Polina Kliuchnikova

After completing her studies in Cultural Anthropology from the European University at St Petersburg, Polina Kliuchnikova came to Durham in 2011 for her PhD, having been awarded the Durham University Student Scholarship (2011-2014). She received her doctorate in January 2016 for the thesis titled 'Linguistic Biographies and Communities of Language of Russian Speakers in the UK'. Between October 2015 and December 2016, she worked as Manager of the Sergey Averintsev Russian World Centre, a joint project of the Russkiy Mir Foundation and Durham University aimed at faciltating cultural, academic and scholarly contacts between Russia and the UK.

In January 2017 Dr Kliuchnikova joined the Cross-Language Dynamics team as PDRA working on the subproject 'Language Border: Russian in FSU Migration'. Her work focuses on 'Russian' as language of transnational interethnic communication in the context of recent migration from the former Soviet space to the Russian Federation. In this context she examines the Russian government's policy on language as a tool in controlling immigration flows, migrants’ own experiences of and views on Russian as a medium of communication in migration, and the development of initiatives on language support and consultancy targeting migrants.

Between 2016 and 2019, Dr Kliuchnikova ran the 'Language & Identity in Post-Soviet Spaces' series of research seminars, workshops and events exploring the diversity of intersections that language and identity have in variable contexts across the former Soviet Union (FSU) territory (full details can be found on a separate website dedicated to the series). In this same period she also organised a range of local outreach activities, in collaboration with Durham County Council, promoting interest in and the study of Russian language and culture.