CREEES WELCOMES MA CLASS OF 2016

Eight new students will pursue their Master’s degrees in Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies at Stanford in 2015-16. The students come from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds and bring a variety of experiences and interests related to the area, ranging from public health to energy politics to social rights and welfare. At Stanford, the MA students will work closely with CREEES-affiliated faculty as they pursue both coursework and a year-long capstone project focused on their areas of interest.

Tom Koritschan received his BA degree from the University of Zurich and in his graduate studies will explore the history of upbringing in the Russian Empire and Soviet pedology and sports education. Prior to coming to Stanford, Tom worked on a research team investigating Soviet energy politics as well as at a startup company entering the Russian-speaking market.  Ian McGinnity graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a BA in International Relations and Russian & East European Studies. Ian’s previous research focused on renewable energy development, energy security, and energy finance in Armenia, where he spent a year on a Fulbright Scholarship.  Ophelia Lai, who graduated from University College London and wrote her undergraduate thesis on temporality in the thought of Hannah Arendt, will engage her interests in identity, collective memory, and image-making in the post-communist space. Uve Poom, a native of Estonia who spent the last five years managing the Unitas Foundation, an educational non-profit organization based in Tallinn, will focus his research on Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 revolution. Margarita Velmozhina, a graduate of Lewis University with a degree in Biology and a minor in Mandarin Chinese, plans on conducting comparative research on the health care systems of both Russia and China. Isaac Webb comes to Stanford from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where as a Junior Fellow he wrote about Ukrainian politics and American foreign policy.  Previously he was a Fulbright Fellow in Kyiv, Ukraine after earning his undergraduate degree at Washington & Lee University. Two Stanford undergraduates will pursue their Master’s degrees as co-terms at CREEES. Amanda Lorei, who studied English at Stanford and completed a language course and homestay in Moscow, will focus her MA on the interaction of politics and creativity in Soviet-era literature. Laura Marti, whose undergraduate studies focused on Russian language, history and culture, plans to study the stray dog populations in Eastern Europe and their impact on public health.

CREEES is delighted to welcome the new MA students to the CREEES and Stanford communities as they continue their academic endeavors and further explore their intellectual interests.

Read full student profiles here.