Andrei Nesterov

Andrei Nesterov leads SRAS' Research Services, performing remote archive research and consultations for researchers around the globe. Andrei graduated from Ural State University (journalism) and Irkutsk State Linguistic University (English). He also studied public policy and journalism at Duke University on a Muskie Fellowship and taught Russian at West Virginia University. As a journalist, he has reported in both Russian and English language outlets and has years of archival research experience. He has travelled Russia extensively and penned many stories on the “real Russia” which lies beyond the capital and major cities. Andrei also contributes news, feature stories, and language resources to the SRAS Family of Sites.

Program attended: SRAS Staff Member

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Alex Sitnikov

Alex holds a BA in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language (RFL) and is currently on his way to get an MA in Translation. He came to Moscow from Tolyatti to study at Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2013 and has been in love with the city ever since. In March 2018 Alex joined SRAS to help coordinate student activities in Moscow. When he’s not occupied with that, Alex likes to play guitar, sing, read, play videogames, and make YouTube videos.

Program attended: SRAS Staff Member

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Brendan Stohler

At the time he wrote for this site, Brendan Stohler was studying on SRAS' Diplomacy and International Relations at MGIMO University. He earned his bachelor's degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and majored in political science with a concentration in international relations and a minor in Russian. For his career, Brendan planned to make music or to do something that focuses on cultural aspects of international relations between the US and Russia related to music. In his free time, Brendan enjoys making hip hop and EDM music as well as going to the gym and meeting with friends.

Program attended: Challenge Grants

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Greg Tracey

Greg Tracey, at the time he wrote for this site, was a junior at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He studied economics and international relations, as well as minored in mathematics and Russian. As a Home and Abroad Scholar, he focused on business and economic issues in Russia and surrounding countries. The related scholarship helped fund his participation in SRAS's Russian as a Second Language program at St. Petersburg State University of Economics during the Spring 2019 Semester. In his free time, he enjoys reading and soccer.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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Hudson Dobbs

Hudson received his BA in Russian Studies with a minor in Corporate Communications from Baylor University. At the time he wrote for this site, he was serving as a Home and Abroad Scholar as part of a Spring, 2022 session of SRAS’s Language and Society program St. Petersburg, Russia. While abroad, Hudson will be researching the Russian coffee culture, as well as the evolution of specialty coffee in Russia. His goal is to open his own coffee shop in the US - taking his experiences abroad and applying them to his future business.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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Jack Fischer

Jack Fischer, at the time he wrote for this site, was majoring in Physics with Russian and Economics minors at Iowa State University of Science and Technology in Ames, Iowa. He studied Russian as a Second Language with SRAS over the summer of 2016 to improve his command of the Russian language. In the future, he’d like to work for himself and run a business.

Program attended: Challenge Grants

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Julie Hersh

Julie studied Russian as a Second Language in Irkutsk and before that, Bishkek, with SRAS's Home and Abroad Scholarship program, with the goal of someday having some sort of Russia/Eurasia-related career. She recently got her master’s degree from the University of Glasgow and the University of Tartu, where she studied women’s dissent in Soviet Russia. She also has a bachelor’s degree in literature from Yale. Some of her favorite Russian authors are Sorokin, Shishkin, Il’f and Petrov, and Akhmatova. In her spare time Julie cautiously practices martial arts, reads feminist websites, and taste-tests instant coffee for her blog.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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Josh Wilson

Josh has lived in Moscow since 2003, when he first arrived to study Russian with SRAS. He holds an M.A. in Theatre and a B.A. in History from Idaho State University, where his masters thesis was written on the political economy of Soviet-era censorship organs affecting the stage. At SRAS, Josh assists in program development and leads our Home and Abroad Programs. He is also the editor-in-chief for the SRAS newsletter, the SRAS Family of Sites, and Vestnik. He has previously served as Communications Director to Bellerage Alinga and has served as a consultant or translator to several businesses and organizations with interests in Russia.

Program attended: SRAS Staff Member

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Katheryn Weaver

Katheryn Weaver, at the time she wrote for this site, was a student of rhetoric and history at the University of Texas, Austin. Her primary areas of investigation include revolution and the rhetorical justification of violence against individuals, the state, and society. She studied Russian as a Second Language with SRAS in Moscow.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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Lucy Harnish

Lucy Harnish has an English Literature degree with a double minor in Russian Culture and History from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Lucy spent two semesters with SRAS studying Russian as a Second Language in St Petersburg, Russia in her quest to be able to reread the works of Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, and Tolstoy in the Russian language. She planned to utilize the experience gained abroad to pursue a degree in journalism.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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Lucine Poturyan

Lucine Poturyan is an Armenian-American student double-majoring in Government and Russian, East European, Eurasian Studies (REES) at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She is currently studying the role of cultural diplomacy in international politics through SRAS’s Cuba-Russia Connection program. Writing about Russian and East European culture helps her sharpen her multicultural communication skills and gain the background and open-mindedness that will be fundamental to her future international law career.

