Congratulations to Peter Marzalik, an undergraduate majoring in Russian and International Studies, who recently took third place (Humanities division) at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum!

His poster, Intra-Communal Violence in Southwest Russia and the Government's Reaction to Extremism, stems from his honors thesis, in which he is examining the potential spread of political violence from the historically unstable region of the North Caucasus to the autonomous republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan. His thesis advisors are International Studies faculty members Anthony Mugdan and Jeffrey Lewis.

Peter reports that the impetus for the project was an interesting incident that occurred during his study abroad program to Ufa, Russia in summer 2012. (Peter blogged about his experiences in Ufa for the OSU College of Arts and Sciences. Read his blog here.) During an excursion to the city of Kazan, a terrorist attack occurred only a few miles away from him.  Preliminary findings suggested a more radical minded sect of the Muslim community attacked their own religious leaders for their more moderate interpretation of Islam.  The government initiated a swift crackdown, indiscriminately arresting dozens of young Muslim men.  Through comparative analysis of news articles, in  his thesis Peter is tracking these trends of an increase in radicalization and stronger reaction by the government, to deduce whether a sentiment of frustration and perhaps even a motivation for secession exists in these republics. 

About his experience in presenting at the Denman Forum, Peter observed: "Presenting at Denman allowed my initial results to be critically analyzed, which proved to be very useful in determining which portions of my honors thesis need to be improved.  I also developed many new contacts who can provide more resources for my research. Overall, the high level of intellectual discourse and the passion of my fellow Humanities majors made the Denman a very rewarding and enjoyable experience."

Well done, Peter!