Currents of History 2/2019

Radina Vučetić

US Scholarships in Yugoslavia in the 1950s and 1960s 

Аbstract: The topic of this paper are American scholarships in Yugoslavia in the 1950s and 1960s and their role in the U.S. foreign policy, but also in the changing, modernizing and Americanization of Yugoslav society and in the formation of the Yugoslav scientific and cultural elite. Through the activities of leading U.S. foundations and scholarships (Ford Foundation, Fulbright Program, Leader's Exchange Program and others), Yugoslav-American relations and the place that Yugoslavia had in American cultural diplomacy were analyzed.

Key words: Yugosav-American relations, sholarships and grants, Ford foundation, Fullbright Program, Leader’s Exchange Program

American scholarships in the Cold War were an important part of American public diplomacy. Yugoslavia was an ideal field for American propaganda, especially after the break-up with the Soviet Union, when it began to turn to the West. This conflict opened the doors of the United States to the Yugoslav scholars, which played an important role in the Americanization of Yugoslavia and the acceptance of American achievements, but also of American values in a socialist country. Both sides have benefited from this type of cooperation. In that period, Yugoslavia needed concrete knowledge, and the United States wanted to get more young and educated people from Yugoslavia to learn more about American way life, American standard and American achievements in different spheres. Relations between the two countries in the field of culture, science and education took place in different ways, which began after 1950 with a series of programs (technical assistance, IMG arrangement, translation programs PL-480), most of which were those in the field of education funded by the US government with the help of private foundations (Ford Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, Eisenhower Foundation, etc.). In addition to these, every year educational and scientific-technical cooperation took place in more than 30 programs of various US institutions. The Yugoslav side emphasized the quality and quantity of educational and cultural cooperation with the USA, especially in the second half of the sixties, when 50 programs of cooperation were listed. All these programs point to the extremely strong links between Yugoslavia and America in the fields of science, education, art and culture. Thanks to these programs, Yugoslavia has, quantitatively, found itself in the company of the most developed Western countries. The fact that the largest number of scholarships in the framework of the exchange program was used in the field of social sciences speaks of the intentions of America, first of all, to create a Yugoslav elite that, through influence on public opinion, will also influence the formation of the overall social consciousness in Yugoslavia. In doing so, the results were not missed, as many Yugoslav scholars that went to the USA have become strong individuals that have left lasting traces in the political, cultural, artistic, social and scientific life of Yugoslavia.

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