Cynthia Buckley is a Professor in Sociology and an affiliate of the EU Center and WGGP

What is the focus of your current work and/or the subject of your current research?

As a social demographer, my research focuses on the main drivers and implications of demographic change and population displacement. Regionally, I focus primarily on the regions of the former Soviet space, while topically, my work covers migration, population aging, and reproductive health. Spanning academic and policy interests, my publications appear in academic journals, policy briefs, assessment reports, and edited volumes. Currently, I am completing a MINERVA-funded investigation of state capacity challenges in healthcare (including COVID-19) and education in the multicultural countries of Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine (Co-PI, with Erik Herron (PI) and Ralph Clem), a Norwegian Research Council grant on shifting sociopolitical identities in Ukraine (PI Geir Flikke) and developing a new research initiative on the effects of armed conflict on demographic processes, centered on Ukraine. I am also nearing completion of a long-term project on population change and social stability in Central Asia.

What classes do you teach? What are some of the topics of those classes?

My courses emphasize research design and typically tie theories of demography with social and political change. These include SOC 165 Assimilation, Integration, and Multiculturalism: Immigration in America (Fall 2024) Soc 265 Central Asian Societies, Soc 270 Global Demography, SOC 488/596 Demographic Measurement, Assessment, and Estimation, and SOC 596 Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods.

Do you have any recent awards, honors, or publications that you would like to highlight?

I serve as the American Sociological Association representative on the ASEEES Board of Directors and on the Program Committee of the Association for the Study of Nationalities. I serve as a member of the UN Health Cluster for Ukraine and am active in the international and interdisciplinary research group, “Population, Health, and Armed Conflict”, which hosted its second annual meeting at UIUC in Fall of 2023 (with support from European Union Studies) Recent publications include: “Conflict in the Time of COVID-19: Prioritizing Ukraine’s Health Security,” (Georgetown Journal of International Affairs), and “Views of Donors During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” (Fletcher Security Review), additional pre-prints available upon request.

What is a book (academic or non-academic, in or outside your field) that you think should be more widely read?

Absurdistan (novel) by Gary Shteyngart is a fabulously funny and insightful glimpse into the imperial tendencies and shortcomings of international development programs and the individuals working in them. It can be a tad raunchy in places, but it is a marvelous book with a unique take on “colonialist” thinking which all scholars should read prior to traveling abroad