Elena Adasheva is a PhD candidate in
Sociocultural Anthropology at Yale University. Her doctoral research explores
human-environment relations and urban infrastructure in the Russian Arctic. Elena’s interests also include
Arctic science diplomacy and governance. Her work is supported by the National Science Foundation and the American
Councils for International Education. Elena was a delegate at the Model Northern Forum in Yakutsk. She received the Summer
Institute in Museum Anthropology Fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, D.C. and the Eva Kastan Grove
Fellowship from the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute in New York. Elena
holds an MPhil in Sociocultural Anthropology from Yale University and a B.A. in
Anthropology and Studio Art from Hunter College of the City University of New
York where she was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. Elena is committed to fostering
intercultural communication and promoting collaborations between international actors in the
Arctic.
Research Interests: interdisciplinary studies of light and dark; urban infrastructure; electricity and energy; governance; science diplomacy; environmental anthropology; historical anthropology; social theory; Arctic and Polar studies; Indigenous studies; anthropology of museums; visual anthropology
Regional Interests: the Arctic, Northern Russia, Siberia
Elena is a founder of the Polar Research and Education Library (PREL), a special library focusing on social sciences and humanities of the Polar regions.