Graduate Research Training Fund report – Natalie Navarrete (2023, MPhil Russian and East European Studies)

This summer, with the support of the Research Training Fund, I attended the “IgrayUchi” Russian language school in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This proved to be an incredibly formative experience both in terms of sharpening the skills I will employ for my MPhil thesis and for developing my research interests and perspectives.

For the month that I spent in Tashkent, I attended advanced Russian language classes four hours a day for six weeks. Outside of formal instruction, the “IgrayUchi” program included cultural activities, excursions, and local experiences that helped me to use my language skills in a variety of settings while gaining a better understanding of the unique country that I was in. Perhaps the most memorable experience for me was the excursion I went on to Samarkand. In the necropolis, I was able to explore the physical manifestation of the Islamic influence on Uzbek culture that had managed to survive the imperialism of Tsarist and Soviet Russia.

In Registan Square, I learned about the political movements that would inspire nationalist revivals across Central Asia.

This was a particularly enriching experience before I began my second-year coursework on Islam in the USSR and the historical legacies informing contemporary Central Asian foreign policy.

The impact that the “IgrayUchi” program has had on my language skills is also apparent in the critical discourse analysis I am conducting for my thesis. The training I received in academic vocabulary, perfecting my grammar, and interpreting idioms and cultural references has been invaluable to my analysis of official discourse from the region on foreign policy and nuclear security issues. I am incredibly grateful for the support that University College was able to offer me through the Research Training Fund to make such an amazing and formative summer possible.

Published: 10 January 2025

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