Awards & Recognition (2018)

Graduating Majors

Russian Language & Literature
Nicole Martina Bugrim
Karine Harutyunyan
Stephany Kim
Ross Leland Mitchell

Russian Studies
Louis Conan Bethge
Alexandra Nicole Guerrero
Leslie Nichole Ro
Kathleen Elizabeth Robbins

Graduating Minors

Central & East European Studies
Dalma Vicky Felenyi
Mihai Alexandru Popescu

Russian Language
Tina Tatevik Baghdasaryan
Ellie Judith Fridman
Thomas More Galgani
Lilit Ghazaryan
Mark Gutin
Mariam Noemi Khachatrian
Logan Xenara Kim
Lilit Markosyan
Nare Melikjanyan
Brittany Christina Minnis-Lemley
Kathryn Olivia Mock
Valerie Morrison
Maxine Antoni Pokras
Jackson Cleary Price
Nicole Frances Vaynshtok
Wenyuan Wei

Russian Literature
Chase Hunter Galis

Russian Studies
Evaristo Luis G Capalla
Raffi Gevorgyan

Excellence in Russian, East European & Central European Studies Award

UCLA Department of Slavic, East European & Eurasian Languages & Cultures

Stephany Kim
Ross Mitchell

Clara & George Vajna Award for Excellence in Hungarian Studies

UCLA Department of Slavic, East European & Eurasian Languages & Cultures

Sabina Szathmary Hagey
Wenyuan Wei (Andy Nikola)
David White

Post-Secondary Russian Scholar Laureate Award

American Council of Teachers of Russian

Meagan Ford

Undergraduate Research Week Presentations

Nicole Bugrim
Ross Mitchell

Undergraduate Research Week Posters

Meagan Ford

CAPPP internships in Washington, DC

Meagan Ford
Eurasia Foundation, Center for the National Interest

Leanna Kramer
Center for a Secure Free Society

UCLA Russian Flagship Program

Graduating from the UCLA Flagship (domestic)
Nicole Bugrim
Logan Kim
Nare Melikjanyan
Brittany Minnis-Lemley
Leslie Ro

2017-2018 Flagship certification, following Capstone year in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Certified Flagship Global Professional
Thomas Galgani

Certified Flagship Global Professionals with Distinction
Alexandra Guerrero
Stephany Kim
Kathleen Robbins

Flagship Capstone year in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2018-2019
Rowan Baker
Evaristo Capalla
Meagan Ford

Boren Fellowship for year-long Russian language study abroad

2017-2018

Thomas Galgani
Alexandra Guerrero
Kathleen Robbins

2018-2019
Rowan Baker
Evaristo Capalla
Meagan Ford

Critical Language Scholarship for Russian language summer study (CLS, 2018)
Rowan Baker (Tbilisi, Georgia)
Meagan Ford (Tbilisi, Georgia)
Tyler Le (Tbilisi, Georgia)
Melissa Miller (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan)

Flagship Scholarship for Russian language summer study (Almaty, Kazakhstan)
Gracen Blackwell
Kay Dilworth
Melissa Leyba
Delaney Thurmond
Rebecca van Vliet

Stephen O. Lesser Russian Flagship Award For the Best Reflective Essay on a Summer Studying Russian Overseas (Summer 2017)

First place
Meagan Ford

Second place (tied)
Evaristo Capalla
Logan Kim

Gilman Scholarship for yearlong overseas study in Almaty, Kazakhstan
Evaristo Capalla

National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest

American Council of Teachers of Russian

Non-heritage speaker, Third year Russian, Honorable Mention
Tyler Le

Slavic or East European heritage speaker, Level 2, Honorable Mention
Tina Bagdasaryan

Slavic or East European heritage speaker, Level 4, Honorable Mention
Lilit Markosyan

Heritage Russian speaker, Level 2, Honorable Mention
Nicole Bugrim
Artiom Arutiunov

UC Undergraduate Conference on Slavic & East/Central European Studies Participants

Hannah Catherine Bennet
“The Tsar’s Voivode: Dimitrie Cantemir and the Cultural Politics of Early Modern Romania”

Louis Conan Bethge
“Putin it All Together: Unraveling the Rise of Russia’s Newest Tsar”

Nicole Bugrim
“Russian as a Heritage Language: Teaching Methods Based on Linguistic and Cultural Issues”

Mason Comtois
“A Romanian Influenced Constructed Language”

Yana Demeshko
“Outside the Ballot Box: A Case Study on Youth Political Activity During the Putin Administration”

Karine Harutyunyan
“Outcasts of Russian Society: Homosexuality in Russian Federation”

Rebekah Livermore
“An Inorganic Madness: Reassessing Ivan’s ‘Brain Fever’ in The Brothers Karamazov and Bakhtin’s Theory of the Polyphonic Novel”

Ross Mitchell
“Scriabin’s Ecstasy: When Poetry and Music Meet”

Seoyeon Park
“From Seoul to Siberia: How 19th Century Russian Literature Influenced Modern Day Korea”

Leslie N Ro
“Woman v. Women: The Shift from a Woman’s Role to the Women’s Movement in Kazakhstan”

Rebecca Van Vliet
“Hearts and Beatings: An ‘Engaged’ Comparative Political Theory Debate on Intimate Relations in Kollontai, Lenin and Modern Russia”