Russia-Ukraine war: Adelphi faculty, students discuss unfolding events

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Whether you're a freshman or sophomore, junior or senior, students of all ages at Adelphi University attended a teach-in discussion in person and on Zoom on the unfolding events of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

"A teach-in is when faculty comes together at moments of high interest and uncertainty to provide insight for students," said Dr. Katie Laatikainen, a professor of political science and international relations.

Alexa Amato hopes to gain added knowledge. 

"As a history major, this is something I'm going to have to teach my students," Amato said. "So making sure I'm as aware as possible, making sure I'm up-to-date and having an open dialogue is important to me."

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The department held at least two other teach-ins over the past 20 or so years. One after 9/11 and another after the Paris terror attacks. 

"What we hope students take away from this is an openness to exploring different perspectives to try and understand challenging events on the world stage and global agenda," Laatikainen said. 

While the professors leading the discussion say they're not necessarily experts, they're using tools from their specialties to make sense of what is happening. 

"We're living in history, not something since World War II, it's kind of unheard of for big nations to be invading each other or attacking at this scale," sophomore Ryan Hughes said. 

Facilitating conversations in the classroom as history continues to unfold.