Faculty Accomplishments

Stephen Jones, taking advantage of phased retirement, co-founded and is co-Director of the Master's program in Modern Georgian History at Ilia State University, Georgia (country).

Stephen Jones made two presentations in October: 1.) “Building Social Democracy: The First Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-21)” Russia and the Caucasus Regional Research Center (RUCARR), Malmö University, Sweden, October 26, 2020. 2).  “Georgia’s Pivotal Election” (A panel Discussion) Carnegie Foundation Europe, October 15, 2020.

And Neil Macfarlane co-edited a volume published by the University of Toronto Press this month (September). See Jones, S.F.,& Macfarlane, Neil. (2020) Georgia: from Autocracy to Democracy, Toronto, Canada: Univ. of Toronto Press. It includes a contribution from alum Natalie Sabanadze, the current Georgian ambassador to the EU and Luxembourg in Brussels. Jones also published with David Darchiashvili): Darchiashvili, D. & Jones, S.F. (2020, September 28) Georgia: warlords, generals, and politicians, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, OUP. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1891

“Social Democracy in Georgia,” Lecture to Georgian Association in the USA, July 22, 2020.

Stephen Jones “Recurrent Patterns in Georgian Politics: Culture, Geography and Institutions,” Keynote Speaker, 8th International Scientific Conference, “Space, Society, Politics” Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University,  25-27 June, 2020

Stephen Jones “The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 1918-1921: Europe Comes to Georgia,” Keynote Speaker for 10th Anniversary of WIP (Works in Progress) Series, (ARISC and CRRC), Tbilisi, May 13, 2020

Andrea Lawlor’s novel, Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl, was included in a NYT piece on The 25 Most Influential Works of Postwar Queer Literature.

Was an invited panelist at a number of panels, including the University of California Irvine's Center for Storytelling's "Writing Sex: A Conversation about Writing” panel, moderated by Jonathan Alexander; and the Brooklyn Book Festival's "Beyond the Year of Trans Creativity," moderated by Riley McLeod. Moderated conversations with writers Jung Yun (Odyssey Bookshop), Megan Milks (Books Are Magic), Joss Lake (Books Are Magic), and Callum Angus (Odyssey Bookshop), among others. Was invited to read with Andrea Abi-Karam, hosted by Books Are Magic (Brooklyn).

Moderated conversation with the writer Jordy Rosenberg (UMass) for Grub Street's Writing Conference: "How I Wrote This".

Was invited to read in The St. Mark’s Poetry Project's 47th Annual New Year's Day Marathon December 31, 2020.