Schar School Welcomes ‘Exiled’ Ukrainian Media Professor

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 18:41:38 +0000

Schar School Welcomes ‘Exiled’ Ukrainian Media Professor Andrew J Schappert Wed, 02/23/2022 - 13:41

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Anton Liagusha: ‘I have a really great opportunity to think in another world with different approaches to life.’ Photo by Shelby Burgess/Creative Services

The conflict in Ukraine the world is observing now is nothing new to Anton Liagusha.

When gun-brandishing, Russia-backed separatists took over the Donetsk National University in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2014, the country’s prime minister hastily relocated the school to a new campus in Vinnytsia, 20 hours away by train. Now the disused former diamond-cutting factory is the site of a university that is, technically, in exile.

“It was a very difficult time,” Liagusha said. Liagusha, an associate professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government, was one of 600 teachers at the university—his alma mater—who were forced to relocate. Some 150 professors did so, but only about 5,000 of the 18,000 students followed. With few students and a diminishing source of funding, Liagusha had one more relocation in his future.

Liagusha was selected to come to the Schar School for a year under the New University in Exile Consortium program, which assists endangered and persecuted scholars and provides them means to continue their teaching and research.

He is continuing his studies on media’s influence on politics and culture and how the public consumes information. A media studies scholar and a former radio journalist, Liagusha focuses on “fake news,” disinformation, and propaganda―topics for him that are far more than academic.

“It is an honor to have a world-class scholar such as Anton to serve on our faculty,” said Janine Wedel, a Schar School University Professor who studies corruption and was instrumental in bringing him to Mason.

“At a time of increased threats globally against academic and journalistic freedom, the consortium plays a critical role in providing threatened scholars and reporters a position from which they can do their critically important work,” said Schar School Dean Mark J. Rozell. “The Schar School’s academic programs benefit from the many contributions that the visiting scholars and journalists make to our community during their affiliation with us.”

At the Schar School, where he teaches the course Media and Policy in the Era of Fake News, Liagusha can continue his studies, which are more important now than ever.

“I have a really great opportunity to do my research and to think in another world with different approaches to life,” he said.

“My special interest is not only public policy, but a wider field of public history, how contemporary media, social media, and mass culture use different contexts—heroes, antiheroes, narratives from the past—to support political decision-makers in Europe and especially Eastern Europe. And now I would like to see how it works at the United States.”

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Fighting for Bolivian democracy, Mason senior rises as a leader

Mariam Aburdeineh — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 05:00:00 +0000

Fighting for Bolivian democracy, Mason senior rises as a leader Mariam Aburdeineh Mon, 12/16/2019 - 00:00

For 21 straight nights, graduating senior Yasser Aburdene spent his evenings protesting in front of the Bolivian Embassy in Washington, D.C., fighting for democracy in the midst of a controversial election victory by Evo Morales. He had no idea his advocacy would land him in the spotlight at one of the most historic sites for human rights.

The nightly protests earlier this fall made the Bolivian native familiar to organizers who staged a November rally. Representing the youth of his country, Aburdene was selected to speak on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before a chanting crowd of 10,000 people, facing a bank of cameras, with a large Bolivian flag behind him.

Graduating senior Yasser Aburdene spent his evenings protesting in front of the Bolivian Embassy and delivered a speech to 10,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Office of Communications and Marketing

“A lot of people my age forget where we come from,” said Aburdene, whose speech focused on unifying Bolivia’s disparate races and reminded the audience that political change would come. “My goal right now is to remind people that our parents fought for our democracy, our grandparents did this.”

The politically minded 24-year-old government and international politics major aspires to one day run for elected office in Virginia and to eventually represent Bolivia as an ambassador. While he’s adopted the commonwealth as his new home—he’s lived in Virginia since emigrating with his father and brother at age 17—he remains passionate about Bolivian freedoms.

Morales resigned on Nov. 10, but there is still work to be done, Aburdene said. He will continue to protest for peace, stability and democracy, and he recently co-founded the organization New Generation of Bolivians, a bilingual news outlet focusing on Bolivian politics.

“The greater impact [of my advocacy] is showing people that there’s always something they can do,” Aburdene said. “We all have a purpose, so always engage with what you’re doing, always fight for what’s right.”

“Yasser’s work with the protest movement is a wonderful example of how Mason students are able to bridge the divide between classroom education and real-world political action,” said Edward Rhodes, one of Aburdene’s professors at the Schar School of Policy and Government. “His activities are combining his passion and energy, his commitment to the future of Bolivia, and the skills and insights developed here at Mason.”

Mason was Aburdene’s first-choice college; he wanted to be near the action in Washington, D.C., he said. From influential professors to student organizations dedicated to making a difference, “I love how Mason is always engaged with the community,” Aburdene said.

His time at Mason has been action-packed. A member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, Aburdene is also a member of Mason’s College Republicans and the Young Americans for Liberty organization, and he volunteers with Americans for Prosperity. After his December graduation, the first-generation college student will look for work with local nonprofits as he gears up to study for a master’s degree and eventually a PhD, he said.

“I’m passionate—my purpose was always to make a difference,” Aburdene said, adding that his advocacy work never feels like a burden. “I’m doing something I love, and I’m doing something for the greater future of my country.”

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Mariam Aburdeineh and Buzz McClain

Schar School Welcomes ‘Exiled’ Ukrainian Media Professor

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Fighting for Bolivian democracy, Mason senior rises as a leader