# Meet the 2026 HUSI Cohort July 02, 2026 - [ News ](/news-categories/news) ### Welcome, HUSI Class of 2026! Last week, we welcomed 24 students participating in the 2026 Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute (HUSI). They arrived on campus from around the world, bringing diverse experiences and perspectives. HUSI students take Ukrainian studies courses at Harvard that span history, culture, political science, sociology, and language. Throughout the summer, they engage with each other and with experts on Ukraine, both in and out of the classroom. Learn more about them and their goals for the summer and beyond. HUSI 2026 runs for seven weeks from June 22 through August 7. #### Kat Ambrus ![Kat Ambrus](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-2-300x300-ambrus.png) Kat Ambrus is the Events Coordinator at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (HURI), where she supports the planning and execution of its diverse range of programming. She holds an MFA in Nonprofit Arts Leadership and Cultural Management from the University of Connecticut and a BA in English and Theater from Rutgers University. Prior to joining HURI, Kat worked across a variety of nonprofit arts organizations in operations, development, communications, and patron services, building experience in audience engagement, program administration, and organizational management. As the daughter of two parents who immigrated from the former Soviet Union, Kat has a longstanding interest in the histories, cultures, and communities of Eastern Europe. This summer, she is excited to take “Ukrainian Politics and Society” with Dr. Emma Mateo. She hopes to deepen her understanding of the historical, political, and cultural contexts that inform HURI’s work and strengthen her ability to support meaningful programming, engage thoughtfully with scholars and community members, and contribute to the Institute’s mission of advancing knowledge and understanding of Ukraine. She is particularly interested in how culture and public engagement can foster cross-cultural understanding and is looking forward to learning more about efforts within the field to elevate Ukrainian perspectives and broaden understanding of the region’s history and contemporary realities. #### Astara Bastille ![Astara Bastille](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-3-300x300-bastille.png) Astara Bastille is a graduate student at Simmons University in the School of Library Science. In addition to pursuing her MLIS, she works as a curatorial assistant at Harvard's Houghton Library in the Department of Modern Books and Manuscripts. She earned her bachelor's at Wellesley College, where she double majored in Russian and Italian Studies. While studying abroad in Georgia for a Russian language program in 2022, she began to learn Ukrainian from refugees and since then has informally studied the language. Astara's research interest is in folk and protest art in Ukraine and Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and understanding how art is used in the preservation of national identity. She hopes to be able to conduct research in libraries and archives in Ukraine in the future and to utilize her knowledge of Ukrainian language and culture to further develop Eurasian collections in American institutions. This summer, Astara will be taking Professor Volodymyr Dibrova's "Ukrainian for Reading Knowledge" in order to deepen her understanding of the Ukrainian language, aid in her research, and further her engagement with Ukrainian culture. #### Marcus Choo ![Marcus Choo](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-4-300x300-choo.png) After completing his MPhil (Master’s) in Russian and East European Studies at Oxford University, Marcus Choo has gone on to work as an antiquarian book dealer and researcher with PY Rare Books in London. His work requires bibliographic description and historical research of printed books, ephemera, and manuscripts in a variety of languages, including Russian, Georgian, and Armenian. He is taking Professor Dibrova’s Ukrainian language course and Professor Bilenky’s history course to better understand the Ukrainian books he often handles, which in many cases are so obscure as to have left no trace in the scholarly literature and require intensive source analysis and translation. He would like to promote the history of the book as an interesting and under-appreciated lens through which to view Ukraine, particularly after 1863, when the Valuev Circular and the Ems Decree began to distort vernacular publishing. #### Sofiia Diadchenko ![Sofiia Diadchenko](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-5-300x300-diadchenko.png) Sofiia Diadchenko is a Ukrainian student currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Business Economics at the Kyiv School of Economics, with a minor in Political Science. Her academic path has taken her across Europe — from an exchange at Bocconi University in Milan to a fellowship at the London School of Economics and an academic mobility semester at Sciences Po Paris — reflecting her commitment to building