PhD Student
Late Modern Europe
I am a historian of Eastern Europe. I have always been fascinated by how the modern world has been shaped by and shapes the history of previous periods, especially in the region between the Urals and the Oder. Before coming to Berkeley, I received my MA in Medieval Studies from Fordham University. I wrote my MA thesis on the conquest of Cyprus by the forces of the Third Crusade in 1191 and presented research on topics related to Byzantine law and identity. Since coming to Berkeley in fall 2023, I have continued my interdisciplinary work, studying Ancient Greek literature, Old Church Slavonic, and papyrology alongside my coursework and teaching on the twentieth century. In the summer of 2024, I studied Georgian in Tbilisi and participated in the 12th Biennial Medieval Slavic Summer Institute at the Ohio State University.
Research Interests
I study nationalism, socialism, and religion. In particular, I examine how nationalists, socialists, and religious thinkers have responded to the challenges of modern life and how those responses have influenced each other. My current research investigates the relationship between nationalism, socialism, and religion in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the post-war period. I am interested in how the experience of state socialism and its social project contributed to the transformation of traditional national and religious identities, particularly after the death of Stalin. In my dissertation, I intend to investigate how communist states fostered new national narratives through mass media, education policy, military service, religious institutions, and popular culture.
Education
MA, Fordham University, Medieval Studies, 2023
