The Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies is pleased to announce that Michael Cole has been awarded the 2026-2027 Research Grant for Emerging Scholars.
The research grants of up to $6,000 support early-career scholars in any field of Baltic Studies. Proposals are evaluated according to the scholarly potential of the applicant and the quality and scholarly importance of the proposed work, especially to the development of Baltic Studies. Funds may be used for travel, duplication, materials, equipment, or other needs as specified.
The 2026 applications were evaluated by the AABS 2025-2026 Grants and Awards Committee consisting of AABS VP for Professional Development Dr. Kaarel Piirimäe, AABS President Dr. Jörg Hackmann, and AABS Director-at-Large Dr. Dovilė Budrytė. Learn about the other 2026-2027 recipients here.
Michael Cole is a social science researcher based in Estonia, specialising in the relationships between politics and popular culture in Eastern Europe. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Tartu, where his thesis examined representations of Russia in Ukrainian and Georgian populist discourses. Cole’s current research with the University of Murcia examines the materiality of crises in the Baltic Sea region and Ukraine. From 2022-2026, Cole worked as a journalist for the Estonian public broadcaster ERR, writing feature articles on politics, society and culture in Estonia and the broader region. He also teaches a course on the “Politics of Popular Culture” during the University of Tartu’s Summer University. Cole has published work on several topics in this field including Russophone identities in Estonian hip-hop, political street stickers as resistance to biopower in Poland and the evolution of football “ultras” in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Project Overview: Understanding Contemporary Estonian Identity Through Popular Music
The Emerging Scholars Grant will be used to support Cole’s field research in Estonia examining constructions of local, national and regional identities through popular music. In the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine, examining Estonia, which has a long tradition of cultural mobilisation through music, aims to provide comparative insight into how states use popular culture to assert cultural distinctiveness, resist external pressure and communicate identity during periods of geopolitical uncertainty.