“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” Nelson Mandela

We are extending our congratulations to all our centers and programs graduating students, in this, the most unusual of circumstances. Everyone at IGI wishes all our graduates great success and happiness in the future!

 

Center for African Studies

Amber Scarborough received her BA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and an MA in English from Oxford Brookes University. After completing her MA in African Studies in May, Amber will continue on studying for a PhD in Comparative Literature at the U of I. Her research interests include contemporary Maghreb literature and film, particularly focusing on themes of post-colonialism, gender, and religion.

Center for African Studies & Center for Global Studies

Mia Adams is a fourth year graduate student. This semester she will graduate with a M.A. in African Studies, a M.S. in Library and Information Science, and a graduate minor in Global Studies. In addition to pursuing these degrees, Mia has also taken part in rigorous volunteer work, both locally and internationally. Mia is a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society, and is a three-time Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship recipient, and a one-time Language and Area Studies (LAS) fellowship recipient. This semester, she received Special Recognition from the Graduate Student Leadership award and will graduate with honors. Mia has worked with the International and Area Studies Library and the Center for Global Studies as a Pre-Professional Graduate Student under the supervision of Lynne Rudasill. After taking a year to rest and work, Mia is planning to take a gap year to work and rest before continuing her education at the School of Social Work at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is one of three UIUC graduate students to receive Special Recognition in Graduate Student Leadership, celebrating the positive impact they have had on our campus and community, from the Graduate College.

Center for Global Studies

Bansari Patel is a senior graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and Marketing from the Gies College of Business. At her time at the University of Illinois, she has been on the Gies College of Business Dean’s List for 2 semesters. She has received three scholarships, the Leiby S. Hall Scholarship, the McMillan Family Study Abroad Scholarship, and the Alpha Phi Omega John Mack Scholarship, for academic excellence and community involvement. She has served as the Undergraduate Student Assistant at CGS for the past 2 years, aiding with the Center’s outreach and marketing efforts. After graduation, she will be working as a Data Analyst for a global healthcare company.

Center for Latin American and Caribbeans Studies

Liliana Lule will graduate this August with a Masters in Latin American Studies and a graduate minor in Latina/Latino Studies.  Liliana started her journey in the Fall of 2018, when she entered our program as a Graduate College Master’s Fellow.  In the short time that she has been here, she has accumulated an impressive list of accomplishments including TA’ing for LAST 170: Introduction to Latin American Studies, being awarded a Graduate College Travel Award and receiving a Tinker Foundation Field Research travel grant to fund travel to Mexico as part of her research into understanding the reasons why Mexican migrants who have become well established in the United States chose to return to their communities of origin upon retirement.  This research forms the foundation of Liliana’s MA thesis and she has also presented her work at national conferences, including at the Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) Summer Institute in Amherst, MA.  

Christopher Vecoli will graduate this August with a Masters in Latin American Studies.  He joined our program in Fall 2018 in order to conduct cutting edge research that uses film to understand how the intersections of precarity and solidarity in the Global South, with a focus on Brazil and China.  He has presented the primary results of this research at an international conference at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio last summer. He is a dedicated student of Brazil who received a Global South Language Fellowship in academic year 19-20 to order to improve his Portuguese language abilities.  Prior to becoming a Global South Language Fellow, Chris TA’ed for LAST 170: Introduction to Latin American Studies.

Carlos Escareno graduates this May with a B.A. in Latin American Studies and a minor in Spanish.  Carlos will be taking a gap year after graduate to gain work experience, but is interested in education and plans to apply start applying to M.A. programs next year.

Ethan Fintzen is graduating with a B.A. this May with a double major in Political Science and Latin American Studies.  He plans to attend law school after graduation.

All of us here at CLACS want to wish our graduates a heart felt congratulations and we wish you all the best as you move on to new adventures.  We will miss you!

European Union Center

Jordan Evans-Kaplan, from Aurora, Illinois, will receive his M.A. in May 2020.  Jordan’s thesis research involves economic modeling of Eurozone states’ GDP and machine-learning using XGBoost.  Jordan is a student in the 5-year BA/MA program, having completed his bachelors in Economics in 2018.  

Viktoria Loidl, from Graz, Austria, will receive her M.A. in May 2020.  Viktoria’s thesis research involves the emerging transatlantic digital economy and its overall effect on EU-US relations.  Viktoria is also a teaching assistant for the LAS First-Year Experience program, teaching LAS 399 (Leadership and Development) for LAS interns.  Before beginning the MAEUS program at Illinois, Viktoria studied Economics and American Studies at Karl-Franzens Universität in Graz, Austria, with a study-abroad program at High Point University in North Carolina.

Victoria Prince, from Chicago, will receive her M.A. in May 2020.  Victoria’s thesis research involves the effect of China’s Belt and Road Initiative on European Union member states and EU foreign policy.  Victoria is part of the EUC’s 5-year BA/MA program, having completed her bachelors in Global Studies in 2017.  Victoria is currently a FLAS fellow for the 2019-20 academic year, studying Arabic.  Victoria also received a Fulbright fellowship, for which she spent the 2018-19 academic year teaching English in Poland.  

Francesca Robinson, from Chicago, will receive her M.A. in May 2020.  Francesca’s thesis concerns immigration policy of EU member states as a measurement of the nations’ integration into the European Union.  Francesca is a part of the EUC’s 5-year BA/MA program, having completed her bachelors in Global Studies in 2019.

Allison Wheeler, from Springfield, Illinois, will receive her M.A. in May 2020.  Her thesis involves populism and far-right parties in European Union member states.  Allison has also been a FLAS recipient for German for the 2019-20 academic year.  She is a part of the EUC’s 5-year BA/MA program, having completed her bachelors in Global Studies and German in 2018.

Javier Zenil Peña, from Champaign, Illinois, will receive his M.A. in May 2020.  Javier’s research interests include EU-US transatlantic relations.  Javier is a student in the EUC’s 5-year BA/MA program, having completed his bachelors in Political Science in 2018.  Javier studied abroad in Italy in 2017.

Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center

We at the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center are pleased to announce this year’s REEES and affiliated graduates:

REEES Undergraduate Degrees:

  • Joseph Dillier, B.A. in REEES & Political Science
  • Jacob Smith, B.A. in REEES with a concentration in Arms Control & Domestic and International Security
  • Leslie Bueno, B.A. in History with a REEES minor
  • Buyandelger Tsetsengarid, B.A. in Global Studies with a REEES minor

REEES Graduate Degrees:

  • Megan Carpenter, REEES M.A.
    • Final Research Paper: “Zombie Politics? The Continuation of Soviet Foreign Policy and Tactics in Russia Towards the Former Satellite States of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.”
  • Thornton Miller, PhD in Musicology and REEES graduate minor
    • Dissertation: “Reaching Through the Iron Curtain: Practicalities in the Anglo-Soviet Cultural Exchange of Music and Musicians, 1955-1975”

REEEC Staff

  • Maria Dorofeeva, PhD in Art History
    • Dissertation: “Making Men: Spanish Art and the Politics of Masculinity, 1898-1936”