Lilia Bowers went to Latvia to study life expectancy, but in the process, she also learned about life itself.
Like most researchers, Lilia Bowers (Russian, Archaeology ’27) began her Humanities Undergraduate Mentoring (HUM) Grant project with a question. She noticed a disparity in the life expectancies between men and women in countries formerly ruled by the Soviet Union and found herself asking, “What’s happening here?” In her quest to find an answer, Bowers discovered that true understanding doesn’t come in statistics or numbers but from interacting with the people they represent.
Health and History
Through her missionary service in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and her interactions with many of her Slavic-speaking friends, Bowers noticed a pattern: in Eastern European countries, men generally have lower life expectancies than women, but this disparity is even more profound in countries formerly ruled by the Soviet Union. She hypothesized that these variations were related to the ways major historical events in these countries impacted current living situations. Their healthcare system took a downturn in the 1960s and fell apart completely when the Soviet regime fell. Universal health care disappeared, which meant that “people couldn’t get the help that they needed when they needed it,” Bowers says.
During this time of economic distress, alcohol and cigarettes were often used as rewards in the workplace, leading to an increased use of these substances especially among men. Bowers believed the continuation of these habits was a leading cause in the current health discrepancies she noticed between men and women in these regions.
She didn’t have enough information to confirm her hypothesis, but an opportunity to find it would soon arise. Bowers heard that several BYU students would be traveling to Latvia during the summer of 2025 to participate in either a study abroad program or independent research projects, and she decided this was her opportunity to get answers to her question.
Bowers applied for a HUM Grant so she could analyze the problem in person. She received funding and worked with BYU Russian Professor Jennifer Bown (Second Language Acquisition) to draft interview questions for local residents in Latvia. Bowers was looking for insight on habits like drinking, smoking, and nutrition as well as how these habits varied between men and women.
While in Latvia, Bowers interviewed members of host families that were housing roughly 20 other BYU students. Additionally, she spoke with locals working at the BYU Baltic Center, where students went each day to study Russian. She hoped these conversations would help her determine if her hypothesis was correct.
History and Humanity
Outside of her interviews, Bowers explored the history and culture of the area. One of these visits led her to dive deeper into the history of WWII at the old KGB headquarters and the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, which brought her to tears. “It was very spiritually strengthening because a lot of people made it through the difficult times because of belief in God or a higher power,” Bowers says. “I really loved that aspect of the trip—the history, and seeing the way that human beings are resilient.”
In Riga, where the students spent most of their time, she witnessed a celebratory musical festival. Residents wore traditional clothing and danced to music, celebrating their heritage, lifestyle, and the Latvian language.
She also participated in day trips to Lithuania and Estonia. These experiences enhanced her ability to understand her research. “There were things that I was learning that I was also seeing with the people that I was around,” she says. “I think you get a fuller picture by experiencing things with the people that you’re researching.”
Immersing herself in the culture helped Bowers look at more than just quantitative measurements and consider elements like habit, culture, genetics, and even personality. “People aren’t numbers,” she says. Spreadsheets can provide some insight, she adds, “but when you meet people, that’s when you see things and witness things for yourself. That’s when you get the full picture.”
Learning From Others
Bowers found some aspects of her hypothesis confirmed but added that more research would be needed to establish a clear causal link between habits surrounding substance use and life expectancy. Though she didn’t leave Latvia with a definitive answer, performing her research, she says, prepared her for future research on other public health topics. And more importantly, it taught her that answering questions about health takes looking deeper than the information found on a medical chart.
“I am super grateful that I was able to go to Latvia. I loved the people that I spent time with there, and I learned a lot of lessons,” Bowers says. “I think everybody should travel—and not travel for sightseeing, but travel for the people and for what you can learn from the people.” Bowers says her studies helped her understand the complexity of humanity, and the balance of commonalities and distinctions between cultures and individual people. “The more you learn from other people and the more you communicate with people from different cultures, the more you learn about humanity in general, and learn about yourself.”
Learn more about humanities research grants on the College of Humanities website.