My name is Sergey Kamenskiy.
I am writing to ask if you would like to work with me next year as my PhD supervisor at the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester.

About me:
I worked for 6 years on the topic of political repression at the Museum of History of Yekaterinburg (the third capital of Russia). We tried to find new discourse for talking about this theme with auditory. We worked in different forms – theatre performances, art laboratories, exhibitions, etc. We conducted more than 200 interviews with the relatives of the repressed. In all cases we investigated how these practices worked in collaboration with the department of social psychology. Also, I analysed different expositions in Russia on this topic. I collected a lot of data and the main results from these studies are that most practices don’t effectively work if they don’t based on understanding what stereotypes, attitudes of consciousness Russian audients have, if they do not take into account how emotions and perceptions of such a traumatic topic work, if they do not take into account that for each generation it is necessary to develop essentially its own language of representation.

My professional experience shaped my research interests. I want to research how Russian auditory receipt such content, the structure of views, how emotions work in this experience, and what museums can do better in their practice. During my investigations, I have read your papers on the theme of emotions in heritage and contested heritage, including «The legacy of communism – difficult histories, emotions and contested narratives». Your insight could benefit my research, and I would be grateful for an opportunity to work with you.

I am a master in history. And I am a Candidate in Cultural studies (analogy PhD in Russia). But after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I left Russia during my anti-war positions and in November 2023 I will arrive in the UK on a Global Talent visa. It’s important for me to investigate this theme not only for scientific reasons but also because this investigation has a practical significance for understanding modern problems and the future of Russia and other post-soviet countries.

Please tell me if you are still accepting PhD students for the next year. I can send you more information about myself/a draft of my research proposal if needed.

Thanks in advance

Best regards,
Sergey Kamenskiy
Candidate in Cultural studies
Independent researcher

More about my experience with the theme