Valeria Benko

Valeria Benko is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the John F. Kennedy Institute, History Department of Free University of Berlin. She is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the Graduate School of North American Studies since 2012, with a research focus blending history and political science.

• Education: Doctoral Candidate (2012–Present), M.Sc. European Public Policy (2011), M.A. Economics and Politics of Development (2008–2011), B.A. Political Science and International Relations (2004–2007).

Her research explores Cold War legacies, global political/economic regimes, international relations theories, and the role of common people in shaping political structures. She has conducted archival research at institutions like NARA, Library of Congress, and presidential libraries in the U.S., UK, and Brazil.

• Grants: German Research Foundation (2012), European Social Fund Scholarship (2011), UC Davis Overseas Study Grant (2010).

Benko teaches courses on U.S. history, including topics like interdependence and Third World issues in the 1970s, and contributes to translating academic works such as The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics.