Tulane student awarded prestigious Beinecke Scholarship

Kathryn Cook, a junior pursuing a double major in history and Russian, has been selected as a 2018 Beinecke Scholar. The Beinecke Scholarship encourages highly motivated students who have demonstrated superior intellectual engagement and academic ability to be courageous in their pursuit of graduate study in the arts, humanities and social sciences. The scholarship supports this pursuit with a $34,000 award. Tulane can nominate one student each year for this selective award. Cook was one of only 18 Beinecke Scholarship winners in 2018.

Cook’s study of history and Russian has inspired in her a passion for public history and theories of public memory, especially as they relate to various ways that World War II is represented in museums and memorials in international contexts. Cook’s academic interest in this area was further inspired by an internship at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, where she focused on children’s programming.

Cooks is currently on a yearlong study abroad program in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she is completing an independent research project under a faculty member at St. Petersburg State University that examines the politics of commemoration regarding monuments to the Second World War.

"I am very honored to have this opportunity and am very thankful for the support of both Tulane and the Beinecke Foundation.”

Kathryn Cook, School of Liberal Arts student

“The Beinecke Scholarship will provide support for graduate study at a program of my choice,” says Cook. “I am planning on pursuing a PhD in history, focusing on historical memory regarding the Second World War in Europe, and later to pursue a career in museum work. I am very honored to have this opportunity and am very thankful for the support of both Tulane and the Beinecke Foundation.”

The Beinecke Scholarship Program was established to provide substantial scholarships for the graduate education of students of exceptional promise. Since 1975, the program has selected more than 628 college juniors from more than 110 different undergraduate institutions as recipients.