Cynthia Kaplan

Cynthia Kaplan, associate professor of political science, is one of approximately 800 scholars nationwide to receive a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research abroad this year.

This quarter, Kaplan is in Estonia, where she is teaching a course on Russian politics and offering a series of graduate seminars on ethnic identity at Tartu University. She is also conducting research on the impact of ethnic identity on political attitudes and behavior. “This is a comparative project that includes Estonia, Russia, and Tatarstan,” she says.

Co-author of the book “Buried Memories: Political Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet Union,” Kaplan joined the UCSB faculty in 1988, and has written numerous articles on Russia, Estonia, and the former Soviet Union.

In addition, two scholars from other nations have received Fulbright Fellowships to teach and conduct research at UCSB. They are Marcelo Aizen, a biologist from Argentina, and Derek Peddle, an environmental scientist from Canada.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors the Fulbright Program, America’s flagship international educational exchange program. Over 58 years of existence, the Fulbright Program has sponsored more than 250,000 American and foreign university students, K-12 teachers, university faculty, and professionals in studies abroad.