East European Politics Graduate Workshop

Welcome! The East European Politics Graduate Workshop (EEPGW) is a once a month, online workshop for political science graduate students. We aim to create an environment for those working on East European politics (broadly understood) to seek feedback and build community amongst other graduate students working on similar topics.

We welcome graduate students at any stage in their career. Feel free to reach out to us at eepg.workshop@gmail.com with further questions.

Current Series: Fall/Winter 2025-2026 Workshop

Friday October 10 11AM-1PM EST

Paper 1: “The Democratising Effects of the 1989 Baltic Way Demonstration in Estonia,” Robert Lipinski (Oxford, World Bank)

Paper 2: “The Historical Determinants of Eastern European Solidarity with Ukraine,” Isabelle DeSisto (Princeton University)

Discussant: Krisztina Szabó (CEU, Royal Holloway)

Friday October 24 2025 11AM-12PM ET

“Elite Economic Coercion and Opposition Political Selection in Authoritarian Dominant-Party Regimes,” Hanna Folsz (Stanford University)

Discussant: Ludwig Schulze (European University Institute)

Friday November 7th 11-12 AM EST

“Thinking About Going Back Home in War: Ukrainian Refugees in the Czech Republic,” Matej Jungwirth (Northwestern University)

Discussant: Costin Ciobanu (Aarhus)

Friday November 21th 11-12 AM EST

“Beyond the Authoritarian Axis: Analyzing the Conditional Role of State Capacity in the Process of Authoritarian Diffusion in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan,” Ildar Daminov (Central European University)

Discussant: Daria Gerashchenko (European University at St Petersburg)

Friday December 5th 11AM-1PM EST

Paper 1: “WWII Legacies, Memory Regimes and Support for Russia,” Ludwig Schulze (European University Institute)

Paper 2: “It Takes Fire to Fight Fire: Populists, their Challengers, and Shifting Conceptions of “The Elite,” Will Halm (Berkeley)

Discussant: Lotem Halevy (Cluster of Excellence, the Politics of Inequality, at the University of Konstanz)

Friday January 23rd 11-12 AM EST

“The Enemy of My (Historical) Enemy Is My Friend?,” Frances Cayton (Cornell University) and Isabelle DeSisto (Princeton University)

Discussant: Robert Lipinski (Oxford, World Bank)

Friday February 6th 11-12 AM EST

“Do theories of spatial far-right voting apply in Eastern Europe? A Bayesian analysis of the Lithuanian case,” Domantas Undzėnas (University of Mannheim)

Discussant: Felix Beilin (Princeton)

Statement on Russia’s War Against Ukraine

The EEPGW wholeheartedly condemns Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s sovereignty over the last ten years and its recent full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We stand in support of Ukraine and its people as they fight in support of their country and freedom. For more information on the war, and how to support the Ukrainian war effort, refugees, and media, we include resources compiled by Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and Razom for Ukraine.

Be in touch!

We invite you to sign up for our listserv below:

EEPGW