Graduate Students

BEAR Network Graduate Mobility Grant 2022

Marie BESLIER

Marie Beslier is currently finishing the first year of the International Masters Programme on Central and Eastern European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Glasgow (UK), started in 2021 after receiving a Bachelor of Sciences in political science from Sciences Po in Lyon, France. In September 2022, she will be joining the Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia to conduct research for my dissertation on the de facto states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Her research will focus on the patron-client relationship between these two breakaway regions and Russia, questioning the influence of this relationship on their respective political systems. Her academic interests is mainly centered around de facto states in the post-Soviet space and the process of their statehood, the development of their foreign policy as well as the impact of their relationship with the patron state in the accession process to the European Union (Georgia). From August 2022 Marie will also join the NUPI to contribute research on their project “Dynamics of de facto state patron-client relations”. Thanks to the BEAR network grant, she will be working at the De Facto State Research Unit at the University of Tartu (Estonia). Read her mobility report here.

Maxime DUCHÂTEAU

Maxime Duchâteau is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Montreal (Canada), specializing in International Relations. He graduated with a double bachelor’s degree in Arabic and Russian Studies from the University of Geneva (2015), as well as with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Politics from the University of Montreal (2018). In June 2020, he completed a master’s degree in International Relations, majoring in Russian studies, from the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO, Paris – France). Thanks to this background, Maxime is fluent in Russian, and has a thorough knowledge of the Arabic language. With the support of the BEAR Mobility Grant, in October 2022, he will be joining the University of Glasgow (UK), as well as the University of Tartu (Estonia) to further elaborate on his thesis project with Prof. Ammon Cheskin and Prof. Viacheslav Morozov, respectively. His main research interests lie in the processes of communication and representations of the Self and the Other in the foreign policy of States, through diplomatic practices, as well as through more intangible tools such as “soft-power”. More specifically, Maxime’s reserch aims to understand the discursive processes underlying the construction of French foreign policy towards Russia since 1991, from a critical perspective in International Relations Theory. Read his mobility report here.

Martin NAUNOV

Martin Naunov is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA), where he is affiliated with the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and, during AY2022-2023, he will be a DAAD visiting doctoral student at The University of Koblenz and Landau in Germany. Martin specializes in comparative political psychology and his research examines the psychological factors undergirding illiberal attitudes and behaviors such as support for repression of dissidents and prejudice against gay or gender atypical political candidates. Outside of academia, Martin has worked as a researcher for USAID/OTI and the Prague Security Studies Institute and he served as a data analysis consultant to the Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs during North Macedonia’s 2018 name-change referendum. Through the BEAR Mobility Grant, Martin will conduct a research visit at King’s College London (UK). Read his mobility report here.

Holly RODGERS

Holly Rodgers is a post-graduate student at the University of Warwick (UK). She is undertaking a Masters program in Social Science Research, funded by the ESRC, before commencing her PhD in Political Science and International Relations in October 2022. Her research interests include identity transitions and illiberal populism in post-soviet states, and the broader ramifications for EU identity. These themes inform her upcoming PhD research which will focus on Populism and Identity transitions in Central Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on how populist narratives utilise history and nostalgia in order to achieve and maintain power. Currently, Holly is working on her MA thesis which explores PiS’ support for the democratic opposition in Belarus and investigates how a policy position of ‘support abroad, backsliding at home’ is legitimised to audiences. In her previous Masters, Holly explored EU sanctioning dynamics and the challenges Orban’s illiberal populism posed in terms of compliance behaviours. Through the BEAR Mobility Grant, Holly will conduct a research visit at the University of Montreal (Canada). Read her mobility report here.

BEAR Network Graduate Mobility Grant 2019-2020

Maxime BELIN

Maxime Belin is currently finishing his Master in Political Science at the University of Montreal (Canada). He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from HEIP (Paris, France). He began to take an active interest in the post-Soviet space during a semester in London after working on the future of Eastern Europe in the European Union. He reinforced his interest after a summer school at the University Charles of Prague where he could see that the Soviet past remains well anchored. His research interests focus mainly on relations between Russia and the post-Soviet States, Russian political and military strategies, as well as ideologies of Pan-Slavism and Eurasism. Hence, Maxime’s subject of memory consists in understanding the mechanisms that come into play in the differences of the perception of the real or supposed threat of Russia by states linked to the USSR. An academic exchange at the University of Tartu (Estonia) will allow him to better understand the relations between this country and Russia. To read his mobility report, click here.

