Under the guide of Professor Victoria Phillips (Columbia University), students from Columbia and the London School of Economics (Alex Penler [LSE], James Engels [LSE] and Nick Cohen [CU] - Sunny Chen [CU]) were at work at the University of Arkansas Special Collections researching the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Historical Collection as part of the Cold War Archival Research (CWAR). They worked closely with Melanie Griffin, the Assistant Head of Special Collections at the University of Arkansas.
CWAR brings advanced undergraduates, MA and PhD students to archives to research cultural diplomacy during the Cold War under the sponsorship of the Columbia University European Institute's Cultural Initiative. The students work cooperatively with Dr. Phillips and the archivists to further their theses and dissertations. Over five years, the students have formed an 'alumni' network of historians, legal and business professionals, and international consultants to governments.
The CWAR fellows and their topics are:
Sunny Chen (Columbia University), US cultural diplomacy to Greece in 1950s and 1960s
Nicholas Cohen (Columbia University), creation, implementation, and impact of the Polish-US Fulbright Commission
James Engels (LSE), anti-communism in the Republic of Vietnam between 1955-1963
Alex Penler (LSE), impact of diplomatic wives between 1924-1980