Lincoln Scholar Uliana Bazavluk ’23 receives Public Policy International Affairs Junior Summer Institute scholarship
Lincoln Scholar Uliana Bazavluk ’23 (St. Petersburg, Russia) was awarded a scholarship to the Public Policy International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute (JSI), a nationally competitive graduate-level preparation program for promising young scholars committed to careers in public service.
“I applied to the PPIA JSI for an opportunity to develop my policy analysis and implementation skills, to be able to better understand the poverty related issues that affect Russia today and develop specific, appropriate solutions,” Bazavluk said.
Bazavluk is one of 16 students named to the program at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington. For seven weeks, she will be studying and focusing on economics, statistics, domestic and international policy issues and leadership topics, all designed to sharpen participants’ quantitative, analytic and communication skills.
“Uliana is the first Centre recipient of PPIA JSI in recent memory and hopefully the first of many to come,” said Robert Schalkoff, director of the Office of Fellowships. “I’m looking forward to learning from Uliana about her experiences in the program and how it helps her get closer to her dreams. Alumni of PPIA JSI also enjoy many benefits, which I’m excited for Uliana to access.”
During the institute this summer, Bazavluk looks forward to connecting her academic studies with work experience through such hands-on opportunities as analyzing real international policy issues. In addition, she hopes to develop her experience in advocacy to become a confident, persuasive voice in her community.
Bazavluk has seen poverty affect her home country, and she has a desire to pursue social policy and social work to support and empower vulnerable individuals, as well as alleviate the social issues that are directly affecting them.
“I believe that studying at the JSI will help me define my career goals, and give me a better understanding of what it means to pursue a career in policy work,” she said. “I hope to spend the next fall semester in New York with Centre’s new study-away internship program. I look forward to applying the theoretical concepts I will learn this summer during my fall internship—whatever it may be.”
While PPIA JSI was started to address the lack of diversity present within the public service field, such as in government, nonprofits, public policy institutions and international organizations, Bazavluk said this award reminds her that her perspective of a Russian student in the U.S. is unique and important.
“This program will give me the important opportunity to develop my own knowledge of policy, further understanding what can be done to eradicate poverty within my country,” she added. “I am passionate about insisting on positive change through policy making and activism. Understanding government policy and the inner workings of government will help me understand how such positive change—such as progressive income taxes—can actually be implemented in government.”
During her time at Centre College, Bazavluk has not only studied the theory of international public policy through textbooks but through practice. She spent the fall semester in an immersion program in Nantes, France, where she learned about French history, culture and government structure. She recently spent CentreTerm in Germany and Poland studying the African contexts out of which the Holocaust emerged in central Europe.
“I am grateful to Centre for giving me the freedom to explore,” she said. “From French, to environmental economics, to social justice and American literature, I have been able to take so many fascinating courses here, and my international studies major has allowed me to continue learning through interdisciplinary inquiry. My three years here have given me a strong academic background that will definitely support me even after Centre.”