Clara BORT 

Clara Bort is a graduate student in political science at Université de Montréal. She also holds a bachelor in International Studies, specialized in peace and security studies. She also studied Russian foreign policy, theories on nationalism and conflicts in the Eurasian region. She now intends to specialize in comparative politics and identity transformations in Eastern Europe. She wants to focus on the role of history and the way it is told in the process nation-building. More specifically, her master’s thesis will analyze how collective memory is used in the Museum of Occupation in Riga, Latvia, and what influence this monument has on nation-building.

Katherine CROFTS – GIBBONS 

Katherine Crofts-Gibbons is a first year PhD candidate at King’s College London’s Russia Institute (UK). She is ESRC funded through a LISS-DTP Studentship. Katherine previously completed an MPhil in Russian and East European Studies at Oxford University. Her research focused on the response of the Kyrgyz government to protest movements. Her PhD research applies the same research questions to other non-democratic states in the post-Soviet space. Following her MPhil, Katherine worked for two years in the private sector as an intelligence analyst, specialising in domestic extremism.

Ivan Ulises KENTROS KLYSZCZ

Ivan Ulises Kentros Klyszcz, IntM (UoG), MA (UT), is a doctoral candidate at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu (Estonia). His doctoral research aims at shedding new light upon the impact of conflict on how a country’s regions engage partners abroad, with a case study on the Russian North Caucasus. More broadly, his research interests are Russia’s foreign policy, particularly towards the Middle East and the former ‘Third World’, as well as Russia’s use of force abroad. His most recent publication is a research paper published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (US) on the relationship between Russia and Central America. The BEAR Network Mobility Grant to MGIMO, Russia, will help Mr. Kentros Klyszcz advance his doctoral research. To read his mobility report, click here.

Ewa NIZALOWSKA

Ewa Nizalowska is a Master’s student in Political Science at McGill University (Canada). Her research focuses on resistance, protest, and civil society in ex-Soviet satellite states, and on the role that political theory plays in comparative work on the topic. She is particularly interested in how Antonio Gramsci’s thought has influenced empirical research on popular resistance to late socialist-era authoritarianism, and how the work of political theorists can be useful in illuminating the nature of state-civil society relations in Eastern Europe. She has previously conducted research on judicial reform, parliamentary discourse, and democratic backsliding in Poland. She holds a BA in Political Science from McGill University.

Laura VANSINA

Laura Vansina is a PhD researcher at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom) and the Institute for European Studies (Belgium). She is currently working on memory politics and geopolitical profiling in the post-Soviet sphere. More precisely, she seeks to study the interaction of mnemonic politics, identity formation and foreign policy in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Her profound interest for Eastern Europe and Central Asia was sparked by her internship at the FPS Foreign Affairs. Laura completed her MA in History at the KU Leuven (Belgium) in 2018, focusing on contemporary history and Eastern Europe. She then proceeded to expand her horizons by completing an additional MSc in 2019, this time in Policy Economics. The 2019-20 BEAR Grant will support her research visit to the McGill University and the Université de Montréal (Canada). To read her mobility report, click here.

BEAR Network Graduate Mobility Grant to BEAR-CERIUM Summer School 2019 

Maria DIEGO GORDON

Maria Diego Gordon is currently finishing her International Masters programme on Central and Eastern European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Glasgow. This program has brought her to Almaty, Kazakhstan where she is now finalising her thesis. At present, she is also working as a senior analyst for Revanta Consultancy Company, where she coordinates their media monitoring reports on inter-ethnic relations covering different post-Soviet countries. Previously, she completed an internship at the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. In addition, after spending some time at the European Centre for Minority Issues’ office in the Caucasus doing research, she published the paper “Nomen est omen: naming and renaming of places in minority inhabited areas in Georgia”. Her academic interests include nation-building, minority and identity issues, and their interaction with the ruling elites of a country, as well as their impact in its symbolic landscape, particularly, in the Eurasian region.

Niall GRAY

Niall Gray is a postgraduate student currently in the first year of his international master’s degree in Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CEERES), which is co-organized by the University of Glasgow. He began to study the region as part of his undergraduate degree in History and Central and Eastern European Studies, which he received from Glasgow in 2017. His general research interests are focused on the area’s contemporary and historical politics, as well as more specific themes, such as the concepts of sovereignty and nationalism. As such, Niall’s current dissertation work is concerned with understanding the outlooks of various radical right parties in Europe, in relation to a resurgent Russia. Outside university, he enjoys journalism and is interested in how both academic and media worlds can interact to produce a level of rigour and accountability fit for modern reporting. To read his mobility report, click here.

Aksinja HEINZE

Aksinja Heinze is currently completing her master’s degree in Russia in Global System at King’s College London. Her interest in Russia, Eastern Europe and the EU arose during the Ukraine Crisis in 2014 and was cemented through her undergraduate studies in Politics and East European Studies at University College London. As part of her undergraduate dissertation she examined Putin’s image of machismo and how it is affecting the protection of women’s rights inside Russia. Her current research focuses on the surprisingly high support for President Vladimir Putin among young Russians. To read her mobility report, click here.

Alexandra HENSHALL

Alix Henshall is currently studying an International Masters in Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the University of Glasgow. She has completed one semester in Tartu, Estonia; one semester in Glasgow, Scotland and next year will be at Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. She recently undertook a fully funded one-week intensive Research and Methods program in Area Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Her research interests include Russian foreign policy, conflict and international cooperation; her MA thesis will analyse the development of international intervention with a focus on the conflict in Syria. She completed a bachelor’s in law with First-Class Honours at the University of Westminster and a one-year Erasmus program at the University of Antwerp called International and European Legal Studies. Previous roles include Senior Assistant to the Chief Executive and Secretary of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and Office Assistant for the artist Damien Hirst. To read her mobility report, click here.

Rose HINMAN

Rose Hinman is currently pursuing an Erasmus Mundus International Master’s degree in Central and Eastern European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Glasgow, University of Tartu, and Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. After completing her BA in Russian Language and Culture at Columbia University, she went on to work and study at KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan for two years through the Princeton in Asia fellowship program. Her dissertation will discuss the development of far-right nationalism in modern Georgia and the rhetoric that the leaders of these groups employ when discussing Turkish, Iranian, and Arab immigrants to Georgian cities. Rose’s general research interests include nationalism, religious revival, migration, cinema, urban development, and Soviet history in Central Asia and the Caucasus. To read her mobility report, click here.

Patrick RODZKI

Patrick Rodzki is a master student of Eurasian Political Economy and Energy at King’s College London, United Kingdom. His interests focuse on Euro-Russian energy relations and their impact on energy security. Patrick has previously studied Political Science and International Relations at Leiden University, Netherlands, and participated in the 2018 Globalization Summer School at HSE in Moscow, Russia. Patrick speaks fluent German, Polish, Dutch, French and English and reads Russian and Spanish.

Charlotte SCHWARZ

Charlotte Schwarz is a Masters candidate in the department of Political Studies at Queen’s University (Canada). She was awarded the SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGM). She pursued her undergraduate degree at St. Thomas University, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where she completed a double-honours in Political Science and Great Books with a minor in International Relations. Throughout her undergrad she focused on Russia’s political and economic transition, its relations with Ukraine and its foreign policy in the Arctic region. Her major field of interest is comparative politics. Throughout her Masters she has become particularly interested in politics in divided states, state-minority relations, nationalism, migration, and politics of changing borders. Her Masters major research project focuses on policy discussion regarding climate refugees in the European Union. She hopes to complete a PhD in comparative politics in the future. To read her mobility report, click here.

Julia TARANOVA

Julia Taranova, MPP (Oxon), is a doctoral researcher at the Russia Institute, King’s College London, and director of the Social Sciences Lab — a Moscow-based nonprofit focused on designing and developing new educational programs in social sciences. After graduating in 2013 from the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Julia spent several years in Moscow working for the Open Government initiative of the Russian Prime Minister. Prior to that she co-authored a World Economic Forum report Effective Leadership in International Organisations. Julia has written for the New York Times, Economist.com, FT.com and Forbes.com. To read her mobility report, click here.

