Meet the Current Scholars

Adedasola Adeniyi is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs, with a concentration in International Development and a minor in Economics. At GWU, she is the co-founder of the GW African Development Initiative and worked as an Economics Learning Assistant. She has interned with the Office of Africa, Global Markets at the International Trade Administration. She has worked with development programs in Africa through HYBR, Doing Good Work in Africa (DOWA), and Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM).

Her research compares the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and China Development Bank (CDB) financial activities and examines their development impacts in Kenya.

Alex DiCenso is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs with a concentration in Security Policy. His research for the Dean’s Scholars Program examined the use of Twitter by organized crime in Brazil.

Alyssa Edelheit is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution and a minor in Spanish Language and Culture. Her Dean’s Scholars project seeks to understand the impact a university setting has on Mapuche student organization in Santiago, Chile.

Outside of the classroom, Alyssa is the director of internal affairs at The Store, a student-run food pantry fighting food insecurity on GW’s campus.

Outside of GW, she is an Education and Impact intern at the National Museum of American History and teaches first grade Hebrew school classes at a local DC synagogue.

Victoria Freire is studying International Affairs and History with a concentration in Latin America. Her primary academic interest is Latin American Cold War history, and is particularly interested in declassification diplomacy, intelligence, and guerrilla warfare. Her Dean’s Scholars research project investigates Operation Condor and the extent to which the U.S. government aided the Argentine military junta during the Dirty War.

Outside of her studies, Victoria is actively involved in environmental advocacy work, particularly with Sunrise Movement, which aims to stop climate change and create millions of good-paying jobs in the process. Alongside Sunrise, she helped successfully push the university to divest its endowment from fossil fuels and commit to carbon neutrality by 2030. She also conducts research surrounding fossil fuel funding in academia alongside organizations and think tanks such as Common Good Generation, Fossil Free Research and Data For Progress.

Arzina Lakhani is pursuing a dual degree in Public Health and International Affairs, with a concentration in International Development. Her Dean’s Scholars project is focused on the intersection of climate change and migration within Hyderabad, India and the role of the Indian government in mitigating these effects. Arzina has interned with The American Civil Liberties Union, NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri, Doha Debates, and several political campaigns.

At GW, Arzina is actively involved in the South Asian Society as the Development and Public Relations Chair, First Generation United as the Director of Engagement, GlobeMed, and No Lost Generation. Furthermore, she is actively involved in Student Life at GW through New Student Orientation and the Mount Vernon Campus Programming Assistant. During Spring 2022, Arzina will be studying abroad at King’s College London where she will be a part of the Health and Society program.

Samantha Lewis is pursuing a major in Asian Studies with a double minor in Chinese and History. Her research focuses on intergenerational support and parent care within Chinese diaspora families living in the United States. In the future, she hopes to continue her research in graduate school and pursue a career in academia.

Samantha has previously worked as a Journalism Intern at Children and Screens and is currently a member of the Dean’s Journal Team as the co-Editor in Chief and Director of Web Design. On campus, she works as a Communications Chair for First Generation United.

Vivi Mehren is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in international affairs with a concentration in international economics and minors in economics and French at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs. Vivi holds a strong interest in global governance and international law, particularly regarding their interplay with novel technologies such as cyberspace. As a researcher with the Elliott School Dean’s Scholars Undergraduate Research Program, she conducts comparative research between the EU and US on how their different cyber governance regimes affect public opinion on data privacy. In addition to her research project, Victoria leads outdoor adventures for students as a GW TRAILS guide and is an active member of the Delta Phi Epsilon professional foreign service sorority and the Phi Alpha Delta professional Pre-Law Fraternity.

Prajna Naidoo is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs with a concentration in International Development and a minor in Psychology. Her research interests focus on understanding small business development strategies for migrants and refugees in Cape Town, South Africa. Through her professional experiences working for a migrant support non-profit in Cape Town, she provided mentorship around business development and digital literacy skills building to inform the program’s curriculum as well as her Dean’s Scholars research. She hopes to build on these experiences throughout her International Development career to find sustainable solutions that remove employment barriers for marginalized groups around the globe.