interdisciplinary expertise at the intersection of economics, policy, and journalism. Professionally, Sofiia has contributed to *The New York Times* Kyiv bureau as a political reporter, covering developments on the Ukrainian frontline and giving voice to stories that might otherwise go unheard. She has also worked as a policy consultant and economic policy officer, producing research on Ukraine–EU energy relations and supporting EU integration projects at the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Sofiia is a member of the Youth Council at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. At HUSI 2026, Sofiia is enrolled in “Ukrainian Politics and Society” and “Tradition and Modernity” — two courses she selected to deepen her understanding of Ukraine's political and historical dynamics within an American academic context. Her participation in HUSI reflects her long-term commitment to public service and diplomacy, as well as her belief that rigorous academic knowledge is essential to Ukraine's future. #### Kyrylo Fomin ![Kyrylo Fomin](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-6-300x300-fomin.png) Kyrylo Fomin is a student from Kyiv, Ukraine, with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Dartmouth College. He is interested in the intersection of international security and public opinion, particularly related to public support for aid to Ukraine. Kyrylo plans to pursue a career in Ukrainian diplomacy and spent last summer as an intern at the Embassy of Ukraine in Japan. Previously, he interned as a research assistant at the U.S. Naval War College and at the Center for Civilians in Conflict chapter in Kyiv. Kyrylo also spent part of his studies abroad, including one semester at the London School of Economics, where he focused on immigration and the rise of populism in Europe, and another at Osaka Gakuin University in Japan, where he completed a Japanese language program. At HUSI, Kyrylo hopes to gain a nuanced understanding of the dynamics between civil society and elite politics in Ukraine and formulate a coherent vision of Ukraine's memory politics through his urban history coursework. #### Sasha Hecht ![Sasha Hecht](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-7-300x300-hecht.png) Sasha Hecht is a journalist and filmmaker originally from New York City and currently based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After spending 15 years as a writer and editor covering culture and media, she is now pursuing a bachelor's degree in History and International Relations through the Harvard Extension School. Her academic interests include political culture, collective memory, and the role of narratives in shaping public understanding of historical and contemporary events. Sasha is participating in the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute through the course "Ukrainian Politics and Society: From Independence to Invasion and Beyond," where she hopes to deepen her understanding of national identity formation in post-Soviet states and the role of historical memory in shaping contemporary political narratives across the region. #### Marius Heil ![Marius Heil](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-8-300x300-heil.png) Marius Heil is a PhD researcher in International Relations at Aston University (Birmingham, UK) in cooperation with the Jacques Delors Centre at the Hertie School (Berlin). His dissertation examines European discourses on Ukraine’s EU accession, focusing on how identity, ideology, and temporal and geographical imaginaries intersect in debates on Ukraine’s European future. From the beginning of his studies, he pursued an interdisciplinary academic path focused on political and societal developments in Central and Eastern Europe. He completed the Erasmus Mundus Master’s degree in European Politics and Society at Charles University, Leiden University, and Jagiellonian University, followed by an Advanced Master’s degree in European Interdisciplinary Studies at the College of Europe, focusing on EU Neighborhood and Enlargement Policy. During this time, he further specialized in Ukraine’s history, politics, and European integration, and his master’s thesis received the Dr. Alois Mock Prize for its contribution to European integration. At HUSI, Marius is taking *Ukraine’s State and Society* with Dr. Emma Matteo and *Tradition and Modernity: Ukraine in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries* with Dr. Serhiy Bilenky. He hopes to deepen his understanding of Ukraine’s historical trajectories, imperial legacies, post-independence transformations, key moments of mass mobilization, and the civic and political developments that have shaped Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic path. He aims to integrate these perspectives more systematically into the conceptual framework of his doctoral research. HUSI also offers him a unique interdisciplinary environment in which to independently advance his doctoral research project and engage with leading scholars and fellow researchers in Ukrainian Studies. #### Marta Hulievska ![Marta