Sophia Wilson
Dr. Sophia Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Wilson received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington, was a visiting scholar at the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute in 2015, and taught at the Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute in 2017 and 2019. She was a Jerome Hall Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Law, Society and Culture at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2012-13. Sophia Wilson’s research interests include Ukraine’s state-society relations, Ukraine-Russia war, typology of political regimes and human rights.
Wilson is completing her book, The Ukrainian Maidan Revolution: Restoring Democracy and Evoking Russian Imperialism, an extensive account of interactions between the state and the grassroots revolutionary movement, as well as Russian state propaganda about the revolution. Her articles appeared in the Research in Social Movements, Conflicts, and Change, the Journal of Law and Courts, Post-Soviet Affairs and other academic venues. Wilson has provided analysis and commentary for broadcast and print media outlets regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the atrocities committed by the Russian forces. In May 2022, she was an invited lecturer for the online Invisible University for Ukraine, organized by the Central European University Budapest for the Ukrainian students, affected by the Russian invasion.
Courses recently taught:
- Honors 320A, State-Society Relations in Modern Ukraine
- Political Science 111, Introduction to Political Science
- Political Science 350, Western European Politics
- Political Science 351, Eastern European Political Systems in Transition
- Political Science 354, Women and Cross-National Politics
- Political Science 400, Senior Assignment
- Political Science 457, Politics of Resistance: Social Mobilization and International Law in Northern Ireland
- Political Science 499/424, Comparative Law
Recent publications:
(2021) "The Ukrainian Revolution: Repression, Interpretation, and Dissent." Research in Social Movements, Conflicts, and Change 45: 157-188.
(2020) "Law Enforcement and the Politics of Religious Minority Rights in Azerbaijan" Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Societ Democratization 28(1): 177-198.
(2017) “Cause Lawyering in Revolutionary Ukraine" Journal of Law and Courts 5(2): 267-288.
(2017) “Majoritarian values and women’s rights: police and judicial behavior in Tajikistan and Azerbaijan” Post-Soviet Affairs 33(4): 298-312.
(2012) “Courts, Police and Journalists: Overlooked Support for Press Freedom in Post-Soviet Authoritarian States" Problems of Post-Communism 59(5): 6-17.
Recent Presentation:
“The Ukrainian Revolution and Russian Genocidal Propaganda: Inciting Mass Violence” in The Role of Disinformation during Wartime, the Fulbright Program in Ukraine, June 9, 2022.
Professional contact information:
Department of Political Science
Peck Hall 2331, Box 1453
Edwardsville, Illinois 62026-1453
Office phone: 618-650-3585
Email: sowilso@siue.edu
Curriculum Vitae
