Fellows Research

This research has focused principally, though not exclusively, on the following questions:

1. To what extent do refugees harbor strong nationalistic sentiments?

2. To what degree do refugees support political parties or movements which are opposed to the perceived policies and ideologies of the United States and the West?

3. In particular, how do refugees regard the United States and the associated concepts of democracy and free markets?

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A Field Study of Refugees in Serbia: Implications for Serbian Domestic and Foreign Policy (734 KB pdf)

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This project addresses the cultural realities and identity implications of the conversion of 1.3 million Belarusian Uniates, or Greek Catholics, to Russian Orthodoxy in 1839. This event eradicated the Greek Catholic church in the Russian lands of the Polish partitions and expanded the Orthodox core of the Russian Empire.

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Conversion to Orthodoxy and Belarusian Cultural Identity Development (240 KB pdf)

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From the Stalin-era international education projects, established to train members of Middle Eastern communist parties, to the expanded system of education, tourism, and other forms of international cultural exchanges during the Cold War, my research shows that Central Asia played an important role in Soviet diplomacy with the “foreign east.” Using archives of the Comintern, the Komsomol, Orientalism institutes, and other institutions, I try to show just how much collaborative work went into creating “Soviet reality,” and into showing it to foreigners.

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The Eastern International: Modes of Soviet-Arab Exchanges from the Interwar Period to the Cold War (256 KB pdf)

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Focusing on internal party cohesion and the levels of coercion that exist within a regime, and drawing on interviews and archival data related to political party development, this project has found that fractious parties often resort to violence in order to strengthen their hold on power, yet internally cohesive parties survive longer, whether in power or not. The ability of a party to reach consensus over internal governing structures and practices also contributes to party longevity.

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Cohesion and Coercion in the Ruling Parties of Armenia and Azerbaijan (377 KB pdf)

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A primary strategy for emancipating girls from constraints of home and family in Tajik patriarchic culture of the 1930s was to create an educational system built upon women teachers who were trained in pedagogical institutes and universities. Although this Soviet effort was modestly successful, the collapse of the former system has seen higher education opportunities and outcomes for women diminishing.

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Gender and Academic Subculture(s) in Contemporary Tajik Universities (271KB pdf)

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My project examines Soviet youth programs in the eight years before the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. I focus primarily on the Communist Youth League (Komsomol), particularly its departments responsible for membership issues and military and physical education. My main focus is on changes in admissions and disciplinary policies as well as the place of youth military training in the Komsomol and related organizations.

Download the pdf at the top of this page for the full brief.

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The Political Socialization and Militarization of Soviet Youth, 1934-1941 (467KB pdf)

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A work of cultural history situated in the inter-war period, also known as first Yugoslav period, my project specifically interrogates questions of Sephardic women’s experiences that were caught in the midst of turbulent changes of Empires and a creation of the new multinational state.

Download the pdf at the top of this page for the full brief.

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Performing Tradition in the Public Arena: Laura Papo Bohoreta and Sephardic Women in Interwar Bosnia (423KB pdf)

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The project investigates files from the Comintern Archive and the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art to chart the lives of international students at the Comintern’s Schools and international communists who had connections to both Moscow and Spain. Examining transnational interactions from the perspective of the people who together constituted the Comintern, the project offers a new social and cultural approach to the history of international communism.

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International Radical Networks: The Case of the Comintern (276KB pdf)

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The project uses survey and interview data to investigate the expected impacts of adopting the euro in Bulgaria. The data show that the status quo: keeping the currency board, is the most popular currency policy alternative. Adopting the euro comes second and also enjoys support among the population and the business community. The euro is popular among the wider public despite its anticipated negative personal effects. This inconsistency is explained by the view that eurozone membership is like insurance in times of crises.

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The Impacts of Adopting to Euro in Bulgaria (366KB pdf)

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After consultation with the US Embassy in Bishkek, my topics of interest were firms and entrepreneurs in the textile and food processing sectors that have prospects as investment and/or trade partners. These two sectors use Kyrgyzstan’s resource endowment and historical trade links and could be large employers in the country. I visited firms, industry associations, international organizations, and government offices to gather the information for the report.

Download the pdf at the top of this page for the full brief.

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Trade and Investment Prospects in Kyrgyzstan (422KB pdf)

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