Undergraduate Research

The ECU Russian Studies faculty’s dedication to research is also an inspiration for our undergraduates. As teachers, researchers, and mentors, we encourage our students to apply for competitive undergraduate research scholarships from their freshman year. Closely mentored by Russian Studies professors Dr. Elena Murenina (FLL), Dr. Justin Wilmes (FLL), Dr. Rick Ericson (Economics), and Dr. Rick Hernandez (History), our Russian Studies majors and minors have been successful in receiving numerous Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Awards (URCA).

Such URCA funding helped our students not only present their research projects at ECU Research and Creative Achievements Week (RCAW) and UNC system undergraduate symposiums but also afford their out-of-state archive, museum, library, and conference travel to the prestigious national undergraduate research venues in Russian, Slavic, and Eurasian studies.


Lexi Karaivanova – Russian Studies Minor at RCAW


In 2025, senior Lexi Karaivanova, a Russian Studies minor mentored by Dr. Justin Wilmes, presented her research analyzing the portrayal of Western rock music in Perestroika and post-Soviet films. Lexi’s project provided insightful perspectives on how cinema revealed the political impact of youth movements during a transformative historical period.

RUssian Studies Research Undergrad Symposium

In April 2019, we successfully organized the 1st Russian Studies Undergraduate Research Symposium, and we plan to hold this event biannually with our students. Despite the pandemic, we recently held the 2nd Russian Studies Undergraduate Research Symposium in April 2021 in online format via WebEx.

RUssian Studies Research Undergrad Symposium

1st RUssian Studies Research Undergrad Symposium

The Interdisciplinary Program in Russian Studies, Departments of Foreign Languages & Literatures, Economics, Political Sciences, and the Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences

Tuesday | 4-16-2019 | 2409 Joyner | 5:00-7:00pm

Interdisciplinary research presentations:

  • Chekhov & Shakespeare on the Modern Stage: Two Plays in One Show, Katie Collins
  • Linking Tsiokovsky’s Rocket Science to Humanities, Chase Neese
  • Vertov’s Man with the Movie Camera (1929): A Formula for Modern Filmmakers, Grayce Mosier
  • The Impact of the Contemporary Russian Hybrid Warfare Initiative on the U.S. and its Allies, Jason Port
  • Christian Symbolism and Imagery in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (1866), Brian Austin Thaxton
  • U.S. Russian Foreign Relations: Strategic Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Agreements, Christa Gordon
  • “Reading” Fashion in A. Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin: ‘Word’ as ‘Image’ in 1820s Imperial Russia, Elizabeth LaFave

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Elena Murenina, Dr. Justin Wilmes, Dr. Richard Ericson

2nd RUssian Studies Research Undergrad Symposium

The Interdisciplinary Program in Russian Studies, Departments of Foreign Languages & Literatures, History, Political Sciences, and the Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences

Monday | 4-26-2021 | WebEx | 4:00-5:20pm

Interdisciplinary research presentations:

  • Sky Chernauskas, “A Gender Analysis of the Historiographies of Catherine the Great”
  • MaKenna Johnston, “City as A Space: Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment“
  • Tysen Stephenson, “The Russian Vor and Stalin’s Gulag: Breeding Generational Russian Organized Crime Groups”
  • Jared Egan, “Mechanisms of Putin’s Power: Memory Politics and Re-Sovietization”

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Elena Murenina, Dr. Justin Wilmes, Dr. Richard Hernandez

REDE: Student Impact: Student Profile

As the ECU division of Research, Economic Development and Engagement (REDE) states, undergraduate research empowers students to contribute knowledge and innovation and promote intellectual independence and critical thinking skills that 90 percent of employers favor in new hires.

One of the student profiles featured on the REDE website is Chase Neese, a Biochemistry Major and a Russian Studies Minor. His winning URCA project (2019) entitled “Linking Tsiolkovsky’s Rocket Science to Humanities” (mentored by Dr. Elena Murenina), examines how one of the 19th-century Russian scientists’ famous equations and vision for the future of mankind still impacts the world today.

Chase Neese Student Profile

Project Links

Digital Humanities projects developed by our recent graduates, Spring 2021 URCA winners (mentored by Dr. Elena Murenina):