The meeting of Kirkland Program scholarship holders in Warsaw is a permanent event held for the participants of that program each year. This year, the meeting was held on January 24-26.
The scholarship holders who came for one semester Kirkland Research program from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan presented the results of their research conducted during their stay in Poland and received the diplomas of project completion. The ceremony took place at the Column Hall at Faculty of History, University of Warsaw.
The three-day-long meeting was an opportunity to meet politicians, representatives of international organizations, NGOs, and culture. The scholarship holders met OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Spokesperson Katya Andrusz and Deputy Head of the ODIHR Electoral Department, Ulvi Akhundlu. They also had an opportunity to learn about the work of Eastern Department at the Foreign Ministry during their meeting with Vice Director of the Department Anna Kostrzewa-Misztal.
Renown Polish film director, screenwriter and producer Krzysztof Zanussi told the scholarship holders about Polish culture and cinematography. Additionally, the Kirklanders visited Warsaw History Museum, and University of Warsaw Library, and watched the “We will rock you” performance at Roma Musical Theater.
Also, the Kirkland Program participants visited the Head Office of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation, where they learned about activities of the Foundation. And during the meetings with PAFF partners they got a closer look at programs, such as “Study Tours to Poland”, and “Region in Transition” (RITA), as well as Warsaw Euro-Atlantic Summer Academy (WEASA) initiative run in cooperation with The German Marshal Fund of the United States and the College of Europe, and We Ask About Green Spaces project.
This year, 35 students took part in Lane Kirkland Scholarship Program, and 6 researchers in Kirkland Research program. The biggest group of them came from Belarus (10 people). There were also 7 people from Ukraine, and 7 from Armenia. The remaining scholarship holders came from Kazakhstan (2 people), Georgia (4 people), and one person from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, each. Among 6 participants of Kirkland Research, 4 people came from Ukraine, 1 person from Kazakhstan and 1 person from Uzbekistan. The biggest group of participants makes students of management, social sciences, and law.