Outside of her research, Prajna is the president of One For The World GW which encourages students to donate 1% of their future incomes toward the world’s most cost-effective charities. The organization performs rigorous research on global charities and provides a reliable platform for students and young professionals to manage their charitable donations. It operates in an attempt to rebuild donors’ trust in charitable organizations by remaining transparent and independent from political agendas.

Anneliese Raynolds is pursuing a major in international affairs with a concentration in international development and a minor in political science. Her interest in East Asia and the impact education systems have on their societies has led her to incorporate both fields into her research. Her research is focused on the controversy surrounding Japan’s history with its neighboring nations, concentrating on its relations with the United States and China. The aim of the project is to understand how Japan’s history education shapes Japanese youths’ views of the United States and China.

In addition to her research project, Anneliese is the Director of Alumni Relations for the Dean’s Scholars Journal. Outside of Dean’s Scholars, she was a legislative intern for a United States Senator serving on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. At GW, she is actively involved in Phi Alpha Delta, the professional Pre-Law Fraternity, and plays on GW’s Women’s Ultimate Frisbee club team. During the 2022 Spring semester, Anneliese studied abroad at the National University of Singapore.

Krithi Sriram is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs, with a concentration in Conflict Resolution and minors in Arabic and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Her Dean’s Scholars project seeks to analyze the experiences of Jordanian women employed by their Embassy in the US and the socio-cultural impacts of the exposure to Western ideals surrounding feminism that they receive during their professional careers. Krithi has interned at the Embassy of Jordan and also pursues many independent activist projects centered around human rights and conflict prevention.

Outside of the classroom, Krithi is the co-captain member of GW Raas, a highly ranked Indian folk dance team that has performed and gained acclamation across the United States. She is also involved in Sigma Iota Rho, the Elliott School’s gender-inclusive Honor Society, and serves as the COO of Browngirloncampus, an online publication aimed at helping South Asian women navigate their college experiences. She has written many articles for the magazine centered around a variety of topics, including politics, LGBTQ+ rights, voting, and racial activism.

Meghan Sullivan is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs, with concentrations in International Development and Comparative Political, Economic, and Social Systems. Her Dean’s Scholars research focuses on international-local aid partnerships in the response to humanitarian needs along the Thai-Southeast Myanmar border. More broadly, her research interests center on Southeast Asia and the governance of international development and humanitarian assistance. Meghan has interned for the Governance Studies program at Brookings and the Southeast Asia Program at CSIS. On campus, she is a member of Delta Phi Epsilon Professional Foreign Service Sorority.

Aarushi Jain is pursuing a double major in Economics and International Affairs with a concentration in International Development. Her Dean’s Scholars project is focused on green bonds and which types of bond issuers have more effective frameworks and implementation. 

Outside the classroom, Aarushi has previously interned at the Institute for Sustainable Development. She is an active member of GW Women in Economics, the Undergraduate Economics Society, and Sigma Iota Rho. She is also a Peer Advisor for First-Year Experience in the Elliott School and an Economics Tutor at the Academic Commons. 

Aline Keledjian is pursuing a double major in History and International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution. Aline is interested in topics related to genocide prevention and awareness, as well as the impacts that genocides have on society long after they occur. As such, her Dean’s Scholars research is focused on the role that genocide trauma narratives played in the social media activism carried about by Armenian diasporans during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. 

Outside of the classroom, Aline is a research assistant at the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project (ERPP). At the ERPP, she provides support for Professor Christopher Brick’s class about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the past, Aline interned at Facing History and Ourselves, where she evaluated and collected primary and secondary source material for a mini-course about contemporary antisemitism and a lesson about pre-WWII Jewish life in North Africa. She currently interns at the National Security Archive.

Nam Lam is pursuing a double major in Political Science and International Affairs with concentrations in International Development and Security Policy and a minor in Economics. He is primarily interested in how foreign direct investments (FDI) in great-power politics are employed for courting geopolitical influence among developing countries. As such, his Dean’s Scholars research is focused on assessing the impact of Chinese FDI in Latin America and the Caribbean between 2008 to 2020 on public perceptions of China within the region. 

