Research - ALENA ZELENSKAIA

Late in 2026, I joined the Yerevan Center for International Education (Yerevan, Armenia) as a research fellow to conduct a self-designed project on Armenia’s citizenship regime after 2022. The project explores policies, practices, and narratives related to Armenian citizenship, using Russian migrants of non-Armenian descent as a case study. Armenia is a particularly instructive case, as its citizenship regime has historically been structured around ethnic and diasporic belonging rather than territorial or civic principles - a logic that has been tested by the arrival of large numbers of non-ethnic migrants. Statistical data analysis is complemented by semi-structured interviews with non-Armenian Russians at various stages of the naturalization process.

In 2026, I received a six-month scholarship from Schroubek Fonds Östliches Europa to conduct the study “Entrepreneurship in Times of Uncertainty: Businesses of Russian War-Induced Migrants in Armenia.” I designed and carried out the research primarily in Yerevan, with additional interviews in Gyumri and Dilijan. The study focused on bars and cafés established and run by Russian citizens who came to Armenia after 2022 and which also function as social venues. The research aimed to find out which conditions, such as social networks, geographical location, spatial mobility, and institutional support, shape the forms these migrant businesses take, and which of these factors enhance or constrain entrepreneurial activity. The research combined several methods: on-site observation, interviews with business owners, analysis of visual materials (interiors, exteriors, photographs, posters, leaflets, and social media ads), and textual analysis of marketing materials and messages.

From 2019 to 2023, I worked as a research associate in the research project “Spousal Migration from Visa-Requiring Third Countries to the European Union” (Subproject B07), led by Prof. Dr. Irene Götz at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich. The project was part of the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB 1369 “Cultures of Vigilance”, Speaker: Prof. A. Brendecke), funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Drawing on the concept of vigilance, I explored how marriage migration is regulated through institutional practices that navigate the tension between fundamental rights and migration control. Within the project, I conducted qualitative research both online and offline, including interviews with binational couples, field observations, and document analysis. I also co-organized academic workshops, participated in a thematic working group, and contributed to the writing of reports and scholarly publications. Since 2023, I have continued this research in the form of an article-based PhD dissertation, supervised by Prof. Dr. Irene Götz (first supervisor) and Prof. Dr. Eveline Dürr (second supervisor)

As part of the Europaeum Scholars Programme in 2022-2023, I contributed to the FairFields project, a collaborative research initiative addressing the conditions of agricultural workers in the European Union. Our interdisciplinary team developed a set of policy recommendations aimed at improving both the working and living conditions of agricultural laborers through a more inclusive approach to rural development. We focused in particular on empowering Local Action Groups (LAGs) to better address workers' needs and strengthen social dialogue in the sector. This project combined policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, and collaborative writing, offering a forward-looking perspective on justice and equity in rural Europe.

In 2018-2019, during my time at the AUCA, I was involved in two team-based internal research projects focused on academic life and institutional dynamics. As an investigator in a project led by Anguelina Popova at the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT), I conducted focus group interviews with international faculty to explore their experiences at AUCA — including curriculum design, language use, and adaptation to a diverse student body. In a parallel project, Part-timers at AUCA, I served as the principal investigator, examining part-time faculty members’ levels of engagement with AUCA’s mission, their professional needs, and pedagogical challenges. I co-designed a survey for department heads, carried out interviews with part-time instructors, and authored a final report aimed at shaping strategies for institutional improvement.

Between 2017 and 2018, I conducted a qualitative study on ethnic Russian and German minorities in Kyrgyzstan, focusing on their decisions to remain in the country despite available opportunities to relocate to their so-called “historical homelands.” The research was carried out as part of a two-part workshop on ethnographic fieldwork, which I designed and led at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA), with support from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). AUCA students were trained in interview techniques and conducted their own fieldwork during the workshops, later using the collected material for their individual research projects. In April-August 2018, I complemented this work with additional field research in southern Kyrgyzstan, including interviewing during a joint field trip with the University of Tübingen. The study explored the motives of immobility among members of these minority communities, shedding light on how citizenship regimes, bureaucratic constraints, affective attachments, and narratives of belonging influence their decisions to stay.

My Master’s thesis, titled "Identities of Russian-Speaking Asylum Seekers in Germany," was completed at the European University at St. Petersburg in 2016 under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Sergey Abashin. The thesis explored the identity constructions and everyday experiences of Russian-speaking asylum seekers in Germany during the so-called “refugee crisis.” The research focused on individuals from Ukraine, Russia (notably from Dagestan and Chechnya), as well as from several Central Asian and South Caucasian countries. Based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted between March 2014 and August 2015 in Bavaria and Berlin, the study combined participant observation in various forms of asylum housing with in-depth interviews. It examined how asylum seekers negotiated identity in relation to their legal status, life in institutional spaces, and encounters with German bureaucracy and civil society actors. The research was supported by the Potanin Foundation Scholarship (2015/2016).