March 31 , 2006

 NORMAN – A free, public presentation titled “A Cold War in Miniature: The Intelligence Contest for Ukraine Between the World Wars” will be held Friday, April 7, at the University of Oklahoma. The discussion, led by Timothy Snyder, associate professor of history at Yale University, will begin at 4 p.m. in 2040 Michael F. Price Hall, 307 W. Brooks.

“Timothy Snyder is one of the most exciting historians of Eastern Europe working in the U.S.,” said Robert Cox, director and associate professor in the School of International and Area Studies at OU. “His newspaper editorials provide keen insight into the prospects for democracy in the region and help us to understand why strong-arm dictators stay in power.”

As a historian, Snyder’s main research is in the area of nationalism and how it was affected by years of communist rule. He has written numerous editorial columns for American and European newspapers, published four books and currently is working on a family history of modern nationalism.

Snyder received his doctoral degree from the University of Oxford in 1997, and has held fellowships in Paris, Vienna, Warsaw, Prague and at Harvard.