Russian Studies Workshop

Christina Gusella is a PhD student in the Department of History at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she specializes in modern Russian history and the history of the former Soviet Union. Her secondary focus is on the history of U.S. foreign relations during the Cold War, particularly with the Communist bloc. Her thematic interests include cultural-diplomatic history, histories of migration, immigration, and border-crossing, conceptions of citizenship and belonging, and studies of memory, nostalgia, and the unconscious mind. Christina is currently conducting research for her dissertation, which examines American defectors to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War confrontation between the two powers. Before joining Emory’s department, Christina received a master’s degree in European History from Mississippi State University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History from the University of Alabama. Her research thus far has been supported by the Laney Graduate School at Emory University, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, U.S. Department of State, the János Radványi International Institute, and the Department of History at Mississippi State University.