Baltic Americans and U.S. Soft Power During the Cold War

The Immigration History Research Center invites you to join us for a conversation with Vincent Kancans, PhD Candidate in Germanic Studies.

This archival project explores the hidden role of post-WWII migrants from the Baltic states and Eastern Europe in shaping US-Soviet relations through soft power. Kancans focuses primarily on cultural ‘proxy battles’ such as international hockey tournaments and political institutions such as the Captive Nations Committee, which often stood in for open military conflict and shaped public opinion in the US.

Vincent Kancans is a PhD Candidate in Germanic Studies with a minor in Moving Image Studies at the University of Minnesota. His dissertation is a media history of magnetic tape's invention, mass adoption, decline, and recent revival. More broadly, he researches the ways that ordinary citizens use technical media to challenge state and corporate power structures. He is the recipient of the 2024-2025 American Latvian Association Fellowship.

This event is co-sponsored by the Immigration History Research Center Archives at the University of Minnesota Libraries.