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Maria Azimova ’06, who hails from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, tapped into her native language skills to collaborate with Joshua Sanborn, assistant professor of history, on a project examining the history of Russia during World War I.
“Maria was a great help doing annotations and research,” says Sanborn. “Her language skills as a native speaker were invaluable.”
Sanborn is author of Drafting the Russian Nation, a groundbreaking book on modern Russian and military-social history published in January. He has involved Lafayette students in his research and mentored students who went on to receive a Fulbright grant and James Madison Fellowship. Sanborn has received many fellowships, including ones from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Social Science Research Council, the Council for Advanced Studies in Peace and International Cooperation Fellowship, and the Mellon Foundation.
Though she is a chemical engineering major, Azimova expressed an interest in working with Sanborn after taking his First-Year Seminar.
“This project wasn’t directly related to my major; however, I developed research skills that will benefit me in all my academic work,” she explains.
She adds, “Basically, I helped Professor Sanborn in his research, found the important points, and kept the information short and useful. I really like history, and I was interested in this topic. What I did goes so far beyond the normal classroom experience.”
“Maria got a chance to see how research is done by professionals. Annotating is no easy task, and she’s a very energetic worker,” says Sanborn. “She also got a much better understanding of this particular time period.”
Azimova credits both her mentor and Lafayette with offering her opportunities that will broaden her experience and hone her skills for future endeavors, both academic and otherwise.
“Professor Sanborn is a great professor who guided me through the research process,” she says. “I’m very grateful to Lafayette for giving me the chance to study and collaborate on this project. Lafayette is a great school.”
Lafayette is a national leader in undergraduate research. The project was conducted through Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which students conduct research with faculty while earning a stipend. Many of the 180 students who participate each year go on to publish papers in scholarly journals and/or present their research at conferences.
Azimova is vice president of the Math Club and a member of the Society of Women Engineers.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Over the past five years, more than 130 Lafayette students have presented results from their research with faculty mentors at the conference.