Alexa Sendukas
Major: Plan II Honors
Type of Experience: Research
Mentor: Study Abroad Program Faculty
Alexa Sendukas studied female participation in Omani politics for her Spring 2009 Connecting Experience. While abroad in Oman for the Political Culture in Development program, she conducted both field research and a literature review. Specifically, Alexa examined how three women were able to gain positions of power in the Omani government and how different members of the population feel about women in political roles.
Dhawal Doshi
Major: Government and Economics
Type of Experience: Research
Mentor: Catherine Boone, Government
Dhawal worked as a research assistant for Dr. Catherine Boone, studying China’s investment model in Africa. The study covered many different aspects of the model, though Dhawal focused on African media coverage of local Chinese investment. During Spring 2008, Dhawal presented his portion of the research with Dr. Boone at a conference in London at Aga Khan University. Together they will publish a paper with their findings.
Hillary Rodriguez
Major: Religious Studies and History
Type of Experience: Research in Austin
Mentor: Alan Kuperman, LBJ School of Public Affairs
Hillary’s interests in human rights and cultures led Hillary to investigate the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s. During the summer of 2008, she searched through international court documents to find passages that discussed the motivations of the perpetrators of this massive genocide. Through this research, she developed new understanding of foreign policy in Rwanda.
Oscar De Los Santos
Major: Political Communication
Type of Experience: Research
Mentor: Ambassador Greg Engle, LBJ School
Oscar participated in Seton Hall United Nations Intensive Summer Study, a program for graduate and advanced undergraduate students to study the political dynamics of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. To learn about the challenges facing the U.N., he interviewed U.N. ambassadors from Mexico, Russia, Chile, and Singapore. He also had the opportunity to speak with the Secretary General of the Department of Peacekeeping, the Director of the Division of the Advancement of Women, and the Vice President for Multilateral Affairs, and others. One of the highlights of Oscar’s experience was sitting in on a Security Council briefing on the assassination of Rafik Hariri, Lebanon’s Prime Minister. The final phase of the summer study program was working with other student participants and faculty in a model think tank to propose U.N. reforms.
Miriam Estrin
Major: Plan II Honors and Government
Type of experience: Internship outside Austin
Mentor: James Lindsay, LBJ School
Miriam served as an intern to the Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy Studies, Carlos Pascual, at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Miriam assisted Ambassador Pascual on several of his pieces on a diplomatic way forward in Iraq. In addition, she did research and writing for Ambassador Pascual’s project on multilateral security reform, focusing on issue areas such as conflict prevention, peace building, nuclear non-proliferation, climate change, and the Human Rights Council.
Linda Tieh
Major: Plan II Honors and Business Honors
Type of experience: Internship abroad
Mentor: Eli Cox, Marketing
In Summer 2006, Linda interned with the international corporate law firm Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., in Shanghai, China. She worked on a range of cases, disputes, and contracts handled by the firm. She was also able to assist in event planning for incoming visitors from the U.S., including Houston Mayor Bill White. In addition to observing the inner workings of an international law firm, Linda learned about current hot topics in international law. She observed that in China at this time intellectual property and trade issues seem to be at the center of many disputes. As a pre-law student, this internship gave Linda valuable experience in the area of law she plans to pursue upon graduation