By Vallery Bergez
A 2012 alumnus of Brandeis University and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Matthew Kupfer has recently been awarded a Carnegie Fellowship at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. As a junior fellow for the Russia and Eurasia Program, Kupfer will have the opportunity to work with some of the endowment’s senior associates for one year. Since graduating from Brandeis, Kupfer has been studying in St. Petersburg, Russia, as a participant in the Overseas Flagship Program, an intensive program with the American Councils of Teachers of Russian which helps students to master fluency of the Russian language. He is very excited to apply his experience in Russia to the endowment’s mission to establish peace between nations.
Kupfer was chosen out of an applicant pool consisting of 400 colleges for one of ten fellowships awarded. His educational and professional background speaks for itself. Kupfer graduated from Brandeis as a double-major in international and global studies and anthropology with a minor in Russian studies. He is currently a contributing reporter to EurasiaNet.org and Registan.net. His freelance writing has given him a vast portfolio that testifies to his expertise in numerous areas. He also spent time in Kyrgyzstan, a country in Central Asia, where he witnessed a lot of political violence during his study of AIDS education.
Charles A. Radin, a writer for Brandeis’ website, had the chance to speak with Kupfer about the fellowship. In his article “Matt Kupfer ’12 Named Carnegie Junior Fellow” on Brandeis Now, Radin writes, “Kupfer said he hopes the Carnegie fellowship, during which he will research critical issues in world and regional politics ‘will give me a greater sense of what I want to accomplish in this field and what I might do next.’”
It is clear that Kupfer has developed a passion for the field and wants to spread awareness. On his LinkedIn profile, he describes himself as “[a]lways ready to seize new opportunities to increase knowledge about this fascinating region and support good causes in Russia and Central Asia” because, as he stated to Radin, Kupfer finds that “[t]here are a lot of very important issues in Russia and post-Soviet Central Asia in general that are sometimes overlooked.”
His conviction to educate people about these serious issues will serve him well during his Carnegie fellowship as he will assist with an array of projects and conduct extensive research on various topics relating to his specific branch. With his passion to help Russia and Central Asia, mastery of Russian, knowledge of international relations, and experience abroad, Matthew Kupfer promises to be an unmatchable asset to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Vallery Bergez is a junior at the University of Dallas majoring in English. The University of Dallas is home to the Eta of Texas chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.