Category: Alumni

By Anneliese Raynolds, Edited by Samantha Lewis

As a member of the Dean’s Scholar 2018-2019 Cohort, Zachary Slotkin studied women’s access to transitional justice in the post-conflict Acholi sub-region of Uganda. He received the Undergraduate Research Fellowship through the Elliott School to fund his research, which included a trip to Uganda. While there, he conducted interviews to study the ways conflict uniquely impacted women, the variety of transitional justice processes available, and the structural barriers preventing women from achieving transitional justice. He focused on the differences between legal and traditional methods of achieving transitional justice, concluding that locally-sourced processes are more accessible to women seeking justice because of their inclusion of local values.

While researching Uganda, Zachary worked closely with a local NGO called Justice & Reconciliation Project. He learned a lot about transitional justice and peaceful reconciliation by traveling with the NGO to their field sites and talking to people with direct experience in purveying and accessing justice.

“I learned so much about myself, my skills, and my professional interests by being a part of the Dean’s Scholars program.”

When asked what advice he has for current college students, Zachary said he encourages all college students to become involved in research, even if they aren’t interested in pursuing academia as a career. Through his time as a Dean’s Scholar,  Zachary learned the importance of strong research abilities in almost every part of his personal and professional life. Those research abilities have aided him following graduation. 

“The experience I gained completing my own research project helped me to become a better Peace Corps Volunteer by giving me insight into my host community’s biggest education challenges and allowing me to accurately monitor the effectiveness of my projects at meeting their goals.”

After graduating from George Washington University in 2019, Zachary joined the Peace Corps and served at a primary school in The Gambia. His experience as a Dean’s Scholar aided him as he used the research skills he gained through the program to collect quantitative and qualitative data from various stakeholders to inform the projects he took on in The Gambia.

By Samantha Lewis, Edited by Anneliese Raynolds

As an undergraduate student at George Washington University pursuing a B.A. in international affairs, Jacob Winn became increasingly interested in electoral politics. He was intrigued by the modern, right-wing movement and wanted to investigate what was provoking this sentiment across Western Europe. So when it came time to decide on a topic for his research project in the Dean’s Scholar Program, Jacob knew he wanted to focus on the British Conservative Party and the populace success story of Brexit.

However, while it may seem as if Jacob was wholly set on one topic, he would soon discover that his journey would be filled with unexpected twists and turns. This first twist came when Jacob decided to focus on Brexit. Due to changing tides, Jacob had to constantly update his research to keep up with the politics in real-time.

“Actually, so much happened over the course of the time we were in the program that, sometimes between drafts, I was changing the Background section because things would literally change in the real world”

British electoral politics were not the only changing variable during this project. Jacob would soon encounter the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Jacob retained a positive outlook. According to him, while the pandemic may have thrown a few hurdles his way, it also allowed him to be more creative. Without the normalization of virtual meetings, Jacob says that he might not have been able to interview a member of Parliament.

“COVID made some things difficult, but it also opened some doors”

The Dean’s Scholar Program allowed Jacob to fully develop his research project from start to finish. Even though he faced some challenges on the way, he was able to publish his work in the Cornell International Affairs Review Journal. 

“By the end, I felt like I had learned a lot. And I felt like I had written a real piece of work that I had conceptualized myself from beginning to end without really responding to a class prompt.”

One valuable piece of advice Jacob would give to those who pursue research is to have plans, but not plan rigidly. Constantly thinking through your project, Jacob says, and asking yourself “why am I doing this” will help when you inevitably face a challenge. So when you have to change something, you will know what to change it to and why you’re finishing the research.

The main lesson to learn from Jacob’s experience is to persevere and to take chances. 

“This taught me that if you ask for something, people will often say yes. And people are asked for things a lot less than it seems. And I think taking chances and accepting a little bit of discomfort by putting yourself in that position, it can really work out for you.”

After graduating from GWU, Jacob went on to work for the National Defense Industrial Association as an Associate Research Fellow. He credits his time in the program for enabling him to develop his research skills and the ability to present himself and his work.

“It was the culmination of a lot of thinking and a lot of work. And being able to talk about something so richly was pretty valuable compared to if I hadn’t had that experience.”

By Samantha Lewis, Edited by Anneliese Raynolds

“A good idea could only go as far on its own; the key to achieving a goal was to understand the process.”

The above quote was something Michelle Shevin-Coetzee heard often as an undergraduate intern at the Office of the Under Secretary for Policy at the Pentagon.

That experience inspired Michelle to look into the Pentagon’s Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process, and how the Department of Defense budgets. Committed to learning the process inside and out, Michelle took advantage of the Elliott School Undergraduate Scholar Program, the precursor to the Dean’s Scholars Program. The Undergraduate Scholar Program gave her the opportunity to dive into her research over a longer timeline. She was able to conduct various interviews with a wide range of experts, as well as eventually publish her findings as a think tank report and an op-ed.

