{"id":14275,"date":"2025-06-11T10:25:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T10:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vabamu.ee\/?post_type=news&p=14275"},"modified":"2025-06-11T10:43:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T10:43:43","slug":"anastasiya-astapova-shares-her-experience-at-stanford-university","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/vabamu.ee\/en\/news\/anastasiya-astapova-shares-her-experience-at-stanford-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Anastasiya Astapova shares her experience at Stanford University"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Anastasiya Astapova shares her experience at Stanford University <\/div>\n
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Anastasiya visited Stanford University through the Short-Term Research Fellowship at Stanford University for Estonian Security and Foreign Policy Experts. The fellowship is supported by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Vabamu and Stanford Libraries.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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Anastasiya Astapova:<\/p>\n

As one of the remarkable people I had the privilege to meet at Stanford put it, being there is like\u00a0\u201cdrinking from a firehose.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0The metaphor, often used to describe the overwhelming yet exhilarating influx of knowledge and opportunity, could not be more accurate. My visit as a short-term scholar was a time of intense intellectual engagement, inspiring connections, and meaningful cross-cultural experiences\u2014for both myself and my family.<\/p>\n

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My main project,\u00a0Russophones\u2019 Conspiratorial Thinking in Estonia: Three Years Post-Invasion to Ukraine<\/em>, focused on conspiracy theories about the war in Ukraine as articulated by Russian-speaking communities in Estonia. At the beginning of my stay, on January 17, I delivered a talk on this topic at Stanford\u2019s Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (CREEES), based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork. I explored the evolution of conspiratorial narratives, the sociopolitical conditions that enable them, and the role of humor and genre in their spread. Thanks to the valuable feedback I received at Stanford, by the end of my stay I was able to finalize the article\u00a0A Longitudinal Study of Russophone Conspiracy Theories about Ukraine: Content and Methodological Insights<\/em>, which has now been submitted to\u00a0Nations and Nationalism<\/em>, a leading peer-reviewed journal. I also began work on a NordForsk grant application on antagonistic threats\u2014an idea that grew out of interdisciplinary conversations and contacts made during the fellowship. This early presentation proved to be pivotal, offering both scholarly critique and ample time to deepen the research through additional lectures, meetings, and informal exchanges.<\/p>\n

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On some days in Stanford, I had marathons od attending up to five events\u2014and still felt I was missing out, given how much Stanford has to offer. I regularly followed courses such as\u00a0Erosion of Democracy<\/em>,\u00a0Nations and Nationalism<\/em>,\u00a0International Security in the Changing World<\/em>, and\u00a0The Social and Economic Impact of AI<\/em>. I also participated in numerous events organized by CREEES, the Hoover Institution, the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, and many other institutions\u2014including public lectures by prominent scholars such as Serhii Plokhy. This immersion into lesser unfamiliar fields\u2014particularly technology, military studies, and AI\u2014brought fresh perspectives that will significantly shape my future research. Equally impactful was observing the pedagogical approaches used at Stanford: from expertly delivered 90-minute lectures to lively seminars and group discussions, often enhanced by interactive tools like quizzes and structured participation. These methods will undoubtedly enrich my own teaching practice. In addition, I gained valuable insights into the structure and philosophy of the one-year interdisciplinary MA program at CREEES. Meeting its students and faculty helped me reflect on curriculum design for our own MA in\u00a0Folkloristics and Applied Heritage Studies<\/em>\u00a0at the University of Tartu, especially regarding final projects and course organization.<\/p>\n

