2023-2025 Dean's Scholars

Meet the Dean's Scholars!

Alba Alizoti headshot

Alba Alizoti

Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): BA in International Affairs
Minor(s): Italian Language, Literature & Culture

Alba Alizoti is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution and a minor in Italian Language, Literature, and Culture. Her Dean's Scholars project is focused on immigration policy and its impact on the identity-building processes of second-generation refugees in Italy. Outside of the classroom, Alba serves as the Vice President of the Albanian Student Association and currently interns in the Office of Senator Chris Murphy. She has also previously interned with the Consulate General of Kosovo.

 

Havin Baik headshot

Havin Baik

Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): International Affairs, concentration in Global Public Health
Minor(s): Law and Society

Havin Baik is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs, with a concentration in Global Public Health and a minor in Law and Society. Her Dean’s Scholars project is focused on how the involvement of international actors impacts the prospects for Korean reunification (남북통일). Outside the classroom, Havin interns at the Hudson Institute in the Office of Secretary Elaine L. Chao. On campus, she is a Programming and Creative Strategy Student Coordinator in the Office of Student Life. She is the co-founder of the Korean American Student Society and an active member of Campus Outreach and Sigma Iota Rho.

 

Tara Boyd headshot

Tara Boyd

Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): International Affairs

Tara Boyd is pursuing a Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs with a concentration in Contemporary Cultures and Societies. Her Dean's Scholars project examines the relationship between Islam and mental health interventions and how this manifests as policy and effects young women in Turkiye. Outside of the classroom, Tara is an active member of The Eta Society of Global Affairs and is the 2023-2024 Recruitment Officer. Currently, Tara is a Development Intern for Resources for the Future, a environmental-economic think tank based in Washington, DC.

 

Zoe Carver headshot

Zoe Carver

Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): International Affairs, Peace Studies
Minor(s): French, Creative Writing

Zoe is studying International Affairs and Peace Studies with a concentration in Conflict Resolution. Her Dean's Scholars research interests pertain to migration and conflict in West Africa. She became interested in the francophone African world after spending the Spring semester in Rabat, Morocco and gaining proficiency in French and Arabic. Outside of Dean's Scholars, she is apart of the Model UN team, Sigma Iota Rho, the Eta Society of Foreign Service, and Capitol Letters Literary Magazine. She has interned in the Senate and Department of Housing and Urban Development, and hopes to continue international government work.

 

Anmol Chowdhary headshot

Anmol Chowdhary

Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): International Affairs with a concentration in Security Policy
Minor(s): Public Health

Anmol Chowdhary is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs with a concentration in security policy and a minor in Public Health. Her Dean’s Scholars project focuses on understanding the impact of domestic state leadership and regime type on states’ participation in informal institutions, specifically BRICS. Outside of Dean’s, Anmol is the President of the Pre-Law Student Association, an Editor in Chief of the Undergraduate Law Review, and Chief of Staff of the Washington Area Model UN Conference. Anmol is also an active member of Sigma Iota Rho. In the past, she has interned in the United States Senate, a political communications firm, and a foreign policy think tank. During the fall semester, Anmol is interning at the United States Department of State. In her free time, Anmol enjoys exploring DC and playing golf.

 

Jillian Fahey headshot

Jillian Fahey

Bachelor of Science in International Affairs

Major(s): Peace Studies and International Affairs, concentrating in Conflict Resolution
Minor(s): Public Health

Her research studies the impact of various non-profit structures on local communities and the effect of paternalistic and colonial mindsets on organization effectiveness in the lives of beneficiaries. Outside of the Dean's Scholars program, Jillian interns with The Gratitude Network, an organization working alongside developing NGOs around the world to facilitate their growth and expand their impacts. She studies French and hopes to pursue an MPH in Global Health studies.

 

Grace Fyfe headshot

Grace Fyfe

Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): International Affairs

Grace Fyfe is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs, concentrating in Gender in International Affairs and Conflict Resolution. Fluent in Spanish, Grace hopes to use her language skills to discover the translations between Western extremist movements and Latino culture. As such, her Dean's Scholars project explores the diffusion of Incel culture and the manosphere into Latin America. Outside the classroom, Grace is an active member of Sigma Iota Rho, the GW D.C. Student Consortium on Women, Peace and Security, and No Lost Generation. Off-campus, she volunteers as a coach for the Washington Urban Debate League and previously interned at Americares.

