Abigail Schoenfeld

Position
4th-year Ph.D. student
Office
Jones Hall
Bio/Description

Abigail Schoenfeld studies modern Eurasian history with an emphasis on Turkey and the Soviet Union. Her research interests include language & linguistic policy, communications, media & propaganda, and transnational intellectual history. At Princeton, her research will focus on systems of communication and knowledge transfer in “Turcophone” Eurasia during the interwar era.

Abigail holds an M.A. from Columbia University and an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics (with distinction) in international history. Her master’s dissertation addressed the transnational exchanges surrounding alphabet reform in Turkey and Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s. She also holds a B.A. in political science from Barnard College, where she focused on contemporary Turkish politics. During her undergraduate studies, she also interned at several international affairs organizations, including the Council on Foreign Relations and Human Rights Watch. Prior to returning to Columbia, she worked in corporate public affairs and crisis management at the global PR firm Weber Shandwick.