The Eurasia Initiative is devoted to the study of the states and societies of the former USSR as well as their many links with Afghanistan, China, Iran, Russia, Turkey, and other neighbours.
An undertaking of the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies (CEES), the Initiative joins in the Munk School's mission of interdisciplinary collaboration with a focus on innovative challenges to the prevailing ideas that shape our understanding of Europe, Eurasia, and the world.
Necessarily diverse in its orientation, the Eurasia Initiative brings together scholars who examine a wide range of topics through various interdisciplinary lenses, including development, governance, justice, migration, interstate and interethnic relations, protest mobilization, social transformation, and state-society divides.
The Eurasia Initiative builds upon the historic strengths of the University of Toronto’s Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES). Founded in 1963, CREES operated as a hub for the study of Soviet space. By the end of the Cold War, CREES’s academic profile and research mission had grown considerably and positioned it to seize the many opportunities for research, teaching, and training opportunities that were created by the fall of communist regimes. The Eurasia Initiative carries on this tradition, maintaining the Centre’s place at the forefront of geographically focused research and training on Europe and Eurasia.
Student success is at the core of the CEES mission, and the Eurasia Initiative shares that goal. Students may engage with international field experience, internal events, and a core network of peers and faculty in order to explore their regional interests and push the boundaries of their perspectives.
Affiliated faculty
- Edward Schatz
Director, CERES
Director, Eurasia Initiative
Director, Belt and Road in Global Perspective - Lucan Ahmad Way
Professor, Department of Political Science
Cross Appointment, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy - Matthew Light
Associate Professor of Criminology and Sociolegal Studies
Affiliated Faculty, CERES
- Cassandra Hartblay
Assistant Professor, Department of Health & Society, UTSC
Graduate Faculty, Department of Anthropology
Affiliated Faculty, CERES
Director, Centre for Global Disability Studies - Kenzie Burchell
Assistant Professor of Journalism - Seva Gunitsky
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Affiliated Faculty, CERES