BEAR Network Graduate Mobility Grant 2018-2019

Katarina KOLEVA

Katarina Koleva is a PhD candidate at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, at Carleton University (Canada), where she works in close collaboration with the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. Katarina’s dissertation seeks to understand under what conditions Russia resorts to use of military force – undertakes risky and costly military interventions – in some conflicts in the post-Soviet space but not in others. More broadly, Katarina’s research interests include international mediation, with a focus on Russian and EU foreign policy; involvement in protracted conflicts in the post-Soviet space; democratization and reforms in post-communist countries; and political communication strategies. Katarina possesses a proven record of publications as a journalist and scholar. Part of her MA thesis comparing the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the crisis in Ukraine in 2014, through the lens of Izvestiia, was published as a book chapter, by Routledge, in 2016. The 2018-19 BEAR Grant, will support her research visit to MGIMO, Russia. To read her mobility report, click here.

Alexandra LIEBICH

Alexandra Liebich is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University (Canada), as well as a SSHRC CGS Bombardier Scholar and a EUSA Doctoral Fellow. Her research interests include: comparative nationalism, kin-state activism, inter-ethnic relations, education, citizenship, and institutional design in divided societies. Her thesis project is a comparative study of education policy and practice in post-communist Romania and post-Soviet Lithuania. In particular, she is exploring the question of minority education in these settings and how ethno-cultural minorities have been integrated or segregated, included in or excluded from educational institutions since 1989-90. She is also very interested in research methods and pedagogy within Political Science. Through her doctoral work she hopes to continually engage in teaching, research, and the sharing of knowledge. The 2018-19 BEAR Grant, will support her research visit to the University of Glasgow (UK). Alexandra was also a recipient of the BEAR Mobility Grant to Glasgow Multi-Methods Workshop, October 2018. To read her mobility report for the Multi-Methods Workshop, click here.

Alina SAYFUTDINOVA

Alina Sayfutdinova is pursuing her MA degree in European Studies at the EURUS Program at Carleton University (Canada). Her passion for politics and international relations was the driving force behind her decision to study politics at the undergraduate level at the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University. For her MA project, Alina will examine the current security relationship between Russia, NATO, and the EU. Her research aims to disclose the nature of this relationship which is of high importance for the European security, the surrounding regions and beyond. In June 2018, Alina participated in the BEAR Summer School at the University of Montreal which had a positive impact on her knowledge and research skills. Pursuing a PhD degree in foreign policy or international affairs is one of her future goals. The 2018-19 BEAR Grant, will support her research visit to the University of Glasgow (UK). To read her mobility report, click here.

BEAR Network Graduate Mobility Grant to Glasgow Multi-Methods Workshop, October 2018

Courtney BLACKINGTON

Courtney Blackington is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (USA), where she has received the Royster Fellowship. She holds a MA in Political Science from Columbia University and a BA in Government from the College of William and Mary. Her research focuses on how variations in institutions and political culture affect the degree of democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern European countries. She is also interested in exploring under which conditions civil society organization leaders are able to effectively leverage social networks to encourage citizens to protest against illiberal policies. To read her mobility report, click here.

Katherine CROFTS – GIBBONS 

Katherine Crofts-Gibbons is a first year PhD candidate at King’s College London’s Russia Institute (UK). She is ESRC funded through a LISS-DTP Studentship. Katherine previously completed an MPhil in Russian and East European Studies at Oxford University. Her research focused on the response of the Kyrgyz government to protest movements. Her PhD research applies the same research questions to other non-democratic states in the post-Soviet space. Following her MPhil, Katherine worked for two years in the private sector as an intelligence analyst, specialising in domestic extremism. Read her mobility report here.

Alexandra WISHART

Alexandra Wishart is a graduate student in the International Master in Central and Eastern European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CEERES) double degree program at the University of Glasgow (UK), University of Tartu (Estonia) and Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Holding a BA in Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies from Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, she is one of the founding members of Lossi 36, a student-led think tank covering news from the CEERE region where she works as both coordinator and writer. Apart from specializing in political activism and social movements in contemporary Ukraine, she takes an interest in Polish-Belarusian relations and how they affect identity and ethnicity in the region. In her professional life, she is an experienced trainer in cultural diplomacy and negotiation and aspires to become a political analyst. To read her mobility report, click here.

