4 Years of War in Ukraine

Dmitrii Kuznetsov

Sturm College of Law

Dmitrii Kuznetsov is a PhD candidate at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Dmitrii specialises in constitutional, human rights, and international law. He holds an LLM degree in comparative constitutional law from Central European University, Budapest/Vienna.

 

Dmitrii's research focuses on the separation of powers and the role of the judiciary in implementing states’ environmental obligations. The study aims to address questions arising within the domain of implementing the state’s climate obligations and environmental human rights. It also focuses on issues of vertical separation of competencies between federations and their constituent entities, the proliferation and effectiveness of specialised environmental tribunals, and the question of whether the judiciary is capable of being an effective power to compel states to fulfil their climate obligations, regardless of political concerns.     

 

Before joining Gothenburg University, Dmitrii worked at the European Court of Human Rights as a case-processing lawyer, specialising in freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and fair trial rights cases.

 

In Gothenburg, Dmitrii teaches advanced classes on constitutional legal history and constitutional law, and politics.

David Akerson

Visiting Assistant Professor of the Practice of Law

Sturm College of Law

David Akerson is an accomplished legal expert with over 25 years of experience in international criminal law, war crimes prosecution, and human rights litigation. He has served as a senior attorney and legal adviser at multiple United Nations tribunals, including the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the UN Investigative Team for Accountability of Da’esh/ISIS. His work has spanned human rights work in apartheid South Africa to prosecutions of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, as well as advising governments and investigative bodies in Ukraine, Iraq, Kenya, and beyond.

In addition to his litigation experience, Mr. Akerson has pioneered the integration of advanced investigative technologies into atrocity case-building, training legal teams in tools such as Casemap, Nuix and Relativity for evidence management and analysis. From 2006 to 2015, he created and led the University of Denver’s original International Criminal Law Practicum, and his updated practicum prepares students to work with complex digital evidence in real-world accountability settings.

Mr. Akerson holds a JD from Florida State University College of Law and a BA in Computer Science and Business from Furman University. He is a frequent lecturer on international criminal law and investigative methodologies, and serves on advisory boards for the American Bar Association and the International Criminal Court.

Rachel Epstein

Professor, International Political Economy & International Security

Lewis Griffith

Teaching Professor, International Security

Nadia Kaneva

Professor; Director of the MA in Media & Public Communication

I am a Professor of Strategic Communication in the Department of Media, Film, and Journalism Studies. I serve as Director of the M.A. in Media and Public Communication and Director of the Graduate Certificate in Public Diplomacy.



My research explores the intersections of media, markets, power and identity in global contexts. I am particularly interested in critical perspectives on promotional culture, nation branding, and public diplomacy. Much of my research focuses on post-communist countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. I teach graduate and undergraduate classes in strategic communication, public diplomacy, and branding. Before becoming a professor, I have worked in advertising and public relations in the United States and in my native country, Bulgaria.