanctions expert and history professor at Cornell University, analyzes Iran's selective control over the Strait of Hormuz as a form of economic warfare.