A great man is one who collects knowledge the way a bee collects honey and uses it to help people overcome the difficulties they endure - hunger, ignorance and disease!
- Nikola Tesla

Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
- Franklin Roosevelt

While their territory has been devastated and their homes despoiled, the spirit of the Serbian people has not been broken.
- Woodrow Wilson

Mladen Mrdalj

Mladen Mrdalj is a PhD candidate who focuses on research and teaching in Comparative Politics, International Relations and Research Methods. His dissertation investigates significance of external factors in the dynamics of domestic political violence in the Yugoslav civil wars. Mladen’s thesis will analyze inter-connected case studies chosen from the context of the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. The central focus of Mladen’s dissertation is how perceptions of the international system influenced domestic elites’ strategic use of violence. The dissertation will also attempt to deal with more theoretical questions, such as: how domestic actors differentiate between the official and actual positions of international actors, how are they trying to manipulate international actors, and what can we learn about conflict management by answering these questions.

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In the fall of 2012, Mladen received support from the Humanities Center at Northeastern University to set up a research group to expand upon the study of the international sources of domestic political conflict and violence. Other topics of his academic interests are: civil-military relations, international security, the ideology of Yugoslavism, Balkan politics and trilateral relations between the US, EU and Russia.

Since 2010, Mladen has been actively involved in designing and leading the Dialogue of Civilizations program which introduces Northeastern students to the Western Balkans. In this Balkans Dialogue, students visit important institutions, sites, politicians and activists in the former Yugoslavia, and learn firsthand about ethno-nationalism, post-conflict reconstruction and EU accession. In addition to these activities, Mladen lectures on various aspects of conflict and politics in the post-Yugoslav space.

Mladen earned his LLB and MA in Security Studies from the University of Belgrade, Serbia. He is an alumnus of The Fund for American Studies and Georgetown University’s summer programs in Prague as well as in Washington D.C., where he also interned at the Institute of World Politics. He served in the Serbian Armed Forces’ Guard Brigade. In his spare time Mladen is passionate about his hobbies: genealogy, eating ice cream, basketball and literature. A New England aficionado, Mladen has embraced the charms of Nantucket, apple crisp and resenting New Yorkers.

Source: Northeastern University


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People Directory

Oksana Germain

Oksana Germain completed her Bachelor’s degree in May of 2018 at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Nelita True. Currently, she is attending Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität in Linz, Austria as a graduate student in the studio of Oleg Marshev. Her childhood dream of playing piano with a symphony orchestra came true when she was chosen as one of the San Diego Symphony’s Young Artist “Hot Shots” Competition winners in 2010. She performed Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, 1st movement with the San Diego Symphony at their 100 Year Anniversary Gala in December of that year. She was also invited to perform in the San Diego Symphony's Children's Concert Series “Bravo, Beethoven!” in May, 2010. Oksana also performed in the La Jolla Music Society's Discovery Series Prelude Concerts in 2012, and was a regularly featured performer for the Music 101 Radio broadcast on San Diego’s classical station 104.9 FM. In addition, she has been a featured soloist with the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra performing Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto and Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3.

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Publishing

Prayer Book

The Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America is pleased to announce the publication of a beautiful pocket-size, full-color, English-language Prayer Book, which has been compiled and designed by our newly enthroned His Grace, Bishop Maxim, and printed in Serbia. The book contains prayers commonly used by Orthodox Christians, lists of Scriptural Commandments, and brief articles on the precepts of Faith, proper conduct in church, and the meaning and practice of prayer. It is adorned with striking icons and illustrations by Fr. Stamatis Skliris, a parish priest in Athens who is renowned as an iconographer and as a writer and lecturer on Byzantine iconography. Full-color on coated stock throughout, 36 pages, 3¾" × 5½" format, paperback, saddle-stitched.