At GW, Nam is a Co-Parent in the Asian American Student Association to help foster a close community and promote diverse identities on campus through the Family Herd Program. He is also a research assistant under Professor Alexander Cromwell supporting his work analyzing the benefits of peace education on conflict-affected populations and studying peacebuilding efforts more broadly. Outside of campus, he has interned at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to support the Biden administration’s infrastructure agenda in clean energy, information and communications technologies, and climate. 

Akber Latif is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs, with a concentration in Conflict Resolution and a minor in economics. His Dean’s Scholars project focuses on Serbia’s efforts to prevent the international recognition of Kosovo and the process of normalizing relationships between the two countries.

Outside the classroom, Akber works at the Sigur Center for Asian studies and as a peer writing preceptor for the GWU WID department. He also volunteers for Humanity First USA. 

Claire Lwin is pursuing a double major in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and International Affairs with a regional concentration on Asia. Her Dean’s Scholars research is on how non-state actors, such as the parallel government of Myanmar (NUG), successfully raise funds.

Outside the classroom, Claire co-founded and is currently managing a social enterprise, Erudite Myanmar, that aims to address the ongoing education crisis that the 2021 military coup has exacerbated. She is an active member of the Worldwide Burmese Students, an accredited European Lobbyists Group, and volunteers at various Burmese grassroots organizations. She has also worked as a Research Assistant at the US-ASEAN Business Council and helped launch the USABCI Myanmar Scholarship Fund under the late Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Former U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell.

Isabella Nieminen is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and Philosophy, with a concentration in Conflict Resolution and a minor in French. Through her research with Deans’ Scholars, she hopes to examine the ability of the international human rights regime to affect domestic structural change in authoritarian states. More specifically, she plans to analyze the efficacy of domestic and international prosecutions for such abuses carried out by the Russian Federation. Through her research, Isabella hopes to contribute to important discussions on human rights, democratic resilience, transitional justice, and constructivism. 

Outside of the classroom, Isabella is an intern at the Center For European Policy Analysis, where she assists with research on democratic resilience and the transatlantic alliance. Isabella has worked on the staff of Project Common Bond, a hands-on peace building program for youth who have survived global conflict and terror. She has also attended roundtable discussions with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, where she advocated for increased inclusion of civil society in peacebuilding efforts. 

On campus, she co-founded the Atlas Interfaith Fellowship, a student group focused on interreligious understanding through dialogue and ethnographic research and was also an editor for the GW Undergraduate Law Review. During her free time, she volunteers with the Finnish Red Cross in their efforts to assist refugees entering Finland. Isabella is passionate about learning languages, and has studied French, Finnish, Italian, and Latin; she has also recently begun studying Russian. 

Anissa Ozbek is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs with a concentration in security policy. Her research for the Dean’s Scholars Program explores the literature of dissent within authoritarian communist governments, specifically focusing on the cases of the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union. Anissa is particularly interested in the ways dissident authors subvert censorship to make their voices heard within repressive regimes.

Last year, Anissa received the GW Undergraduate Research Award to support her study of gendered COVID-19 legislation within the Arctic; she plans to present her findings at the 2023 Arctic Science Summit Week in Vienna. Anissa also served as a research assistant with the GW Anthropology Department, where she contributed translations of COVID-19 misinformation from Russian communities and conducted fieldwork at D.C.-based events, providing analyses of different subcultures’ attitudes towards the pandemic.

On campus, Anissa is Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Delta Phi Epsilon Professional Foreign Service Sorority, a role in which she is glad to combine her passions for public service and world cultures. 

April Park is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs with a concentration in conflict resolution. Her Dean’s Scholars project examines security in East Asia, mainly focusing on the case of North Korea’s nuclear law and South Korea’s possible response in cooperation with the US. April is also interested in exploring South Korea’s different schools of thought on its policy toward North Korea.

Outside the classroom, April researched current economic situations and monetary policies in the 2020 College Fed National Competition where her team ranked top 5 out of 74 teams. She also researched the likelihood of North Korea joining South Korea to host the 2032 Olympics as a member of the National Unification Advisory Council. On campus, she is the Student Ambassador in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and an active member of the Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority Inc. and the Korean Student Association.