Hulievska](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-9-300x300-hulievska.png) Marta Hulievska is an incoming PhD student in Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan. She recently completed a Master of Arts in Comparative Literature at Dartmouth College. She previously earned a bachelor’s degree in History and English at Dartmouth as well. Her research explores Ukrainian literature, memory, and identity, bringing together literary studies, history, Jewish studies, and critical theory. She is particularly interested in twentieth-century Ukrainian modernism, Jewish and Ukrainian cultural memory, and the ways literature shapes historical understanding. Originally from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Marta’s academic interests are closely connected to her desire to better understand Ukraine’s past and present and to contribute to the growing field of Ukrainian Studies. At Dartmouth, she co-founded the Dartmouth Student Alliance for Ukraine, helped organize lectures, exhibitions, and cultural events, and worked to expand opportunities for students to study Ukraine through language, literature, and history. She advocates for further expansion of Ukrainian Studies in the United States through student-led movements. This summer, Marta is participating in the 2026 Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute, where she is taking courses in Ukrainian history and politics. She is especially excited to learn alongside students and scholars from diverse backgrounds while exploring new perspectives on Ukraine’s history and contemporary challenges. As she prepares to begin her doctoral studies, she hopes to continue building connections across disciplines and understand more about Ukrainian academia in North America. #### Gabriel Kelly ![Gabriel Kelly](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-11-300x300-kelly.png) Gabriel C. Kelly is a Political Science PhD student at American University, majoring in Comparative Politics. His research focuses on post-communist Europe and Eurasia. Gabriel completed a US Student Research Fulbright Fellowship in Moldova, where he conducted interview and survey research on civil society participation in Russian & English. He also participated in an immersive Advanced Russian Language & Area Studies Program (RLASP) in Yerevan, Armenia, and served as a Europe Grants Officer at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC, where he handled grant administration for pro-democracy projects in Moldova and Central Europe. In addition, he worked as a research assistant for a textbook on Central & Eastern European politics. Gabriel will be taking “Ukrainian for Reading Knowledge” as well as “Tradition & Modernity: Ukraine in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries” to better understand the political behavior of Ukrainians in countries outside of Ukraine. In addition to Russian language, he has studied French, and he completed introductory coursework in Latvian. He has also received quantitative training from ICPSR at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Gabriel graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Gettysburg College and earned two master’s degrees from George Washington University. He is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. #### Sofia Klymchuk ![Sofia Klymchuk](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-12-300x300-klymchuk.png) Sofia Klymchuk is a policy, diplomacy, and EU integration expert working on international AI governance, digital policy, and EU accession reform. Originally from Sheptytskyi (Chervonohrad) in the Lviv region, she currently works with UNESCO, where she has led Ukraine's AI RAM project, launched Ukraine's first AI ethics forums, and delivered UNESCO's AI Literacy and Rule of Law programs for judges, civil servants, educators, and businesses. She was recently named a UNESCO AI Ethics Expert Without Borders (AIEB) – the first Ukrainian appointed to this role. Previously, she served as an Advisor to the Acting Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, leading Ukraine's EU accession negotiations in the AI sector and representing the country at the EU AI Board, the Council of Europe, and the OECD. She drafted Ukraine's National AI Strategy 2030 and shaped the country's AI and internet policy at the Ministry for more than five years. A lawyer by training, Sofia also holds a master's degree in Public Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics (LSE) as a Chevening Scholar. In 2025, she was recognized as an emerging leader in digital policy, serving as a Doha Forum National Delegate, a Stanford Scholar, a GLOBSEC Young Leader, and an Alpbach Scholar. She is also an MMP Fellow at the Swedish Dialogue Institute, where she focuses on AI diplomacy and geopolitics within the EU–MENA cooperation strategy. With support from the HUSI scholarship, Sofia is taking two courses: "Ukrainian Politics and Society" and "Tradition and Modernity: Ukraine in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries" to sharpen her ability to represent Ukraine on the international stage. She is also eager to share with participants how AI can influence Ukrainian resilience, culture, and democracy*.