BASEES Women’s Forum Announces 2026 Prize Winners

The BASEES Women’s Forum has announced the winners of its 2026 annual prizes, recognising exceptional scholarship across the field. This year’s Article/Chapter Prize was awarded to Dr Kristin Roth‑Ey, Associate Professor of Russian History and Culture at UCL SSEES, for her article “Solidarity and the Aesthetics of Pain: Soviet Documentary Film and the Vietnam War” (International Review of Social History, 2024). Judges praised the article’s original and compelling analysis of Soviet documentary filmmaking and the emotional politics of Cold War solidarity, highlighting its rich combination of film analysis, audience reception, and memory studies.

An Honourable Mention was awarded to Dr Ella Rossman, who completed her PhD at SSEES, for her article “Gender, Ethnicity, and Individual Resistance: Arpenik Aleksanyan’s Diaries of Stalinist Deportations” (Girlhood Studies, 2024). Her work brings an innovative girlhood‑studies perspective to the history of Stalinist repression, offering a sensitive reading of Aleksanyan’s diary and revealing how individuals adapted, navigated, and resisted ideological pressures under extreme conditions.

Warm congratulations to both scholars for their achievements and contributions to the field.