Nazerke Mukhlissova

Nazerke Mukhlissova is a European and Russian studies M.A. student at Yale University, with a focus on the political history of the Soviet Union, Eastern European, and Central Asian states. Particularly, she is interested in memory politics, intellectual history, nation, and tradition building. Nazerke was born and raised in Kazakhstan, where she received a Bachelor’s degree at Nazarbayev University with a double major in History and Political Science. Prior to coming to Yale, she was involved with many research projects focusing on the behavior and policymaking of Central Asian states, as well as regional integration. Her undergraduate thesis, “The ‘Great Steppe’ Narrative: origins, politics, and Aspirations of Eternal Kazakhstan,” explored how Kazakhstan, as a newly independent country, created a state ideology instrumentalizing Eurasian Steppe with an attempt to distance and differentiate itself from the Soviet past. Her Master’s thesis explores the construction of Early Soviet Republics. Naz was accepted to Yale’s Ph.D. history program, starting in August of 2024.