SPIA Graduate Students
Adeniyi Jeremiah Awoyemi
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Nathan Bailleux
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
His previous research includes a thesis presented to Université Catholique de Lille in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the Master's degree in International Relations. Dr. Emmanuel Lincot and Dr. Emmanuel Meneut were his advisors.
The M.A. thesis was titled: « The Overlap between Conventional and Nuclear Security Dilemmas in the Case of India and Pakistan After the 2002 Nuclear Alert: Dynamics of a Rivalry between India, Pakistan, and China ».
His research interests include military innovation, South Asian security, and technology and politics. Within these fields, his research covers two main areas: French nuclear deterrence and the study of the India-Pakistan-China triangle from a realist perspective.
Soumyadeep Bidyanta
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Stephen Michael Bryant
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Stephen has a Master of Arts in International Relations from American University and a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Development from Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Marin Elena Deevers
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Kinza Fatima
Student Associate, School of Public and International Affairs
Tyler Perkins Fields
Student Associate, School of Public and International Affairs
Francesca Gottardi
Ph.D. Student /J.D. Candidate, School of Public and International Affairs
Brandi Jeanine Hancock
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Seth Mclean Higginbotham
Asst Dir Admissions, School of Public and International Affairs
University Pavilion
Bekir Ilhan
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Sarah Imran
Ph.D. Candidate, School of Public and International Affairs
In addition to her academic research, Sarah serves as Digital Media Manager at the International Feminist Journal of Politics, where she leads global communications strategy across digital platforms. She has organized international conferences and workshops on feminist politics and is part of the inaugural Global Fellows in Courage program, a leadership accelerator for human rights advocates.
Sarah is also a feminist artist and illustrator whose creative practice explores themes of justice, radical care, and feminist futures (www.sarahzimran.com). Her work has been featured in conferences, community spaces, and markets. She is also on the organizing team of the annual Aurat March (Women's March) in Pakistan.
Jin kyung Lee
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Jinkyung's research interests specifically concern the relationship between valuable resources in technology and large political systems. Based on her academic and work experiences, she has developed an interest in international data resource agreements and their effect on global relationship development. Especially, Jinkyung is pursuing to enhance her interests in cybersecurity policies, conflicts between countries in science and technology, and the process of establishing related systems.
Jinkyung gained in-field work experience at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning and the Korea Information Society Development Institute. At these research institutions, she analyzed the influence of science and technology on the development of Korean governmental institutions, such as the postal system and the human resources development network.
Chris John Murphy
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Md Wasim WASIM Newaz
School of Public and International Affairs
Omer Ergun Ozkan
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Lilly N Pace
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Lilly Pace is a 3rd-year PhD student in Political Science, concentrating in comparative politics and international relations. She holds a BSocSc and MA in International Relations from the University of Manchester. She studies global politics using critical feminist theories and engages in a broadly poststructural mode of inquiry. She specializes in discursive analysis and is well-versed in other interpretive resesrch methods.
Lilly's primary research focuses on private military and security companies and contractors, and how privatized violence is represented. Additionally, she researches on the gendered and racialized politics of sacrifice, death, and mourning. Her other current research interests include blood as a bio/necropolitical substance, creative method/ologies and interpretive methods, and academic knowledge production
Harita A Patel
School of Public and International Affairs
She earned her first M.A. in Political Science from the University of Cincinnati, specializing in Comparative Politics, International Relations, and quantitative methods. She received a second M.A. and completed her doctoral exams at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in Comparative Politics, Interdisciplinary Studies, with emphasis on interpretive methodology. Harita holds a B.A. in International Affairs and Political Science from the University of Georgia. She currently works as an Assistant Director in the field of student development in higher education and is an established artist specializing in painting, printmaking, and textile mediums.
Nicholas Arakel Rejebian
Asst Dir Admissions, School of Public and International Affairs
University Pavilion
Mallory Rock
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Mustafa Sagir
School of Public and International Affairs
Yash Sharma
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Yash’s research interests are political mobilization, electoral politics, and ethnoreligious nationalism, focusing on South Asia. He is particularly interested in the mobilization activities of the Bhartiya Janata Party in India. His published works include a study of the Shaheen Bagh protests in India and another on the mobilization of youth in vigilante groups targeting inter-faith couples in India.
Yash has received grants and fellowships supporting his work from the American Political Science Association, the University Research Council, and the Taft Research Center among others.
Prateek Srivastava
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Marie-Rose Tshite
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
Since June 2025, Marie-Rose has also been leading the first National Study on YPS in the DRC, covering all 26 provinces. This research documents the perspectives of Congolese youth on peace and security policies, analyzes their role in implementing the YPS Agenda, identifies their initiatives and strategies for influencing decision-making, and assesses the challenges and lessons learned. The study will culminate in the production of a policy brief on Congolese youth perception of the YPS agenda implementation in the DRC. She has also contributed extensively to YPS scholarship and global policy processes.
As an independent consultant and engaged volunteer on youth and women participation issues for different local and international organizations in the DRC, she has been involved with the NDI NEW Politics Program, a program that aims to train young women involved in politics within the 4 countries of the Mano River Region (Western Africa). She has also been involved in the training and coaching of women and young women since 2014 on subjects such as leadership, elections and civic responsibility, public speaking, and the rights of women and girls to education. She has also been organizing campaigns to stop the spate of kidnappings of women that have taken place recently in Kinshasa.
During her free time, Mrs. Tshite is a volunteer interviewer for the VOKAL ICON-NECT, a project that captures the leadership journeys of African women. She collaborates with the public speaker club "Club Paul Panda" and a network of Congolese youth for Community Service Day (CSD) to cultivate a new generation of leaders dedicated to community service. Her current research interests focus on uncovering narratives and security perspectives of the first group of women who were deeply involved in the first peace negotiations that ended the Second Congolese war in 2003. Marie-Rose holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations and Diplomacy, an Honours Degree in African Politics from the University of South Africa, and a Master's Degree in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Cincinnati.
Bilgen Turkay
Graduate Assistant, School of Public and International Affairs
She holds an M.A. in Journalism from Ankara University and undergraduate degrees in International Relations and Public Relations and Advertising.
Her research interests include immigration, refugees, NGOs, social media, technology, and human rights. Currently, her comparative research focuses on how NGOs and international organizations developed and implemented strategies in response to the Syrian and Ukrainian refugee crises in Canada, Germany, and the United States.