Julia Wysokinska, a 20-year-old sophomore at Hunter College, has won the 2025 Pulitzer Center Reporting fellowship to report on efforts in Argentina to combat the whitewashing of history there. Wysokinska, who is majoring in political science through the Thomas Hunter Honors Program and minoring in journalism and Spanish, says she was inspired to pursue this topic after studying human rights in Buenos Aires, where she plans to return for her fellowship.
Wysokinska’s reporting will focus on the former clandestine detention centers in Argentina: concentration camps where thousands were tortured or even killed during the 1976-1983 regime of the Argentinian civic-military dictatorship, a period known as The Dirty War. For decades, these sites have served to raise awareness against state-sponsored terrorism and memorialize the victims – often referred to as los desaparecidos (“the disappeared.”)
Under the current government, these sites and those dedicated to maintaining them have faced slashed budgets and layoffs, and many of the sites have been shuttered, sparking outrage amidst a series of clashes between the Argentinian state and its citizens. This prompted Wysokinska to use her fellowship to focus on these sensitive landmarks and the political contention surrounding them. “As I was [in Buenos Aires], I learned so much about how important it is to keep memory alive,” she says. “I also learned a lot about protest movements in Argentina and the intersection of art and activism. I think that keeping these spaces in our mind is so important.”
Wysokinska says that she started her research while studying in Buenos Aires, and is excited that the fellowship will support her continued reporting with the mentorship of the Pulitzer Center. Wysokinska is particularly looking forward to Washington Weekend, when the 2025 fellows will meet in Washington DC to network and discuss their projects.