* #### Diana Kuznetsova ![Diana Kuznetsova](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-13-300x300-kuznetsova.png) Diana Kuznetsova is a Ukrainian researcher and policy professional from Mykolaiv, Ukraine. She recently completed an MA in Intelligence and International Security at King's College London, where she also serves as a Postgraduate Fellow in the Department of War Studies. In addition, she works as a Policy Advisor to Ukrainian Members of Parliament. Over the past five years, Diana has gained experience across the public and private sectors, working on issues related to international security, defense policy, political affairs, and strategic research. Her professional background includes collaboration with governmental institutions, international organizations, and parliamentary bodies. Diana's research interests focus on international security and emerging technologies, particularly nuclear security, artificial intelligence, space security, and defense policy. She also specializes in intelligence studies, the Russia–Ukraine war, and the security and political dynamics of the post-Soviet space. Her work examines how technological change, geopolitical competition, and armed conflict are reshaping contemporary security challenges. As a participant in the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute (HUSI) 2026, Diana is deepening her understanding of Ukrainian politics, history, society, and state development. Through HUSI's interdisciplinary curriculum, she seeks to strengthen her knowledge of the historical and societal factors that shape contemporary Ukraine and its role within the broader European and international security landscape. Having grown up in southern Ukraine and witnessed the consequences of Russia's full-scale invasion firsthand, Diana views HUSI as a valuable opportunity to connect her professional interests in security and policy with a deeper understanding of Ukraine's political and cultural development. #### William Layton ![William Layton](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-14-300x300-layton.png) William Layton is a master's student in the Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies (REECA) program at Harvard's Davis Center. Originally from downstate Illinois, he completed his B.A. at the University of Virginia in 2025 with Phi Beta Kappa honors. A historian, his research explores public discourse, cultural production, and dissent in Soviet Ukraine following the death of Stalin in 1953, with a specific focus on how Ukrainian national identity was represented and negotiated by political and cultural elites within the Soviet system. William is excited to continue his study of Ukrainian language and history at the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute to support the completion of his MA thesis in Spring 2026. To these ends, he is enrolled in “Ukrainian for Reading Knowledge” with Dr. Volodymyr Dibrova and “Tradition and Modernity: Ukraine in the 19th and 20th Centuries” with Dr. Serhiy Bilenky. In addition to this coursework, he was drawn to the program for the depth and talents of its students and faculty, the Public Lecture Series, and the chance to take advantage of HURI’s wonderful academic resources over the summer. #### Eneko Mauritz ![Eneko Mauritz](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-15-300x300-mauritz.png) Eneko Mauritz is currently completing the final year of his International Master's degree in Economy, State, and Society, a joint program between University College London and Jagiellonian University in Poland. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Archaeology from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, which included an exchange year at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. Eneko is writing his master's thesis on the Soldier Homes of the Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza (Border Protection Corps), a Polish military formation responsible for securing the eastern border of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period. In addition to their military duties, the Corps engaged in cultural and educational work aimed at the predominantly Belarusian and Ukrainian populations of the borderlands. At HUSI, Eneko will focus on the courses "Tradition and Modernity: Ukraine in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries," taught by Dr. Serhiy Bilenky, and "Ukrainian for Reading Knowledge," taught by Dr. Volodymyr Dibrova. Both courses are highly relevant to his research; in particular, the latter will enable him to work directly with Ukrainian-language primary sources. This will allow him to investigate local attitudes toward the cultural and propagandistic activities of the Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza. Eneko has gained professional experience at the German Federal Foreign Office and the Orient-Institut Istanbul. Most recently, he worked as a journalist in the political editorial department of *Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung*, where he contributed articles on foreign and security issues. Beginning in September, he will join the United Nations University – Centre for Policy Research as a Carlo Schmid Programme Fellow. In addition to his native German, he speaks fluent English and Spanish and has working knowledge of Polish and Russian. #### Stuart McAdams ![Stuart McAdams](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-16-300x300-mcadams.png) Stuart McAdams is a rising junior at the University of Pittsburgh, studying History and Russian. He is also an Army ROTC cadet and looks forward to commissioning as a 2nd lieutenant and pursuing a career in military intelligence. Eventually, Stuart plans to specialize in Eastern Europe and utilize his language and cultural knowledge to advance national security objectives by serving as a Foreign Area Officer (FAO). At Pitt, Stuart has pursued the proficiency of a critical language necessary to succeed as an FAO by studying Russian. He further developed this skill by studying Russian in Narva, Estonia, for eight weeks under Project GO. Now, he is learning a second Slavic language, one that remains just as critical to foreign policy and national security. Knowledge of Ukrainian language, culture, and society is necessary for Stuart’s career path, and he is excited to develop his knowledge base this summer through *Ukrainian for Reading Knowledge* and *Ukrainian Politics and Society*. He also believes that mastery of both Russian and Ukrainian will enable him to serve most effectively as an FAO in the US Army. Stuart aims to aid American efforts to support Ukrainians in defending their nation #### Abigail Molek ![Abigail Molek](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-17-300x300-molek.png) Abigail Molek is a rising senior at the University of Pittsburgh, studying political science, music performance, and Polish. She aims to work as an international lawyer advocating for human rights and representing voices that may not be heard internationally. From Pennsylvania, she has been learning Polish for two years to help her reconnect to her family’s history and culture. She studied abroad through Pitt’s SLI program in Kraków last summer and is working to become fluent someday. Abigail is a songwriter and works to produce her music and perform for people throughout her life. She just returned from a LEX pre-law fellowship in Paris and is excited to study at Harvard. Abigail is taking part in HUSI as a part of her political science major and her Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian studies certificate. Abigail is looking forward to studying Ukrainian politics and history to help her better understand Ukraine’s political context and being #### Michael O'Connell ![Michael O'Connell](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-18-300x300-oconnell.png) Michael O'Connell is a graduate of Haverford College and an employee of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. His interest in Ukraine first emerged during an undergraduate survey course, when reading *The Orphanage* by Serhiy Zhadan introduced him to the themes that would later shape his research on Slavic immigration to Philadelphia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His research interests include pan-Slavism, Slavdom abroad, and the role of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches in shaping Slavic identity. This summer, Michael is taking two courses at the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute: “Tradition and Modernity: Ukraine in the 19th and 20th Centuries” and “Ukrainian for Reading Knowledge.” He is particularly intrigued by the history course's focus on Ukrainian cities and hopes to learn more about the national and political significance of Lviv during this period. In preparation for graduate study, Michael plans to apply the language skills he gains in the reading course to archival research in Kazakhstan, where he is interested in the history of Ukrainian and Polish deportees and the development of Catholicism in Soviet Central Asia. A native of Massachusetts, Michael is excited to welcome his classmates to the Bay State. #### Viktoriya Sabat ![Viktoriya Sabat](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-19-300x300-sabat.png) Viktoriya Sabat recently graduated from University of Chicago, with a Master’s in International Relations. His master’s thesis examines why the European Union activated the Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainians in 2022 but not for Syrians in 2015. This summer, she hopes to connect with a wider community of scholars who are just as passionate as she is about learning about Ukraine and its identity. Viktoriya’s academic interests center around international affairs and international security, fields in which she hopes to utilize her Ukrainian, Russian, and Spanish language skills. During her undergraduate studies at Michigan State University, she took classes on Eastern Europe and studied Russia’s motives for invading Ukraine. In graduate school, she was introduced