History and International Studies Student Presents at International Conference

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Anna Raezer presents her work on Putin's support among violent nationalist groups.

In spring of 2022, Anna Raezer, a junior who is double majoring in history and international and global studies, put in her application for a unique national program. The I.D.E.A.S. in R.E.E.E.S. program, run out of Howard University in Washington, D.C., is devoted to developing a new generation of scholars for the field of Russian, East European and Eurasian studies. Raezer's selection for the prestigious think tank program allowed her to connect to top scholars in the field of Russian political science and international relations and present at the international conference for the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies in the fall.

Raezer made good on the second part of this a few weeks ago, traveling to Chicago and presenting her work in front of an intimidating crowd of international experts on the history, language and politics of Russia and the former Soviet Union. The think tank program paid for her travel, room and board in Chicago to attend the conference, network with field leaders and set her on the path to success.

Raezer's paper, an examination of Putin's incorporation of right-wing, nationalist soccer hooligans into his political coalition during the 2010 Manezhnaya Square Riots, required extensive work in Russian language television and news sources. Raezer has been training in Russian language since 2020, and when she maxed out all the language courses available with professor Nadja Berkovich, she studied language at University of Pittsburgh and traveled to Tbilisi and Batumi, Georgia, in a program run by SRAS and NovaMova. 

Raezer is on track to graduate next year and then is considering her options for further training in Russian language, history and politics either in graduate school or the foreign service. With skills built at the U of A and opportunities for study abroad funded by foreign language and area studies fellowships and other outside scholarships, she hopes to continue her research and expand her language skills.