Hiba ZERROUGUI

Hiba Zerrougui is a PhD candidate in Political Science at McGill University (Canada). She holds a BA degree in International Studies from the University of Montreal. Working under the supervision of Professor Juan Wang, her dissertation focuses on contentious politics in authoritarian regimes in Middle East and North Africa. More specifically, her research explores how the state operates and how national and local political actors govern in autocratic settings in which protests and riots are said to be commonplace. Her research is supported by a Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (2015-2018), a McGill Graduate Mobility Award (2018), the Schull Yang International Experience Award (2017) and the Project on Middle East Political Science Travel – Research – Engagement grant (2018). To read her mobility report, click here.

BEAR Network Graduate Mobility Grant 2017-2018

Kirsty KAY

Kirsty Kay is a PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow (UK), a member of the ‘Statehood, Nationhood and Identity’ research group in the Department of Central and East European Studies. Her dissertation looks at ethnocultural forms of minority-kin state nationalism in contemporary Hungary. Through an ethnographic study of the táncház (dance house) folk dance revival in Hungary and Romania, she is investigating how the historical and contemporary political protection of minority cultural forms by the Hungarian state fosters an enduring ethnonational identity based on these processes of minority integration and cultural reproduction. Through the BEAR Mobility Grant, Kirsty visited Queen’s University (Canada). To read her mobility report, click here.

Stefan MORAR

Stefan Morar is a PhD student in political science at University of Montreal (Canada). He studied post-graduate studies at College of Europe, specializing in the European Neighborhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership of the European Union. He holds a MA in Political Science at Free University of Brussels, Belgium, and a BA degree in European Studies and International Relations at Babes Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca, Romania. His research focuses on nationalism in the post-Soviet states, working under the supervision of Magdalena Dembinska. He is also interested in Transitional Justice in Central and Eastern Europe, and the external action of the European Union, namely the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the European Neighborhood Policy, and the Eastern Partnership. Through the BEAR Mobility Grant, Stefan visited the University of Glasgow (UK). To read his mobility report, click here.

Ognen VANGELOV

Ognen Vangelov is a PhD candidate at the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University (Canada), where he has also been honoured with the Canada Vanier Fellowship. He has completed his BA in linguistics at the University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, Macedonia, and MA in International and Intercultural Communication at the University of Denver in the USA as a Ron Brown Scholar. His work experience includes lecturing at three different universities, the ELTE in Budapest, Inalco in Paris and Indiana University-Bloomington, from 2005-2013. He has also worked as an analyst in an international think-tank organization. He has experience in journalism and has worked as a translator/interpreter. His current research focuses on processes of democratic recession in countries of Central and Eastern Europe, particularly the way in which nationalism and informal institutions feature in such processes. Through the BEAR Mobility Grant, Ognen visited McGill University (Canada). To read his mobility report, click here.

Undergraduate Students

BEAR Network Undergraduate Mobility Grant to Latvia and Estonia 2019

Constance BOBOTSI

Constance Bobotsi is in the final year of her undergraduate degree in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick (UK). Her academic interests include International Relations, International Organisations, and the EU, particularly its culture, identity, and foreign policy, in terms of enlargement and interactions with its European neighbourhood. Constance will participate in the BEAR Network Undergraduate Research field trip in Latvia and Estonia, where she hopes to deepen her understanding of post-Soviet societies and their transition into liberal democracies. She is also keen to explore Russia’s role as the ‘Other’ in the European identity context through the experience of Baltic states’ citizens. Finally, she is an avid languages learner and hopes to get a sense of Latvian and Estonian over the research trip. To read her mobility report, click here.

Clara BORT

Clara Bort is a bachelor student in International Studies at Université de Montréal (Canada), where she is currently specializing in peace and security studies. More specifically, she focuses in the fields of conflict management, international relations and comparative politics. From September 2019, she intends to pursue a master in Political Science, aiming to analyze identity dynamics in the EU-Russia Common Neighborhood, with a focus on Belarus, Ukraine and the Baltic States. Clara attended the first BEAR Summer School in Montreal, in July 2018, and has been awarded a BEAR Undergraduate Mobility Grand to travel to Estonia and Latvia in February 2019. Apart from her studies, she notably co-organized the last edition of CERIUM’s (Montreal Center for International Studies) undergraduate symposium as a scientific committee member and has been its program’s academic representative to the Department of Political Science. To read her mobility report, click here.