to scholars who specialize in the study of Ukraine specifically, and this encouraged her to seek out Ukrainian-focused classes and a community of students with shared interests. Viktoriya was born in Lviv, Ukraine, and moved to the United States at an early age. She hopes to share her knowledge of Ukraine and its culture with others and continue learning about the country. Often spending her summers in Ukraine, she hopes to return soon and reconnect with her family. This summer, she is eager to immerse herself in the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute and everything it has to offer. #### Oksana Shcherba ![Oksana Shcherba](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-20-300x300-shcherba.png) Oksana Shcherba is a PhD student in the Slavic Department at the University of Michigan. Her field of interest encompasses Ukrainian and Yiddish literature created in Ukraine during the 1920s. For Oksana, HUSI is essential for developing the methodological lenses and theoretical framework through which she will address these research topics. Oksana was born in Lviv, Ukraine, into a family of professional musicians. She earned a BA in Cultural Studies from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, where her growing engagement with Jewish literary modernism, including the prose of Bruno Schulz, shaped her decision to pursue Jewish literature and culture as a scholarly specialization. To build the necessary linguistic and methodological grounding, she began formal study of Yiddish and subsequently completed an MA in Holocaust Studies at the University of Haifa. Since then, she has focused on translation and scholarly work at the intersection of Yiddish, Ukrainian, and broader East European cultural history, translating from Yiddish and English into Ukrainian and contributing to multiple academic and public-facing projects. Oksana Shcherba has translated into Ukrainian of major Yiddish writers, including Sholem Aleichem, S. Ansky, Mendel Osherovich, and Isaac Bashevis Singer. In 2022–2023, she was a visiting student researcher in Jewish Studies at Stanford University, supported by a scholarship for Ukrainian scholars displaced by Russia’s full-scale invasion. #### Tim Standaert ![Tim Standaert](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-21-300x300-standaert.png) Tim Standaert is a retired diplomat who has served multiple times at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, completing his last assignment (as Acting Cultural Attaché) in January 2025. His other postings since 2001 have included: the U.S. Embassies in Moscow, London, Berlin, and Belgrade; the Coalition Provisional Authority team in Iraqi Kurdistan; a Provincial Reconstruction Team in eastern Afghanistan; the Iran Desk at the U.S. State Department; and a fellowship in the U.S. Senate. Since his first assignment to Kyiv (2009-11), Tim has made numerous personal trips back to Ukraine, most recently in autumn 2025 to volunteer with the [Ukraine Crisis Aid Group]() (UCAG), helping deliver gear to hospitals, clinics, and ambulance crews in eastern Ukraine. Tim is taking Prof. Dibrova’s *Ukrainian for Reading Knowledge* course to better engage with aid recipients during the future UCAG missions to Ukraine, as well as kickstart a more serious, long-term study of Ukrainian. He learned Russian and Serbian, as well as German and Pashto, at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. Tim has a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he first studied Russian, and after college served as a U.S. Army Officer in Germany and Kuwait. Upon leaving military service, he received his master’s degree in education at Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1995. Tim has taught Social Studies (mostly American and world history) at the middle and secondary school levels, in New York, Virginia, and Washington, DC. In early June, he wrapped up work as a civics instructor with the nonprofit, nonpartisan [Close Up Foundation](https://www.closeup.org). Tim currently resides in Washington. DC. #### Joseph Stechey ![Joseph Stechey](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-22-300x300-stechey.png) Joseph Stechey is a rising senior at the University of Toronto, majoring in political science and writing. He grew up an involved member of the Ukrainian Canadian community of Hamilton, Ontario, participating in Ukrainian dancing, music, and volunteer efforts to support newcomers after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Joseph developed a strong interest in political strategy throughout his high school education and, since attending U of T, has directed campaign communication strategies for multiple Canadian Members of Parliament. He juggles academics and work with his commitment to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues Football Team as a key defensive player. This summer, Joseph first expanded his knowledge of Greek culture and politics by completing a Study Abroad program in Athens. He is now attending the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute to learn about Ukrainian