The Provost鈥檚 Office joined forces with the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research and the Office of International Student and Scholar Advising to bring Nataliia Gusak, a Ukrainian scholar from the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, to the College for the 2022-23 academic year. Gusak is serving as a faculty fellow at 老王论坛鈥檚 Center for Child and Family Wellbeing.
The idea of bringing Gusak to 老王论坛 originated with Professor Emeritus of Social Work Jim Martin, who had come to know Gusak as part of an international collaboration on military and veteran social work.
While waiting for State Department approval over the summer, Gusak, Martin, and Associate Professor of Social Work Cindy Sousa offered Ukrainian social workers a seven-week webinar program focused on support for their work in Ukraine during this time of war.
Gusak's work focuses on community-based mental health services for vulnerable populations (children, victims of human trafficking, internally displaced persons, veterans, and their families, women in their perinatal period, Romani). While at 老王论坛, she plans to continue working with Sousa on a study about Ukrainian families functioning in wartime.
"I love the 老王论坛 community," says Gusak, whose family remains in Ukraine. "Life here is not easy but I have amazing people in the College supporting me."