Undergraduate Academic Affairs

April 11, 2022

Melinda Whalen, UW junior studying history and Russian, one of 20 nationwide to be awarded the selective Beinecke Scholarship

Kirsten Atik

Photo of Melinda Whalen

“I carry the things I learn with me. It has profoundly changed the way I think about myself and how I relate to others,” shares Melinda Whalen, 2022 Beinecke Scholar.

University of Washington junior and Honors student Melinda Whalen was recently named a Beinecke Scholar! Melinda is pursuing majors in history with a concentration in war and society and Russian language, literature and culture.

Each year, only 20 undergraduates from across the country are awarded the selective Beinecke Scholarship of $34,000 to go toward a master’s or doctoral program in the arts, humanities or social sciences. Melinda intends to earn a Ph.D. in history with a focus on Soviet Russia.

“Cold War fears and narratives, which present Russians as markedly different from us, have continued to linger in the American public consciousness today … We have yet to fully recognize the ways in which WWII and the Cold War have directly impacted the way our society operates today,” explains Melinda. “However through my studies, I have found that the Russian language is artful and expressive in many ways and the adaptations of it under censorship and during times of crisis are uniquely beautiful. By studying Russian history, I am able to contextualize linguistic nuances and developments, which helps reconstruct the full cultural landscape of the time period.”

A dedicated researcher and scholar, Melinda earned a Mary Gates Research Scholarship for her research project, “Lena and Iura: Child Diarists on Gender and Age during the Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944),” which she will present on May 20 at this year’s 25th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium; she embarked on a self-study of Russian poetry to further her language experience; and she used the TV shows “Lost in Space” and “The Twilight Zone” to examine 1960s television censorship during the Civil Rights movement.

“Especially considering today’s war in Ukraine, a deeply thorough understanding of today’s Russia and its origins in the Soviet period is essential to American international relations moving forward,” she says. “Studying Soviet culture allows us to better understand the historical context that modern Russia is developing out of and how it continues to impact Russian politics.”

Previous awards and honors for Melinda include a FLAS Fellowship, Maurice D. and Lois M. Schwartz Scholarship, Larry Lee Sleizer Endowed Scholarship and being named to the quarterly and annual Dean’s Lists multiple times.

Melinda is the second UW student in as many years to receive the Beinecke Scholarship.

More about Melinda, a Q&A

What is it about Russia and Russian history, particularly during WWII and the Cold War, that has you so captivated? In other words, what’s your why for this area of study?

Cold War fears and narratives, which present Russians as markedly different from us, have continued to linger in the American public consciousness today; this manifests as anti-Russian rhetoric and biases in public education systems, academia, and in media especially. Growing up with this ever-present narrative, I rarely questioned it and that’s only if I noticed it at all, which makes it all the more important to understand where these came from and how to recognize them in the modern world. We have yet to fully recognize the ways in which WWII and the Cold War have directly impacted the way our society operates today.

There’s a perception of Russians as cold and unfeeling, however through my studies, I have found that the Russian language is artful and expressive in many ways and the adaptations of it under censorship and during times of crisis are uniquely beautiful. By studying Russian history, I am able to contextualize linguistic nuances and developments, which helps reconstruct the full cultural landscape of the time period. In some ways, my academic pursuits are self-indulgent; conducting historical research benefits broader academia of course, but it’s also secretly a way for me to have a reason to keep learning this fascinating language.

Especially considering today’s war in Ukraine, a deeply thorough understanding of today’s Russia and its origins in the Soviet period is essential to American international relations moving forward. Studying Soviet culture allows us to better understand the historical context that modern Russia is developing out of and how it continues to impact Russian politics.

What has being involved in research meant to your undergraduate experience?

In any class that I take, I’m still thinking about my research and find myself trying to make connections between what I’m learning now and what I’ve been researching.

You start finding interesting similarities or subtle differences or maybe even start seeing your topic from a different angle just because it’s on your mind all the time. It’s a great exercise because it’s like I’m constantly drafting a compare and contrast essay in my head, so when it’s actually time to start writing, I find it much easier. My research isn’t just something I do for a class or a grade, it impacts how I think about and relate to the world around me.

What role have mentors played in your undergraduate experience?

I cannot overstate the impact of my mentors on my academic pursuits thus far. Whether it be editing my drafts or listening to my ramblings for the third time that week, my mentors have always been willing to give their time and energy to be there for me. It isn’t just my professors who guide me, I see my advisers as my mentors as well; I see anyone who’s ever helped me as a mentor in some way, which is why I’m always looking for new people to talk to so I can learn from them. When you have a team of people who support you and believe in you, you start wanting to make them proud of you so you work harder and reach farther than you even think you’re capable of.

What has your specific area of research taught you that surprised you?

Considering I am only 20 years old, many things surprise me because I know very little. Learning history requires me to study people, places and cultures that I’m unfamiliar with and it can be very easy to be overwhelmed by how different it is from my own life. However, when you’re faced with so much unfamiliarity, it’s almost boring to keep pointing out the differences between you and them. So instead, you start looking for similarities between your world and theirs; you realize you are much more alike than you thought and it makes you a little happy to make those connections. You realize that there really is no “you” and “them,” that hyper-focusing on your differences does very little for you. I guess I expected more of a divide between my personal and professional life, but I carry the things I learn with me. It has profoundly changed the way I think about myself and how I relate to others.

What are some things you’ve learned that are unique to scholarship in the humanities?

What is great about humanities scholarship is that it’s a labor of love. You research because you have a lead you need to follow or something you just need to know more about and people benefit from your work in the process, whether they agree with your ideas or not. Your work is a departure point for others to jump off from and then a conversation begins and academia moves forward. This is true for most fields but the humanities are unique because it really depends on your own perception of things.

About the Beinecke Scholarship

The Beinecke Scholarship program is open to juniors studying the arts, humanities and social sciences. The scholarship provides funding for students to pursue a master’s degree or Ph.D. in these fields. Since 1975 the program has selected 680 college juniors from more than 110 different undergraduate institutions for support during graduate study at any accredited university.

About the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards

The Beinecke application process is supported by the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards (OMSFA), a UAA program. OMSFA works with faculty, staff and students to identify and support promising students in developing the skills and personal insights necessary to become strong candidates for this and other prestigious awards.