Students

WCED Student Fellows, 2009-10

Adriana Chira is a doctoral student in the joint PhD program in anthropology and history. Her research will focus on the redefinition of political representation and mobilization through the use of new visual media and social networking technologies, as used by activist networks and citizen-journalists in Cuba and former socialist countries of Eastern Europe. She plans to explore how new forms of political mobilization are connected to the decentralization of journalistic expertise. Adriana will address this question both ethnographically and through the lens of historical material by exploring amateur and professional documentary film-making traditions that were developed across the transnational space of socialism before 1989. Born and raised in Romania, Adriana graduated from the University of Cambridge (U.K.) with a BA in archaeology and anthropology, and then obtained an MA in anthropology from Cornell University.

Jessica Fisher is a dual-degree student in REES and public policy. As a result of spending over three years volunteering for the Peace Corps and then working in Ukraine, Jessica is eager to improve her understanding of the Ukrainian nation, its people, language, and current policy challenges. She is particularly interested in researching the creation and implementation of international and domestic policy throughout the former Soviet Union aimed at spurring economic growth, and the effect it has on strengthening democratic society and governance. Jessica received her BA in history from Northwestern University and served in the Peace Corps before beginning graduate study.

Lavrentia Karamaniola is a doctoral student in sociocultural anthropology, who previously studied the Balkans while in an interdisciplinary program in Greece. In her MA thesis, she researched the Internet and the way the condition of post-socialism interacts with technology and free expression through the practice of blogging. In her doctoral research, Lavrentia plans to continue her research on Romania by extending her current research on blogging. Alternately, she may conduct research on other ‘sites’, such as the business world, the flow of capital, various types of tourism, visual technologies like advertising, or various patterns of consumption. The basic inspiration to her work has been the theoretical scheme of ‘multi-sited’ anthropological research. Lavrentia’s broader interests include the way that post-socialism interacts with notions like globalization, democracy, and civil society; or the ways of remembering and forgetting, and she is also interested in the flexibility of modernity and post-modernity as conceptual categories.

Maria Smith is a dual degree student in REES and public policy. Before coming to the University of Michigan, Maria spent two years with the Peace Corps in Azerbaijan, where she learned about regional issues and studied Russian and Azeri. She is now interested in studying the history and politics of the former Soviet Union, particularly in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and plans to return to the region to work. Maria earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in the Program of Liberal Studies.

Milena Tercheva is an MA student in REES. She is interested in the parallel post-communist development of Bulgaria and the Russian Federation, and the impact of this on the subsequent integration of Bulgaria into the EU. She plans to study the lessons of transition in Bulgaria and other countries of the former Eastern Bloc. Milena graduated from the College of New Rochelle with a BA in international relations.

Ryan Voogt is an MA student in REES and is interested in the history, culture, current events, and geopolitical issues of Russia and Eastern Europe as a whole. More narrowly, his focus is on Hungary and Romania, having volunteered in those countries. He plans to study the history of socialism in the entire region, conflicts between peoples, and current trends. Ryan has a BS in civil engineering from Calvin College, and has done coursework in Russian history, literature, and culture at Michigan State University.

WCED Student Fellows, 2008-09

Ryan Aiken is an M.A. student in Russian and East European Studies at the University of Michigan. His main research interests are Russia/U.S. and Russia/EU bilateral relationships, with special emphasis on questions of Russian democratization efforts and energy security and the manner in which Russia employs its hydrocarbon resources as instruments of foreign policy. Prior to enrolling at U-M, Ryan served for five years in the United States Marine Corps and worked for three years as a Legislative Assistant to the late U.S. Representative Tom Lantos.

Aleksandar Boskovic is a Ph.D. student in Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan. Before coming to U-M, he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Belgrade in Serbia, where he studied at the Department of Serbian and South Slavic Literatures and Department of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory. His research interests include South Slavic and Russian literature of the 20th century, Yugoslav and East European cinema, poststructuralist theories of literature and art, and interdisciplinary studies.

Jessica Fisher is a dual-degree M.P.P./M.A. student in the Ford School of Public Policy and CREES at the University of Michigan. Having spent over three years volunteering and then working in Ukraine, she is committed to doing research on strengthening democracy and promoting development within this nation. She is also interested in studying the creation and implementation of international and domestic policy throughout the former Soviet Union aimed at spurring economic growth and the effect this has on strengthening democratic society and governance. Her particular focus is to understand how active membership in nongovernmental organizations can positively influence the establishment of strong democratic principles within society. As part of her research, she plans to study initiatives involving the younger generations of Ukraine and Russia in the process of democratization, including social, economic, and political development.

Kirill Kalinin is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on different aspects of Russian politics: electoral behavior, Russian party system, political cleavages, electoral falsifications, and Russian nationalism in elites and masses. Before enrolling in this doctoral program, he was a Fulbright and Carnegie visiting scholar at the Center for Political Studies at U-M’s Institute for Social Research. He received his M.A. in Political Science from European University at St. Petersburg (2005) and M.A. in Public Management from Volgograd Academy of Public Administration (2003).

Nevila Pahumi is a first-year doctoral student in the Department of History at the University of Michigan. Born in Albania, she moved to the United States over ten years ago and completed undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan, majoring in history and German. Coming out of the nationalist milieu of the Balkans, she is interested in researching identity politics and formation, particularly among the various minorities in Albania, Macedonia, and Kosovo. Other interests include 19th-century Ottoman Empire and the Mediterranean.

Milena Tercheva is an M.A. student in Russian and East European Studies at the University of Michigan. Her work thus far includes research on emerging democracies in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism with a focus on Bulgaria, international legal integration in Europe, and the consequences of previous authoritarian rule on EU enlargement. She is interested in Eastern European democratic governance and European integration and is currently doing research on EU efforts to develop common defense structures in the context of EU-NATO relations.