 

Caroline Gilmore headshot

Caroline Gilmore

Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution

Caroline Gilmore is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs, with a concentration in Conflict Resolution. She is interested in peacebuilding, political legitimacy, and public diplomacy. Through her research with Dean’s Scholars, Caroline hopes to analyze young women’s engagement with online extremism. Specifically, she plans to examine social media’s role in young women’s adoption of extremist viewpoints in Western societies. By producing this research, Caroline hopes to contribute to discussions on the intersection of gender and the prevention of violent extremism. Outside of the classroom, Caroline interns at the Women’s Foreign Policy Group, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing women’s leadership in international affairs. Previously, she interned at Search for Common Ground, working on global peacebuilding initiatives. On campus, Caroline serves as Vice President of Administration for Strategic Crisis Simulations, a student crisis management and wargaming organization, and as the Secretary for the DC Consortium for Women, Peace, and Security.

 

Sophie Holtzman headshot

Sophie Holtzman

Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): International Affairs
Minor(s): Journalism

Sophie Holtzman is pursuing a Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs, minoring in Journalism and Mass Communication and concentrating in International Environmental Studies. Her Dean's Scholars project will focus on climate adaptation strategies in indigenous communities. Outside the classroom, Sophie serves as the President of BridgeGW, the Director of Service and Philanthropy for Pi Beta Phi, and a mentor for GW Civic House. She is also currently interning at FINN Partners on the Global Public Affairs team and planning to study abroad during the Spring 2024 semester. Sophie looks forward to pursuing a career in the realm of sustainability reporting and climate communication and is passionate about telling the stories of the communities most affected by climate change.

 

Diya Mehta headshot

Diya Mehta

Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Major(s): International Affairs and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

My project explores the norms of gender based violence and their impact on policy implementation efficacy. Outside of the classroom I serve as the director of research at the Onero Institute and am an intern at the Feminist Majority Foundation with their Afghan women campaign. Previously I conducted field research in Jordan about perceptions of women's safety.

 

Aishwarya Nagabhushan headshot

Aishwarya Nagabhushan

Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs, concentration in Security Policy and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

Major(s): International Affairs and Sociology
Minor(s): Political Science 

Aishwarya's research for Dean's Scholars explores the role physical mobility plays in the lives of Indian women and the effects it has on women's wealth. Outside the classroom, Aishu has interned for the non-profit Rising For Justice and the US House of Representatives. Currently, she works for the non-profit Global Action on Gun Violence as a research and policy intern and is an active member of the ETA Society for Global Affairs. Her areas of interest include women's security issues, international security, and international law, with an emphasis on human rights, which she hopes to further explore and pursue through graduate or law school.

 

Ankita Nair headshot

Ankita Nair

Bachelor's of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): International Affairs
Minor(s): Economics

Ankita Nair is pursuing a major in International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Resolution and a minor in Economics. She is also a recipient of the New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy for French, and she is continuing her study of French language and culture at GW. Her Dean’s Scholars research focuses on NGOs and the circumstances under which they deviate from their purported goals by engaging in norm-violating behaviors. She will spend the Spring 2024 semester at University College London, where she will study in the Political Science and International Relations program. Outside of academics, Ankita is an Undergraduate Consultant at the GW Writing Center and a member of the GW Women’s Pre-Law Student Association.

 

Hannah Ritter headshot

Hannah Ritter

Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs

Major(s): Double major in International Affairs and Spanish & Latin American Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Minor(s): Concentration in Europe and Eurasia

Her Dean’s Scholars research focuses on the rise in xenophobic attacks and wage/job disparities against Latin American immigrants in Spain. She hopes to explore how these issues impact the integration process of these immigrants into Spanish society. At GW, Hannah is a member of Sigma Iota Rho, the gender-inclusive honor society for international affairs, and the Kappa Delta sorority. She studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, in the Spring of 2023 and will be studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the Spring of 2024. She is currently interning at the House of Representatives with a representative from her home state of Texas, where she has the opportunity to further her Spanish fluency and interest in immigration.

 

Dylan Shepard headshot

Dylan Shepard

Bachelor of Arts

Major(s): Asian Studies (First Major) and Chinese Language & Literature (Double Major)

Dylan Shepard is pursuing a double major in Asian studies and Chinese language and literature. His Dean's Scholars research centers upon examining the continuities and discontinuities of ideology in the governance of the People's Republic of China under the administrations of Xi Jinping and Hu Jintao. Currently, Dylan is the Director of Research at the China Affairs Forum and Editor-in-Chief of its GW Collegiate Journal of Chinese Affairs. He is also an Associate Editor at the Intercollegiate U.S.-China Journal. Previously, he was an undergraduate research fellow at the GW Institute for Korean Studies as well as an intern at the American Consumer Institute and the Property Rights Alliance. Originally born in California, Dylan has also lived in Shanghai, Chennai, and Detroit before moving to Washington D.C. for university. He aspires to be an academic of domestic Chinese politics.