Melinda Whalen, a dual major in History and Russian Language, Literature and Culture, has been named a 2022 Beinecke Scholar. Congratulations to Melinda, as well as her mentors, Dr. Joel Walker, Dr. Kyle Haddad-Fonda, and Dr. Glennys Young!
Beinecke Scholarship is a national scholarship program that offers 20 scholarships to undergraduates across the United States who intend to pursue a master’s or doctoral program in the arts, humanities or social sciences. Applicants must be nominated by their universities to compete for this national program, and the University of Washington is able to nominate one student in their junior year each year. Selected students receive $30,000 to be used for graduate study and $4,000 in their senior year.
Melinda Whalen was also featured in an article in the History Newsletter (Spring 2021). Click here to read more about Melinda's stellar academic achievement:
2022 Beinecke Scholar:
Melinda Whalen
Junior, History: War and Society & Russian Language, Literature, and Culture majors
With the overarching ambition of professorship in mind, I have dedicated my studies to exploring the development of Soviet culture during the WWII and Cold War periods. My majors in History: War and Society and Russian Language, Literature, and Culture have allowed me to closely examine Soviet identity through the use of language in artistic media. With my current level of Russian, I have been able to analyze short texts in their original Russian and derive a more nuanced understanding from the cultural or grammatical implications of various words. In the future, I hope to be able to conduct in-depth analysis of Soviet documents in their original Russian and interview subjects in Russian. I am currently focused on my research project on child diarists from the Siege of Leningrad and the ways in which they perceive gender in the supposedly genderless Soviet society. My interests in Soviet history and the Russian language are inextricably linked; my study of one enhances the other, allowing for my research to be culturally informed and my understanding of Russian to be historically contextualized.
I applied for the Beinecke scholarship to widen the selection of graduate schools I can apply to but also to help alleviate the hefty costs of studying in Russia. Receiving language training and absorbing the culture in Russia is essential to my eventual goal of achieving proficiency in Russian and being able to conduct research in the language. This scholarship would help cover the cost of my PhD program and allow me to reallocate that money saved to funding exchange programs and research trips. It is my hope that the more time I spend abroad, the closer I come to fully understanding the language and the culture, which is crucial to my reconstruction of Soviet life under Stalin.
Melinda’s near and long-term goals:
After graduation, I plan to take a gap year to study in Russia to further sharpen my language skills and deepen my understanding of Russian culture before returning to the US for graduate school. I will work towards a PhD in History while improving my ability to conduct research in Russian by spending time abroad through exchange programs and independent study trips. Following graduate school, I plan to work towards securing a professorship in either an American or Russian institution.Melinda’s tips for future Beinecke Scholarship campus applicants:
This application isn’t just a matter of listing accomplishments and awards, it’s really about showing the committee how much you care about what you’re doing and explaining to them why it’s so important to you in an academic sense but also in a personal sense. Your work isn’t just what you do, it’s who you are.