As the now defunct Soviet Union was teetering on the brink I decided to exchange the land of socialism for the land of opportunity. This highly successful transaction landed me in the state of Oklahoma, of which I had read in John Steinbeck's novels but never knew that it actually existed. It did. For the next 15 years I made a very slow but steady progress across the continent towards the beckoning lights of New York City. Since my arrival at Seton Hall University in 2005 I have been teaching courses in Global, African, and Cold War history. I also co-direct a study abroad program for Seton Hall students in the city of my birth - St. Petersburg, Russia. In my research and writing I focus on the history of cultural and political encounters between Africa and Russia/Soviet Union.

I am also the director of the Russian and East European Studies Program.