Meet Dr. Kristen Einertson, 2024 Doctoral Graduate

As a freshly minted alumnus of the communication studies department, Dr. Kristen Einertson researches the complex relationships between post-Soviet Eastern European communities and foreign policy. Focusing on Cold War archival records, Einertson analyzes the rhetoric and public discourse of how state and non-state interests are connected. Outside of her research she also taught a few classes at the University with a mission to help “students become more engaged members of society and critical thinkers.”

What do you study and how did you become interested in it?

I recently received my Ph.D., with a focus on rhetorical studies, from the Department of Communication Studies, University of Minnesota. My research focuses on the rhetoric and public discourse surrounding the post-Soviet transition and foreign policy related to Eastern European states, particularly the Baltics. 

Specifically, my dissertation looks at the role of the Joint Baltic American National Committee in the United States, which was the central Baltic-interests lobbying organization that worked closely with various branches of the US government to support the Baltics' struggle for autonomy and influence the US's late-Cold-War foreign policy. 

Before beginning my doctoral studies in Minnesota, I lived in Riga, Latvia as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in the 2018-19 academic year, which is where I began to be interested in foreign policy history, public discourse issues, and post-Soviet and burgeoning democratic identity of the Baltic states.

What brought you to the University of Minnesota?

I wanted to pursue my PhD at the University of Minnesota because of the department’s prestige within my discipline. I was drawn to the professors who examine the rhetoric of secrecy and governmentality. 

Even though my particular research interests have greatly evolved since I applied to the doctoral program, I've been pleased that I've continually found support from my advisors (i.e., Dr. Zornitsa Keremidchieva and Dr. Atilla Hallsby) and other colleagues in the department who have encouraged me in my pursuits. 

I am also a third-generation UMN student and am proud to be a Golden Gopher who has followed in the footsteps of the rest of my family members.

Tell us about a current or recent project you've been working on.

My current research examines the role of Eastern European-American diasporic communities and their ethnic lobbying arms in the development of US foreign policy. 

Through analyzing the work of the Joint Baltic National Committee (JBANC) and the organization’s various communicative efforts alongside state and non-state actors during the late Cold War period, this research seeks to understand how lobbyist organizations have historically worked within the US foreign policy environment to advocate for Baltic priorities and the interests of the Baltic-American community. 

Thus, the project seeks to animate the role of non-governmental actors in foreign policy decision-making, specifically by looking at the role of ethnic lobbying groups and their attempts to manage the global tensions central to the East-West Cold War divide.

To better understand the strategies of JBANC, the study looks at the places, moments, and times where state and non-state actors’ interests overlapped and seeks to outline the convergence and divergence of these priorities in relation to US foreign policy development. 

By pairing communication methodologies with various national and international Cold War archival records, the project focuses on how communication connects and mediates state and non-state interests.

What class or classes do you teach? How has teaching influenced your own education?

Some of my favorite classes to teach at the University have been Public Speaking, Analysis of Argument, and Introduction to Rhetorical Theory. 

These classes have especially helped me hone my skills as an instructor while I was a graduate student. They have also helped me better articulate the communication theory and argumentative writing that I utilize in my own research. 

One of my favorite parts of being a teacher is connecting with my students each semester! It is invaluable to hear your students tell you that the examples and case studies that you teach in the classroom have helped open their eyes to a new corner of the world, brought to light issues in the current culture, or have helped them become more confident and comfortable being part of private and public discussions. 

To know that I am helping my students become more engaged members of society and critical thinkers is the best part of my job!

Have you received any notable awards or financial support? What has that meant to you?

I am profoundly grateful for the generosity bestowed on me through multiple fellowships, programs, and awards that provided assistance for my research throughout all of its stages. 

Most recently, the Wilson Center Cold War Archives Research Fellowship, the National Communication Association Benson-Campbell Dissertation Research Award, and the International Chapter of the PEO Scholar Award funded various late-stage aspects of my dissertation, monetarily encouraging me to strengthen my research and pour even more of myself into the project. 

The Department of Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota offered me summer funding and other travel monies that supported my many trips to cities and archives across the world that could help me answer my research questions. 

The Dissertation Proposal Development Program, funded by the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, especially helped to jump-start the project in my earliest stages of dissertation writing and significantly shaped its trajectory. 

The support of the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship in International Studies helped me hone my Russian language skills and provided me with the opportunity to work with professors outside of my department who were interested in my area of work.

Finally, my research would simply not exist without the American Latvian Association Graduate Fellowship in Latvian American Studies, supported by the Immigration History Research Center Archive (IHRCA) at the University of Minnesota. It was through the generous support of IHRCA multiple years in a row that I first discovered the stories inside the Joint Baltic American National Committee records that were available to me right in my own backyard and ready for me to use in my scholarship.

This story was edited by Content Creator Joy Edwards.