McCormack School Provides Resources for Fulbright JFK Scholar

By Thijs Messelaar

From deep in the Ural Mountains of Russia comes a very bright young Fulbright scholar who currently spends day after day poring through documents at the Kennedy Library and conducting research at the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies. And though her hometown sits on the border of Asia and Europe, Yufimiya Vavulenko's research has her focused on the connection between the U.S. and Latin America--specifically, during the Kennedy presidency.

In August, Vavulenko arrived in Boston from Ekaterinburg looking to continue her research on former President John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress. She began her investigations more than two years ago at the Moscow Library and the Institute of Latin America in Moscow.

Vavulenko is currently a Candidate of Historical Science--equivalent to a PhD--student in the Department of International Relations at Ural State University. Next year she will have to defend her dissertation when she returns to Russia.

"I applied for the Fulbright Scholarship one and a half years ago so I could study at the JFK Library," she said. "I was interviewed by American and Russian scholars, had to take the TOEFL and GRE--then just waited to hear back."

"They didn't tell me until July that I'd won, so I had just a few weeks to prepare to come to the U.S. for a year," Vavulenko said.

Vavulenko, who sometimes goes by the nickname Effie, spends about half of every day digging among the rich resources of the Kennedy Library. The rest of the day she can be found in a cubicle, organizing her work and researching online, at the McCormack School.

"Effie has consulted with our dean, Ed Beard, on issues related to her research, and we have helped to connect her with local experts in her area of interest, including authors Sheldon Stern and Nigel Hamilton, both Kennedy scholars," said Sandy Blanchette, assistant dean of the McCormack School.

"I've always wanted to study U.S foreign policy, and I studied Spanish for years. It allows me the chance to apply my knowledge of various languages," Vavulenko said.

The Kennedy Library is home to documents and other artifacts that illustrate the friendly relations President Kennedy had with the leaders of many Latin American countries. The Alliance for Progress--Alianza para el Progreso--was, in the words of President Kennedy, "a vast cooperative effort, unparalleled in magnitude and nobility of purpose, to satisfy the basic needs of the American people for homes, work and land, health and schools--techo, trabajo y tierra, salud y escuela."

"The [Kennedy] Library has a huge amount of materials, especially regarding the Alliance for Progress--so it's just perfect for my research," said Vavulenko.

"I'm very happy to have my own space and the valuable resources available here at the McCormack School," she said, bending a thoughtful, appreciative smile across her face. "And, also I just love being in Boston--it really is such a democratic city filled with so many great features."

Image: Fulbright scholar Yufimiya Vavulenko uses resources from the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies and the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum for her dissertation research on President John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress. (Photo by Harry Brett)

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