Nabihah Begum
I am a rising senior at GWU ESIA majoring in International Affairs with a concentration in Conflict and Conflict Resolution. I have an interest in security policies, international development, being a global citizen, and the International Affairs industry as a whole. I enjoy learning different languages and have even taken several Korean language courses during my first few years at GW. My interest in Korean history escalated after attending a GWIKS study abroad program in South Korea which led me to take a course on the Politics of the two Koreas. I am currently an intern at the Woori Center, a grassroots organization in PA that promotes Asian American immigrant rights in the US, and an intern at UA3 Inc based in NYC that directly assists NYC residents through digital technology and funds other community organizations. I am also learning about data analytics and hope to use my new skills in the respective fields mentioned above.
Research Topic:
South Korea’s Economy and its Influences on the South Korean National Identity
Fletcher Calcagno
Fletcher Calcagno is a rising senior from Portland, Oregon majoring in Asian Studies and minoring in Korean Language and Philosophy. He has been interested in North Korean Studies since he started taking history, literature, and politics courses with GWIKS professors during freshman year. He also researches US-North Korea Diplomatic History as a member of Elliott’s Dean’s Scholars Program. On campus, he is also a member of the GW Parliamentary Debate Society, served on the steering committee for Students for Bernie, and is the director of the Justice Journal. After graduation, he hopes to pursue graduate school, with the long-term goal of becoming a professor. On the weekends, he works at a coffee shop, teaches English, and is learning how to cook and bartend.
Research Topic:
The Korean War and the Racialization of North Korea
Lauren Doeff
Lauren is currently a senior double majoring in Korean Language & Literature and International Affairs with a concentration in International Politics. She interested in Korean policy and history and the impact it has on regional and international dynamics, as well as an overall goal to master the Korean language. Outside of class she is an active member of GW’s Model United Nation’s team. She hopes to expand her functional research experience and further her interest in the region.
Research Topic:
Unconventional Avenues of Power: Contemporary South Korean Policy Strategies
Mahima Gunapooti
Mahima is a senior from St. Louis, Missouri, pursuing a B.A. in International Affairs with a concentration in International Politics and a second major in Political Science. In 2019, she studied abroad in Seoul through the GWIKS summer program and gained an interest in Korean politics, history and culture. She has interned at various NGOs and think tanks such as Freedom House and the Council on Foreign Relations, where she developed skills in research, writing and policy analysis. She is currently a research assistant at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and hopes to combine her interest in human trafficking and women’s rights with current issues on the Korean Peninsula for her research paper. She hopes to pursue a career in combating human trafficking within the Indo-Pacific region.
Research Topic:
Effects of Humanitarian Law on the Trafficking of North Korean Defectors
Tucker Hamilton
My name is Tucker Hamilton and I am a rising senior at the Elliott School of International Affairs, Presidential Scholar, and Dean’s List student. I am concentrating in Security Policy and minoring in Russian, and after graduating next year I hope to work on national security issues.
My interests include great power rivalry and politics, grand strategy, security dilemmas, diplomacy, world history, technology, military modernizations and defense developments that impact balances of power. Regionally, I’ve taken a strong interest in Russia and East Asia. I’ve studied Russian language, culture, history, foreign policy and domestic politics for three years, and in the realm of Asia, I’ve studied South Korea’s relationship with the U.S., Japanese defense strategy, China’s military modernization, East Asia’s alliance system, the history of Taiwan, the future risks of a Cross-Strait conflict, and the future risks of a Korean Peninsular war.
I spend most of my free time skiing, skydiving, hiking, weightlifting, reading, and exploring the National Gallery of Art.
Research Topic:
North and South Korean Security Strategies
Natalie Horton
Natalie Horton is a junior in the Elliott School, pursuing dual majors in Asian Studies and Korean Language and Literature with a minor in Chinese Language and Literature. Though she speaks Chinese very well, she is also working very hard on Korean, having just returned from six months of language study in Seoul. Her main academic interests include language, premodern history, and gender studies. A recent accomplishment she is proud of is her winning of the 2020 Korean Language and Culture Prize for her research into the role of Uibyeong in the pre-colonial formation of Korean national consciousness and identity. She dearly misses milkshake-flavored ice cream, and also the onion chips sold in Korea.
Research Topic:
LGBTQ in Premodern Korea
Eric Li
I am from Princeton New Jersey, currently majoring in International Affairs and Economics with a minor in Political Science. My interest in Asian affairs encompasses an interest in Korean politics, art and culture. I plan on visiting Korea next summer to explore the culture and food. In my free time, I enjoy making and playing music; I play the piano and viola.
Research Topic:
Nuclear Proliferation in South Korea
Jada Tanner
Jada Tanner is a rising senior from Atlanta, Georgia, majoring in International Affairs with a concentration in Global Public Health. A semester of Korean with Professor Ko as a freshman solidified her interest in the Korean language and culture and inspired her to study abroad in Korea. She is a Critical Language Scholarship alumna and, in 2019, studied Korean in Gwangju, South Korea with her CLS cohort for two months. After returning from Korea, she has sought ways to connect her interest in Korea with her interest in public health and women’s rights. Her main academic interests and research focuses on gender-based violence as an issue of public health. As a research fellow, Jada would like to take a closer look at the connections between cyber-sexual violence against Korean women and the growing anti-feminist movement in Korea.
Research Topic:
Cyber-Sexual Violence Against Korean Women and the Korean “Manosphere”
Savannah Sauers
Savannah Sauers is a rising junior in ESIA with a concentration in Asia and minoring in GIS and Linguistics. In addition to studying multiple languages, Savannah enjoys studying the cultures and histories of East and Southeast Asia. In the future, she hopes to continue studying the politics and societies of East and Southeast Asian cultures in order to deepen her understanding of the region as a whole. She looks forward to incorporating her prior research into this upcoming fall as part of the GWIKS Undergraduate Research Fellows Program. Outside of class, she is a member of Sigma Iota Rho and enjoys exploring DC.
Research Topic:
The Influence of Chaebols in South Korea’s Political Economy
Vinithra Sudhakar
Vinithra Sudhakar is a junior at the Elliott School, majoring in International Affairs with focuses on development, economics, and Asia. She is particularly interested in the US-China relationship and its impact on the diplomatic and economic policies of other countries in the Asia-Pacific. Vinithra serves as the Vice President of Academics for the Sigma Iota Rho International Affairs Honors Society, as a student advisor for the LEAP Initiative, and is a consultant with MZZ Ventures at GWU. In her free time, she enjoys watching stand-up comedy and playing the violin.
Research Topic:
Effects of US-China Tensions on South Korean Economic Policy
Kaitlyn Yuan
Kaitlyn Yuan is a junior from Dallas, Texas studying at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. She is majoring in International Affairs with concentrations in Conflict Resolution and Asia. Her areas of interest are human rights, women’s rights, peacebuilding, and the East Asia region. She has previously interned at the International Rescue Committee and the World Affairs Council of Dallas-Fort Worth. Outside of the classroom, she is the president of the youth-led nonprofit AIESEC and the Director of Academic Engagement for the US-China Strategic Studies Organization. In her free time, Kaitlyn enjoys reading contemporary Japanese literature, watching South Korean films, and auto detailing.
Research Topic:
Sex Trafficking in South Korea
