Abigail Schoenfeld studies the intellectual and political history of Eurasia in the 20th century. Her dissertation examines the deployment of social sciences like linguistics, physical anthropology, and archaeology in nation-building projects in and between Turkey and the Soviet Union’s Turkic-speaking peoples during the interwar period. In doing so, it will speak to the role of transnational intellectual currents in territorially bounded national movements and state-building projects. Her research languages include Turkish (modern and Ottoman), Azerbaijani, Russian, French, and limited Persian. 

Abigail holds an M.A. from Columbia University and an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics (with distinction) in history. Her master’s thesis dealt with the transnational exchanges surrounding alphabet reform in Turkey and Azerbaijan in the 1920s. She also holds a B.A. in political science from Barnard College. Prior to her graduate studies, she worked in corporate crisis communications at the global public relations firm Weber Shandwick.