Connor Kusilek

Connor Kusilek is a first year Master’s student at the CEU School of International Relations and a volunteer archivist at the Open Society Archives in Budapest. Originally from North Carolina, he earned his undergraduate degree in History with a minor in Peace Studies from Appalachian State University. In his hometown of Raleigh, he worked as an intern for the refugee resettlement agency USCRI where he helped to teach classes on American workplace culture and integration. His primary interest is in the use of historical narratives by authoritarian regimes to justify conflict, with emphasis on the events of Yugoslavia’s dissolution in the 90’s. He has lived in Poznan, Poland for studies and Yerevan, Armenia for an AIESEC exchange where he worked with the women’s rights NGO Society Without Violence to assist the construction of a training program for new interns and hires. His current work with the Aleppo Project seeks to examine the lessons learned from post-conflict reconciliation in Sarajevo and Grozny, and their potential application in Aleppo.

Contact him at Kusilek_connor@student.ceu.edu