Andrew Robarts is an assistant professor of Middle Eastern history at the Rhode Island School of Design. He has previously taught Middle Eastern, Ottoman, and Russian his¬ tory at the University of California, Riverside and Central Connecticut State University. His book Migration and Disease in the Black Sea Region: Ottoman-Russian Relations in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries is forthcoming in 2016 with Bloomsbury Academic Press. Robarts has a PhD in history from Georgetown University, an MS in foreign service from Georgetown University, and a BA in history from Bowdoin College. Between his master's and PhD, Robarts worked for seven years in the refugee and hu¬ manitarian relief field for the International Rescue Committee and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.