Nina Plateroti (she/her) is a third-year undergraduate at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs. She is working towards a major in International Affairs with a concentration in Gender in International Affairs and a minor in Italian Language, Literature & Culture. Her Dean’s Scholars project will look at how climate change exacerbates human trafficking for sexual exploitation from Nigeria to Italy.

Outside of the classroom, Nina currently serves as Co-President of the GW D.C. Student Consortium on Women, Peace and Security and Co-President of GW Leading Women of Tomorrow. Nina also works as an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Shirley Graham, Director of the Gender Equality Initiative in International Affairs, and has previously served as an editor to the GW Undergraduate Law Review. 

Jessica Schroeder is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs, concentrating in Conflict Resolution. Her Dean’s Scholars project focuses on how the history curriculum at Shared Education Programs in Northern Ireland affects students’ perceptions of their Catholic/Protestant identity and students’ willingness to participate in peace-building efforts. 

Outside the classroom, Jessica is currently an intern at the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, where she supports and assists with research for peace-building programs. Jessica previously interned for HanVoice, a Canadian non-profit that advocated for North Koreans’ human rights. On campus, she is an active member of Delta Phi Epsilon professional foreign service sorority. 

Kaili Scott is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health. She’s interested in the intersection of environmental issues, public health, and national security. Her Dean’s Scholars project is focused on climate change migration from the Pacific Islands to New Zealand. It focuses on barriers to migration and the reduction of these barriers by incorporating indigenous voices in policymaking. 

Outside the classroom, Kaili is an active member of Delta Phi Epsilon Professional Foreign Service Sorority and an intern with the US government. 

Lily Shanmugasundaram is pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science in International Affairs, concentrating in International Development and minoring in Mathematics. Her Dean’s Scholars project will look at Menstrual Hygiene Management and environmental policy in India.

Outside the classroom, Lily is involved with numerous research projects across the campus, as a Research Assistant for Professor Lori Gronich and a Research Assistant at the  Institute for International Economic Policy at GW. Her current projects outside of the Dean’s Scholars’ Program include cognitive behavior decision-making during World War I and indigenous food systems in the age of climate change. She additionally tutors for GW’s Athletics Department in Economics and Math.

Andy Tomusiak is pursuing a degree in International Affairs with a Conflict Resolution concentration and a minor in Arabic. His Dean’s Scholars project is focused on investigating the rationale behind why governments provide amnesties for coup plotters in fragile democracies.

Outside the classroom, Andy has worked as a Research Assistant at the Fund for Peace, assisting with fragility data analysis and co-authoring a case study on Libya’s peace process in the 2022 Fragile States Index. Andy previously studied early-stage insurgency in Africa as a Research Assistant at GWU, as well as wrote for the GWU Undergraduate Law Review, where he published an article on coordinating disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs with transitional justice in post-conflict societies. He also co-founded the Atlas Interfaith Fellowship, a student organization promoting interreligious understanding through personal experience. Currently, he is an ROTC cadet at Georgetown University, training to commission as a U.S. Army intelligence officer.

Long-term, Andy hopes to work at the intersection of peace and security studies, improving civil-military coordination and strengthening linkages between security-sector reform and peacebuilding initiatives.

Nicole Wei is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs with a concentration in International Politics and a minor in Geographic Information Systems. Her Dean’s Scholars project focuses on ethnic minority literature in China.  

Outside the classroom, Nicole is an active member of Sigma Iota Rho and currently interns in the Office of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Olivia Wisont is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs with the intention of concentrating in Security Policy and minoring in Economics. Her Dean’s Scholars project focuses on how changing Taiwanese identity impacts measures of domestic audience cost within Taiwan. Outside of the Dean’s Scholars program Olivia is also a part of the Global Bachelor’s Program and spent the Spring Semester of 2022 studying in Santiago, Chile.

Olivia currently interns through the United States Department of State at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia. She works with the Public Affairs Division to improve cross-cultural communication with Tunisian students. Her areas of interest include US-China relations and national security, which she hopes to pursue further in graduate school.