Marija Norkunaite

I am a doctorate candidate in Area Studies (Russia and East Europe) at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. My project examines perceptions of the state held by the people living in the former (mono-)industrial regions of the Baltic countries. My broader interests include manifestations of the Soviet nostalgia and legacies; the specifics of planned socialist towns and their survival strategies after the collapse of the USSR; and the relations between ethnic minorities and the new states in the post-Soviet countries.

Prior to starting my doctoral studies, I was awarded an MPhil in Russian and East European Studies at the University of Oxford (2016-2018). I have received my BA in Political Science from Vilnius University, Lithuania (2012-2016). I am an UK ESRC ‘Grand Union’ Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) scholar.

Wolfson College

Supervisors: Dr Nicolette Milota Makovicky and Professor Yaacov Yadgar