RESEARCH INTERESTS

history of the Soviet Union; history of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia; contemporary Russian politics; social and cultural history; intellectual history; public history; theory of history, epistemology.

I study the history of the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia with a particular interest in social, cultural, and intellectual history. My works revolve around questions related to identity, memory, semiotics, social changes, and everyday life. Besides, I have a strong interest in public history and contemporary Russian politics, which drives me to engage in public writing.

BIOGRAPHY

I was born and raised in Ukhta, Komi Republic, Russia. In 2022, I graduated with a BA in History from the Higher School of Economics (HSE University) in Moscow. My research focused on Soviet childhood, Soviet schools, and the legacy of Soviet policies in contemporary Russian education. I also had the wonderful opportunity to assist in research at the university’s Centre for the History and Sociology of World War II and Its Consequences.

In 2024, I received an MA in History from Miami University in Ohio. During my master’s program, I taught history classes as a graduate assistant and worked on cataloging Russian sources in the university’s Walter Havighurst Special Collections over the summer months.

My master’s thesis examined open-air markets in the post-Soviet era. The project reconstructed the history of the Cherkizovsky market and explored its symbolic meaning in Russia. Based on the case of Cherkizovsky, I drew conclusions on how street trade and open-air markets epitomized the idea of economic freedom and privatization of public space.

My most recent article on the monuments to shuttle traders in post-Soviet states was recognized as the winner of the 2024 Midwest Slavic Association Essay Competition and received an honorable mention for the 2024 ASEEES Beth Holmgren Graduate Student Essay Prize as an outstanding essay by a graduate student in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies.

PUBLICATIONS

“The Great Symbolic War, or Why Felix Dzerzhinsky Is Back.” NYU Jordan Center, October 4, 2023.