Yana Butterfield

MA in History, CSUN; adjunct professor in History, Los Angeles Mission College. Soviet, Russian, Ukrainian and the history of World War II are area of her interest and expertise. She was born and raised in the Soviet Union. Her fascination with history became obvious to her when she took a history class at the community college in Santa Clarita, California. She discovered that history is not merely a stagnated, politicized subject as it was in the Soviet Union. After having lived through the end of the Soviet experiment as well as the founding of newly independent Ukraine in 2000, she arrived in the U.S. to work for a YMCA summer camp in Winston Salem, North Carolina. She had no idea that her adventure was only just beginning. Like so many serendipitous occurrences, one thing led to another. From loyal Soviet Pioneer to proud citizen of a newly independent Ukraine, she was now on a new path to achieve an American dream. From her humble beginnings in a nation since doomed to live only in the annals of history, to her journey to America, family, and American citizenship; her life experiences as well as her particular area of expertise leave her well poised for insightful examination of just what it means to be a citizen and what may be sought and expected from one's government.