Iona Volynets
Iona Volynets, from Washington DC, obtained B.As in International Relations and History with minors in Museum Studies and Russian at Syracuse University. They are passionate about safeguarding cultural heritage in conflict, and have held positions at the Association for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage, the Centre for Endangered Archaeology and Heritage, and the US government’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. During their time at Syracuse, they created a culturally sensitive fresh food bank tailored to the needs of refugee communities in Syracuse’s Northside. Additionally, they conducted surveys with 19 librarians in Ukraine to develop an exhibit on libraries amidst the war in Ukraine, hosted in Syracuse city libraries and on the Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online virtual gallery. For their senior distinction thesis in history, which won the Crown Award for Best Honors Thesis in the Humanities, they visited over eighty museums across eight post-Soviet states to compare historiographies of the Soviet era and posit theories explaining the vast diversity in national memories. They are also a Truman Scholar, an Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholar, a Syracuse University Scholar, and a recipient of the Critical Languages Scholarship to study Russian in Tbilisi, Georgia. As a Marshall Scholar, Iona will pursue an MA in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, followed by an MSc in Conservation of Historic Buildings at the University of Bath.