Michelle’s time in the program also enabled her to develop her research skills. The skill of drafting a long report with a coherent argument, paired with the ability to publish an op-ed prepared her for her future in the research community. Michelle acknowledges the importance of compiling a list of extensive sources, but she also recognizes how crucial it is to be able to sort through that information quickly and determine what matters most from it. Michelle also notes that this key skill is one that she continues to draw upon in her current work on the hill.

“I also found it very useful to publish an op-ed after the program because it allowed me to identify my bottom line upfront.”

After graduating from GWU in 2015, Michelle went on to get a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Georgetown University. She credits her time in the program for sparking her interest in the process of how actors and institutions with different perspectives present, debate, and ultimately come together to achieve an outcome. Michelle carried this interest into her graduate studies, where she wrote her graduate thesis on lessons that NATO can learn for its strategic review from the European Union’s equivalent process.

“I find understanding and trying to overcome bureaucracy fascinating, and maybe that’s why I’m committed to working in government!”

The Undergraduate Scholar Program taught Michelle how to make the most of an experience. Each week, she made sure to set aside time to go off campus to interview experts, speaking with them at their offices and attending panel discussions. This, Michelle stated, made the research more tangible, especially when it came to researching a topic that can quickly turn into a numbers game.

“Go all in and make the most of the experience!”

When asked what advice she had for college students pursuing research opportunities, she stated:

“Be open to everything! My first job out of college completely changed my career trajectory. Although I joined a broad strategy team at a think tank, the work largely focused on European affairs because of my boss’ background. My regional focus at GW was East Asia – I hadn’t even taken a single class on Europe during college! But I jumped into the Europe work and loved it. I ended up continuing my focus on European defense policy and it led me to pursue a Fulbright Schuman fellowship based in the UK and Germany. I think it’s important to have an idea of what you want to do and a goal to work toward, but it’s likewise important to recognize that some things will just fall into place.”

Michelle now works as a Military Legislative Assitant in the U.S. House of Representatives.

_{By Payton Beaumier, Edited by Anneliese Raynolds}

During his junior year at the George Washington University, Nicolas Reeves studied abroad in Jordan as a Boren Scholar. As friends and family came to visit him, he found himself giving multiple tours of Petra, Jordan’s most popular tourist destination. The site, exalted by  19^th-century poet Dean Burgon as “a rose-red city half as old as time,” was listed in brochures as being a quiet and solitary destination. However, what Nicolas found was a lively community surrounding Petra. As he interacted with members of the city’s local Bdoul and Layathna tribes, who sell souvenirs or offer tours on their horses, donkeys, and camels to tourists, it became apparent to him that many of the individuals working in Petra were impoverished. 

This puzzled Nicolas: clearly, the work the Jordanian state had put into making Petra an ideal destination for international tourists had not translated into widespread economic well-being for members of the city’s local community. As he dove deeper into the matter, he was able to see how inter- and intratribal power dynamics played a role in the impact of these tourism development efforts on different portions of Petra’s local community. From this observation, his research question was formed: How has state-led tourism development impacted the lives of members of Petra’s local Bdoul and Layathna tribespeople?

In August 2018 and March 2019, Nicolas returned to Petra for the data collection aspect of his research. Over four weeks, he conducted 56 interviews with members of Petra’s local community and gained skills that would prove beneficial in his academic and professional endeavors, both during his time at GWU and beyond.

After graduating from GWU in 2019, Nicolas participated in the Center for Arabic Study Abroad Program (CASA) at the American University in Cairo. Nicolas’s Dean’s Scholars experience illuminated for him how he could use his love for languages to combine his interests in politics, economics, and anthropology. His research, coupled with his passion for learning Arabic, allowed him to immerse himself in different cultures, conduct fieldwork in Jordan, and apply his language skills in a tangible and truly powerful way. 

“My love for language could be translated into something that was going to be very tangible, perhaps something that I would like to do for the rest of my life, in terms of academic research.” – Nicolas Reeves

The Dean’s Scholars Program was able to instill in Nicolas the value of peers and mentors in research, which has allowed him to excel in his career and his continued research efforts. 

“Research is never an individual endeavor, but always a collective one. ” – Nicolas Reeves 

When asked what advice he had for college students pursuing research opportunities, he stated: 

“I think when we’re in college and especially in a town like D.C., there’s always this idea that you have to always be moving forward and that you can never really take a step back and look at what you’ve been doing. I think in research, it’s really important to have that time to take a step back and also not be afraid to fail.”- Nicolas Reeves

Nicolas continued to adapt and improve his undergraduate research during his time in Egypt as a CASA Fellow, submitting his study for peer review and publication in the Oxford Middle East Review. His work has also been published in Afkar: The Undergraduate Journal of Middle East Studies, Abhath al-Yarmouk: Humanities and Social Sciences (Arabic), and Columbia University Journal of Politics and Society. 

“I also think that no piece of research is ever finished.”- Nicolas Reeves 

Note from the interviewer: As I interviewed Nicolas Reeves, I found myself inspired by the growth he experienced conducting research and by his words of wisdom. He reminded me of the importance of enjoying the research process. Most importantly, he reminded me to not be afraid to fail and take a chance as I dive into a topic I love and create work that can make a difference. – Payton Beaumier