Jessica CHEN

Jessica Chen is a fourth-year undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA), double-majoring in Public Policy and Peace, War, and Defense with a concentration in international security. Having studied abroad in both Nantes, France and Taipei, Taiwan, she is fascinated by regional politics in both Europe and East Asia. Broadly speaking, she is interested in the role of international organizations—such as the EU and NATO—in managing conflict. At UNC, she also serves as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for Great Decisions, a lecture and discussion series that brings high-profile experts to campus to speak on U.S. foreign policy and world politics. In the future, she hopes to pursue a graduate degree in the field of international security with the ultimate goal of serving as a diplomat in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State. Jessica’s other passions include learning foreign languages, teaching, and educational equity. To read her mobility report, click here.

Siddharth DIVAKARUNI

Siddharth Divakaruni is a final-year undergraduate at Tufts University (USA) studying International Relations. His academic interests include the politics of identity, citizenship and statehood, belonging, and migration—particularly as it intersects with postcolonial studies. His professional experiences have been colored by internships in the fields of non-profits, journalism, and public service. Until receiving the BEAR Undergraduate Mobility Grant, his most notable work abroad has involved working with a NGO on the rural sustainable development of villages in Tamil Nadu, India. In whichever career path he follows, he hopes that working with the BEAR Network in Estonia and Latvia may allow him to further delve into larger questions surrounding the effects of settler migration on the nation-state. To read his mobility report, click here.

Louis-Joseph DRAPEAU

Louis-Joseph Drapeau is a third-year undergraduate student in International Studies at University of Montreal (Canada). He studied the post-Soviet era throughout his bachelor’s degree courses, many of which explored a wide spectrum of topics ranging from nationalisms in former satellite USSR States to identity issues and conflicts in Eurasia. Most recently, his research is focusing on the evolution of linguistic policies in Latvia, from the fall of communism to its European Union membership in 2004. Louis-Joseph has also developed a strong interest in environmental and indigenous matters. Hired as a research assistant in the summer of 2016 by UQAT’s professor Hugo Asselin and following a field trips in Northern Quebec he was exposed to First Nations’ vulnerability and resilience to climate change effects, which raised his awareness and interest in indigenous issues. To read his mobility report, click here.

Michael OLESBERG

Michael Olesberg is an undergraduate student in International Relations and German Studies at Tufts University in Boston (USA). He is interested in nontraditional threats and international security below the threshold of war. His current research focuses on the role of information and other forms of political influence in international affairs. After Michael graduates from his current program in Spring 2019, he will continue his studies in international security at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (USA). His hometown is Iowa City, Iowa. To read his mobility report, click here.

Isabel POST

Isabel Post is a third-year undergraduate student in Political Science and Russian Studies at McGill University (Canada). Having studied abroad in Moldova, interned in Ukraine and Georgia, and completed field research in Kyrgyzstan, Isabel is interested in the study of post-Communist political and social transformations. She looks forward to expanding her theoretical background in memory politics and applying it to contexts in Latvia and Estonia with the BEAR network. Currently, Isabel works as an editor at the McGill International Review and is the chapter president of Women in International Security (WIIS) Canada at McGill. Originally from the United Kingdom, Isabel was raised in Brooklyn, New York. To read her mobility report, click here.

Jessica SUMMERS

Jessica Summers is studying a Bachelor of Laws (With Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts (Major in Politics, Minor in International Relations) at Monash University in Melbourne (Australia). Jessica is currently undertaking a yearlong exchange program at the University of Warwick (UK). She has a strong interest in global politics and International Law. She believes that spending time in a country, talking to and observing people and their cultures, is fundamental to developing a real and authentic understanding of why politics unfolds the way it does. Through the BEAR Undergraduate Field Trip in Latvia and Estonia she hopes to further her understanding of how politics, law and international relations functions in practice. To read her mobility report, click here.