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Department of Archaeology

 

Biography

Before coming to the University in Cambridge in 2016 to do a Master's in Heritage Studies, I graduated from a Bachelor's degree in Archaeology at the Free University of Berlin. I discovered my passion for the history and culture of Eastern Europe and Russia during archaeological excavations in Southwestern Russia. During my undergraduate studies, I spent a semester abroad at the History faculty of Boğaziçi University, Istanbul and began working with on heritage projects with museums in Istanbul and Turkey as a whole. 

In 2017, I graduated with Distinction from a MPhil in Cambridge having written a dissertation on the transformation of the heritage landscape of the Russian city Ulyanovsk, the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin, after the Soviet Union's collapse.

Between my MPhil and the start of my PhD at Cambridge in 2018, I interned at the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan, Armenia, and also worked part-time at the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide-Memorial. 

My PhD, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council together with the Cambridge Trust, looks at the 'discovery of the past' in the Soviet Union during the Brezhnev Era (1964-1982), a time in which the Soviet Union saw an explosive growth of museums, archives and public organisations interested in heritage preservation. In 2020, I was able to extend my academic network through a 3-month placement at SciencesPo, Paris, as a CamPo fellow. In 2021, I further pursued my interest in the countries of Eastern Europe through an internship at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Kyiv, Ukraine, where I familiarised myself with the economic and cultural challenges of contemporary Ukraine. 

I expect to submit my doctoral thesis in the first half of 2022. 

I speak German, English, Russian, Serbian and Ukrainian as well as a smattering of French and Turkish. 

Research

My PhD, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council together with the Cambridge Trust, looks at the 'discovery of the past' in the Soviet Union during the Brezhnev Era (1964-1982), a time in which the Soviet Union saw an explosive growth of museums, archives and public organisations interested in heritage preservation. 

What were the reasons for this growth? Through a discursive analysis of museum guidebooks, I look at how language used to describe the past changed over the course of the Brezhnev era. Caught in a nexus of collective nostalgia and soul-seeking, coupled with nationalist demands of realpolitik, a new conservative discourse about values and traditions emerged that continues to influence Russia today. 

Teaching and Supervisions

Teaching: 

I have previously taught on the Department's Socio-Politics of the Past course. Furthermore, I continue to work as a mentor for MPhil students. 

Research supervision: 

Other Professional Activities

Currently I am initiating the Cambridge Memory and Democracy Group, a collective which seeks to bring together researchers and activists working in heritage and memory studies to debate the relevance of our scholarly activity to democratic and civil society initiatives around the world. 

Job Titles

PhD Student in Archaeology
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General Info

Available for consultancy
Research Expertise / Fields of study: 
Socio-Politics of the Past
Art and Iconography
Cultural Heritage

Contact Details

smw84 [at] cam.ac.uk

Affiliations

Person keywords: 
Russian cultural history
Postsocialism
Museums
Temporality
Phenomenology
Subjects: 
Heritage Studies
Themes: 
Heritage