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One of the most rewarding aspects of the visit was connecting with scholars across disciplines and institutions. I had the pleasure of engaging in profound and inspiring conversations with my host\u00a0Jovana Lazic<\/strong>, whose intellectual and personal generosity left a lasting impression. I am also deeply grateful to\u00a0John Truman<\/strong>, whose help with countless practical matters made my day-to-day work at Stanford seamless. This experience would not have been possible without the dedication and warmth of\u00a0Kadri Paju<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Liisi Esse<\/strong>. From the early planning stages to on-the-ground support, their proactive attitude, constant availability, and genuine kindness made a world of difference. Thanks to Liisi\u2019s initiatives, I was also able to attend the opening of Estonia\u2019s new honorary consulate in San Francisco and had a meeting with Estonian Minister of Culture\u2014both of which underscored the value of academic and cultural diplomacy. I also got in touch and met with scholars such as\u00a0David Laitin<\/strong>, whose foundational work in nationalism and migration intersects with my interests;\u00a0Sam Wineburg<\/strong>, a leading expert in media literacy; as well as\u00a0Quinn Dombrowski,\u00a0Maryna Antaniuk-Prouteau,\u00a0Katherine Jolluck,\u00a0Jelena Batinic,\u00a0Alexis Peri,\u00a0Michael Keller<\/strong>, and many others. Encounters with fellow Estonian colleagues\u00a0Janar Pekarev\u00a0and\u00a0Mari-Liis Jakobson\u00a0were also truly rewarding\u2014ironically, it often takes being abroad to fully appreciate the richness of our own academic community.<\/p>\n

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Beyond Stanford, I was invited to give a talk at UC Berkeley on January 29, titled\u00a0Conspiracy Theories in Academia: The Case of Russian Spy Professor Vyacheslav Morozov<\/em>. The talk, hosted at the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, analyzed how different ideological groups in academia responded to the controversial case of Morozov\u2019s arrest in Estonia, interweaving narratives of suspicion, imperial memory, and the recent rise of \u201cspytainment.\u201d Zachary Kelly, an Assistant Director of the Institute, also organized the meeting with students of it, at which they could share their research and learn more about the opportunities to visit the University of Tartu from me. My folklorist colleague Timothy Tangherlini also studying conspiracy theories introduced me to the famous archive of the folklorist Alan Dundes in UC Berkeley.<\/p>\n

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My time at Stanford was not only academically productive but personally transformative. The cultural and linguistic diversity of California enriched our entire family\u2019s experience. Weekends spent exploring the Bay Area, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and even Disneyland offered a welcome contrast to the Estonian winter. And, on a more personal but very real note, the mild climate meant our children were sick far less often\u2014which, in turn, meant more uninterrupted time for writing, thinking, and engaging.<\/p>\n

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Now back in Estonia, I find myself slowly digesting all that I absorbed\u2014processing, finally, some of the water I drank from that metaphorical firehose. My stay at Stanford has left a deep and lasting impact, broadening my academic horizon and inspiring new research paths, teaching ideas, and international collaborations that will continue to unfold for years to come.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Pictures from Anastasiya’s experience at Stanford <\/h2>\n
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Anastasiya visited Stanford University through the Short-Term Research Fellowship at Stanford University for Estonian Security and Foreign Policy Experts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11446,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","news-category":[88],"class_list":["post-14275","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-category-fellowships"],"yoast_head":"\nAnastasiya Astapova shares her experience at Stanford University - Vabamu<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vabamu.ee\/en\/news\/anastasiya-astapova-shares-her-experience-at-stanford-university\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anastasiya Astapova shares her experience at Stanford University - Vabamu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anastasiya visited Stanford University through the Short-Term Research Fellowship at Stanford University for Estonian Security and Foreign Policy Experts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vabamu.ee\/en\/news\/anastasiya-astapova-shares-her-experience-at-stanford-university\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vabamu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-11T10:43:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vabamu.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Anastasiya-Astapova-e1749638131535.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"950\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vabamu.ee\\\/en\\\/news\\\/anastasiya-astapova-shares-her-experience-at-stanford-university\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vabamu.ee\\\/en\\\/news\\\/anastasiya-astapova-shares-her-experience-at-stanford-university\\\/\",\"name\":\"Anastasiya Astapova shares her experience at Stanford University - 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