by Phi Sigma Alpha

RELEASE – Utica College’s Pi Sigma Alpha will sponsor a forum on “Historical Roots of the Current Ukraine Crisis.” The event will take place on Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m. at Utica College in the Willard Conference Room, DePerno Hall.

It is a part of Pi Sigma Alpha “Conversation Series” which allows students, faculty and the community to discuss and exchange ideas about important public policy issues. It is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

The keynote speaker will be Barry Lituchy who will talk about the historical background of the current conflict in Ukraine focusing on forces of nationalism and fascism and its implications for today. Mr. Lituchy currently teaches European, US and World history at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, NY and has taught in the City University of New York for 25 years. He is the editor and co-author of the book, “ Jasenovac and the Holocaust in Yugoslavia: Analyses and Survivor Testimonies.” He has also written on the politics and history of the Balkans.

He testified at The Hague Tribunal (ICTY) in regard to human rights abuses in Kosovo in 2005. He served as the Assistant Coordinator of the First International Conference and Exhibition on the Jasenovac Concentration Camps held at Kingsborough in 1997. Mr. Lituchy is the founder of the Jasenovac Research Institute and currently serves as its Executive Director. He also serves as a Vice President of the Holocaust Memorial Committee in Brooklyn, NY.

Most recently, he presented papers on the conflict in the Ukraine at the Left Forum in 2014 and appeared on US and Russian media to discuss the history of Ukrainian fascism. His grandfather and relatives were victims of a notorious Ukrainian pogrom in 1919.