Ričards Umbraško is a Ph.D. student in Harvard's Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. He studies Eastern Europe’s colonial entanglements from the 19th century to the present, with a specific focus on the cultures of the Baltic region and eastern Ukraine. Ričards received his A.B., summa cum laude, in Slavic literatures and cultures and comparative literature from Harvard College in 2025. He is a contributing writer for the Latvian cultural and literary magazine Satori, and his other work on Latvian art, society, and politics has appeared in 1843 Magazine (The Economist), New Eastern Europe, and Harvard International Review, among others. Selected publications include “Culture Wars: Latgalian Identity Between Soviet and Latvian Colonial Imaginaries (1958–1959),” Nationalities Papers (2025).

My Insights:

Auditorium 115 calling for education reform during protest at Tbilisi State University in 2016.

Will New Generation of Leftist Youth Influence Georgia’s Future?

August 2, 2024

“There is still a lingering stigma associated with socialism due to the Soviet experience,” a youth organizer told Ričards Umbraško, a Harvard student who spent the summer researching and writing in Georgia.

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My Events:

An image of Tbilisi taken by Cristopher Patvakanian

Intern Experiences: Armenia & Georgia

Tuesday, October 15, 2024
6 to 7pm EDT

In person

If you are a student interested in international travel and work experience, come to this talk by four of our interns who spent two months in the South Caucasus.