Global Partners Project Awards Grants to Two University of Richmond Students for Travel, Research in Former Soviet Bloc
March 13, 2006
The Global Partners Project of The Center in Central Europe & Russia has awarded grants for travel and research in former Soviet bloc countries to two University of Richmond students.
Makshim Sobkin, a sophomore from Wexford, Pa., and Rasa Verseckaite, a sophomore from Kursenai, Lithuania, will conduct research during summer travels to Russia and Lithuania, respectively, and then present their findings in programs and publications at Richmond.
Sobkin and Verseckaite were among only 10 college students nationally to be selected for the grants. Other colleges with recipients include Carleton, Davidson, Kenyon, Macalester, Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan.
Sobkin will spend several weeks studying the Russian bazaar economy, analyzing transactions and interviewing buyers and sellers. He expects to show that standards of living have increased with diverse products easily available to consumers.
Verseckaite will visit libraries in Lithuania to compare coverage of the Ribbentrop-Molotov treaty in history texts published in Lithuania during Soviet and independent periods from the 1950s through the end of the 20th century.