culture and history. Joseph aims to better understand how Ukraine’s leaders manage the nation’s unique challenges. He is taking HUSI’s courses “Tradition and Modernity: Ukraine in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries” and “Ukrainian Politics and Society: From Independence to Invasion and Beyond” before returning home with an enhanced capacity to advocate for Ukrainian Canadian priorities. #### Mariia Vorozhko ![Mariia Vorozhko](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-23-300x300-vorozhko.png) Mariia Vorozhko is a rising senior at Reed College in Portland, OR, majoring in Political Science with minors in English and Music. Born and raised in Odesa, Ukraine, Mariia came to the US as a finalist of the FLEX Exchange Program, serving as a cultural ambassador of Ukraine in rural Texas. Throughout her college career, Mariia has engaged in advocacy for Ukraine by leading the Ukrainian Club XATA at Reed and attending national conferences and events dedicated to Ukraine. In the Fall of 2025, Mariia completed an internship at The Reckoning Project, furthering the organization’s goals of documenting russia’s war crimes and human rights violations in Ukraine. Throughout her academic career, Mariia studied Ukraine through the lens of various disciplines – Political Science, Economics, and History, executing projects about the involvement of the Ukrainian civil society during the full-scale invasion, wartime sexual violence in Ukraine as a deliberate tactic of identity erasure, and the history of Ukrainian diaspora communities in the US. At HUSI, Mariia will be taking two classes: “Tradition and Modernity in Ukraine in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries” with Dr. Serhiy Bilenky and “Ukrainian Politics and Society: From Independence to Invasion and Beyond” with Dr. Emma Mateo. Through Dr. Bilenky's course, Mariia hopes to enhance her knowledge of the history of Ukrainian urban centers and their role in the country’s development, and gain a better understanding of the trajectory of Ukrainian national identity development over time. Through Dr. Mateo’s course, Mariia hopes to learn more about Ukraine’s democratic transition and the challenges the country faces as a young democracy. As Mariia prepares to write her senior thesis next year, she hopes to utilize her experience at HUSI as a first step for this undertaking, giving her ideas for topics and areas of research. #### Caden Wait ![Caden Wait](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026-HUSI-Students-24-300x300-wait.png) Caden Wait is a Portland-based independent scholar of Ukraine. Though primarily historical in nature, their research and writing are inter- & transdisciplinary, engaging continental philosophies of technology, ecology, indigeneity, holistic psychotherapy, and mysticism. Caden earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Reed College, where they received an Initiative Grant to acquire rare histories, poetry, and prose about Chornobyl, Ukraine—the place that has shaped their scholarship and life for the past seven years. Their senior thesis, “Strange Hopes Grow in Radiant Black Earth: From Chernobyl to Chornobyl,” an environmental-intellectual history, received the prestigious William T. Lankford III Humanities Award. Following graduation, they were awarded a fellowship to continue this work by conducting research in Kyiv and Slavutych through the summer and fall of 2021. Since then, Caden has pursued this work in earnest, spending several months in Ukraine in 2023 and 2025. Last year, they had the rare honor of being one of the few—if not the only—academic researchers without a ЗСУ (Armed Forces of Ukraine) press pass permitted to enter the Chornobyl Zone. There, they traveled with the distinguished ethnographer Rostyslav Omeliashko, founder and director of the State Scientific Center for the Protection of Cultural Heritage against Man-Made Disasters, documenting sites, stories, and artifacts often overlooked in the Anglophone historiography. Their review of the HBO miniseries *Chernobyl* was recently published in *SLOVO*, the interdisciplinary, postgraduate peer-reviewed journal of the University College London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies. When not in Ukraine, Caden works with and volunteers for five Ukrainian NGOs, engaging in legislative outreach, promoting Ukrainian culture, and translating documents that enable those injured in the war to access medical care. Outside of their scholarly and Ukraine-related work, they enjoy painting in watercolor, infrared photography of more-than-human life, and exploring the worlds of perfume and tea. ![HUSI 2026 Student orientation](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026%20HUSI-20%20%281%29.png) Students, instructors, and staff at the HUSI Student Orientation on June 22, 2026 ![HUSI 2026 students](/sites/g/files/omnuum4931/files/2026-07/2026%20HUSI-21-1600x900-news.png) Students, instructors, and staff at the HUSI Opening Reception on June 25, 2026 See also:- [ HUSI ](/tags/husi) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)