Elaina Karpenko

Elaina graduated from Vassar College in 2022 with a BA in Russian Studies, where her senior thesis compared representations of tradition, morality, and cyclical time between Georgian film director Tengiz Abuladze and Kyrgyz author Chingiz Aitmatov. At Michigan she is pursuing a Masters in International and Regional Studies with a specialization in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies. Her primary research interests include cultural expression and explorations of memory in late-Soviet cinema and literature, particularly of the Caucasus and Central Asia.