Program attended: Art and Museums in Russia

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Michael Filitis

Michael Filitis graduated with an MA from the University of Chicago where he concentrated on early Soviet nationalities policy, propaganda, and the rise of nationalism in Eastern Europe. At the time he wrote for this site, he planned to pursue a Phd in Russian history and political science. Outside of academia, he enjoys playing and composing music, eating to excess, movies about space, and contemplating a more active lifestyle.

Program attended: Online Internships

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Morgan Henson

Morgan Henson is a second year dual-degree master’s student at the University of Texas at Austin. He is studying Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies and Global Policy Studies. As a Home and Abroad Scholar, he is focusing on policy issues in Eurasia. The scholarship will help fund his participation in SRAS’s Economic Development in the Russian Far East program at Vladivostok State University of Economics and Services during the Spring 2019 Semester. In his free time, Morgan enjoys watching movies and exploring new locations.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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Mikaela Peters

Mikaela Peters is a student at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where she studies Business Analytics & Information Technology, Russian, and European Studies. She will be studying Russian and Central Asian Studies in Kyrgyzstan during the 2019-2020 academic year with SRAS. Mikaela decided to seriously study Russian after visiting NASA in 2015, where she has since interned. Mikaela’s desire to enter into a career that will utilize her Russian skills while supporting the U.S. government motivated her to apply and ultimately win a Boren scholarship.

Program attended: Challenge Grants

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Mira Sneirson

Mira Sneirson, at the time she wrote for this site, was a recent graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts where she double-majored in Russian and Computer Science. While in college, she studied abroad in Tbilisi, Georgia through the Williams in Georgia program. A semi-retired theatre kid, she is an avid fan of Eurovision and hopes to someday work in the field of educational technology with a focus on language learning. The material produced here was written as part of an SRAS Online Research Internship.

Program attended: Online Internships

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Nell Johnson

Nell Johnson holds a dual degree in English and Russian from the University of New Mexico. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was awarded the Critical Language Scholarship and studied virtually at Lobachevksy University in Nizhnii Novgorod. At the time she wrote for this site, she was working as a community librarian. In her free time, she enjoys translating poems and playing open-world video games. The material she contributed to this site was written as part of an SRAS Online Research Internship.

Program attended: Online Internships

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Nafisa Nigmatova

Nafisa Nigmatova is originally from Uzbekistan. At the time she wrote for this site, she was a sophomore at the University of Kentucky majoring in International Studies and minoring in Political Science and Spanish. Her material here was produced as part of an SRAS Online Research Internship. Nafisa's native languages are Russian and Uzbek; later, she learned English and Turkish. During her free time, she enjoys watching Russian series, playing piano, and baking cultural desserts.

Program attended: Online Internships

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R.A. Bloomfield

R.A. Bloomfield is studying Government and Biology at Smith College in Northampton, MA. After doing research on post-Soviet space, they decided it was time to hear local perspectives and learn Russian. R.A. Bloomfield is currently taking intensive Russian, doing research, and studying Policy and Conflict with SRAS and Novamova in Kyiv, Ukraine. They hope to use this experience to launch towards a career at the State Department or in international public health.

Program attended: Challenge Grants

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Rylin McGee

Rylin McGee is a junior at the University of Richmond studying International Relations - Development and Change, with a focus on the environment and a minor in Russian Studies. Currently a SRAS Home and Abroad Scholar, she is working to improve her language skills and learn about Russia’s environmental history and policies by attending SRAS’s Russia and the Environment program in Irkutsk during the spring 2018 semester. Beyond studying, Rylin enjoys hiking, yoga, painting, coffee/tea, and exploring.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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Rachel Rodriguez

Rachel Rodriguez is a third-year student at the University of South Carolina, double majoring in Russian and Criminal Justice. She is also currently pursuing part of her Masters Degree in Criminal Justice. Rachel aspires to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, applying her translation skills for English, Spanish, and Russian. She will soon be studying other countries’ criminal justice systems in London with UofSC. In her free time, she loves to travel and explore the outdoors.

Program attended: Online Internships

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Tanya Tanyarattinan

Tanya Tanyarattinan is a third-year, Thai international student at the University of Denver, double majoring in International Studies and Economics with minors in Russian and Japanese. She is currently studying Society, Business, and the Arts in St Petersburg with SRAS’s Home and Abroad Scholarship. With an interest in pursuing a career in politics, she travels to see how the world works from different perspectives. Her next stop is Berlin where she will complete her study abroad year. In her free time, she likes to play games and try new food.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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Zachary Hicks

Zach Hicks is a PhD student in Comparative Literature at the University of Oregon. He is currently participating in SRAS's Home and Abroad scholarship program. His main areas of interest are twentieth-century Russian and Soviet literature, socialist modernism, and critical theory. Outside of academics his major interests are martial arts, the outdoors, and music. In Russia, he plans to continue to increase his language proficiency, to learn as much as possible about the Russian underground music scene, its tattoo culture, and to become a student of Russia’s native martial art, SAMBO.

Program attended: Art and Museums in Russia

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