Colloquium | Members

Thaw Htet

Thaw is a sophomore from Yangon, Myanmar studying International Relations. Growing up under both military dictatorship and the transition to democracy, his life has always been dictated by international politics. After graduating high school in Myanmar at Grade 10, he decided to take two gap years. During the gap years, he spent time volunteering in various organizations and documenting lives through a HONY-style Facebook page known as Rangoon Revealed. He is very interested in this year’s EPIIC as the issues of military force have always been prominent in his life. He would like to apply the knowledge he learns in the course and contextualize it in terms of Myanmar and the South East Asian polity. He is active in the International Club, Tufts Daily Photo, and Amnesty International on campus, and he enjoys climbing rooftops and going on dates in Boston.

Mariya Ilyas

Mariya is a graduate student at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, where she is pursuing a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) with concentrations in international security and global maritime studies. She was born in Pakistan and raised in Alexandria, VA; growing up in two cultures has had a profound impact on her desire to pursue a career in international relations. She is grateful to the Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship, which will help her pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a U.S. diplomat. Prior to Fletcher, she worked in both the public and private sectors: serving as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow in Turkey, interning at The White House and the U.S. Department of State, and working for a fortune-100 company in Boston. Mariya graduated from Bowdoin College in 2013, where she majored in mathematics and minored in sociology and government. She enjoys blogging, baking, and befriending new people.

Iris Levine

Iris, born and raised in Nashville, TN, previously enjoyed listening to copious amounts of country music and drinking sweet tea on the porch. However, in an attempt to expand her horizons, Iris made the decision to leave the south behind and start life anew in the arctic New England. In high school, she was involved in everything from soccer and track to lobbying against homophobic legislation as well as quite a few things in-between. While she has just begun her career as a Jumbo, she is eager to explore a variety of academic subjects and extra-curriculars. Iris is eager to immerse herself in anything and everything regarding this year’s topic, to challenge her preconceptions, and to grapple with some of the world’s most pressing issues!

Maya Isaacsohn

Maya Isaacsohn is a senior from Cincinnati, Ohio. She is majoring in Art History and Community Health and is also filling her premed requirements. She hopes to continue her education after Tufts at medical school with the possible study of infectious disease. Throughout the past three years at Tufts, Maya has been involved with the Timmy Global Health and The Sharewood Project. For the past two summers she has been doing basic science research in the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Harvard Medical School. Maya enjoys the idea of exploring health and the practice of medicine from all angles and consequently is really excited to be participating in EPIIC Global Health and Security this year.

Paulina Jedrzejowski

Paulina is a freshman at Tufts University interested in double majoring in International Relations with a concentration in Economics and a minor in Mathematics. Born to Polish immigrants in New York City, she calls Poland her heart's homeland. Paulina speaks numerous European languages other than English, including Polish, her native language, Russian, Italian, and Portuguese. Traveling to numerous countries in Europe, most notably Bosnia and Herzegovina with the United States State Department in 2013, she feels there is always something to learn about European history. She often discusses European politics, history, and geographical changes with her parents and grandparents, drawing from both American and Polish sources. Paulina also spent eight months in Brazil with Global Citizen Year last year, volunteering, learning Portuguese, and implementing a self designed community project. Outside of class, Paulina is always dancing and will be joining the Competitive Ballroom Team of Tufts University this year. Paulina is excited and honored to be joining the IGL community, and she hopes to deepen her knowledge of European history and the current European political, economic, and societal situation.

Allison Jeffery

Allison Jeffery is currently a sophomore, about to declare an International Relations and Spanish double major. A native of small-town Hillsdale, NJ, she is excited to be a member of this year’s colloquium because it is the perfect combination of her two academic interests - global health and international security. Outside of EPIIC, Allison is a member of the IR Director’s Leadership Council, the Institute for Political Citizenship, and the Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES). This summer she studied demilitarization in Panama as a member of the ALLIES Joint Research Project and interned with the Vermont Attorney General's campaign. In her free time, Allison enjoys crime dramas, exploring Boston, and planning future travels.

Linda Jiang

Linda Jiang is a sophomore from Baltimore, Maryland double majoring in economics and community health. On campus, she is active in the Asian American Center and Leonard Carmichael Society. Becoming fluent in Chinese, traveling to every corner of the world, and participating in a flash mob are just a few of the things on her bucket list. After Tufts, Linda hopes to go on to medical school and get her feet in the global health field.

Eva Kahan

Eva is a sophomore from Mountain View, California, home of the self-driving car and the Safran-Kahan family. She is majoring in International Relations and History, and studying Arabic and Computer Science on the side. She attended the EPIIC symposium last year and is intensely involved with Tufts ALLIES, the IGL's Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services, and she hopes to explore the ground between force and diplomacy in her region of interest and as it has changed over time. Eva spent the past summer interning at the United States Department of Defense in the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Department, and is hoping to focus her career on the American national security process, whether through the military, intelligence, or diplomacy apparatuses. She is interested in the study of civil-military relations in conflict zones and through insurgencies and revolutions, as well as the state-building and governance process, especially in North African, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian history. She will be completing research this year on negotiation analysis in Jordan through the Fletcher School and Harvard Kennedy School, and hopes to take the next academic year off to study Arabic and research independently in the Arab world. Around campus, Eva also participates in Tufts Hillel as the conservative minyan co-coordinator, is a member of the International Relations Director’s Leadership Council, and is excited to be beginning a program this year to support fellow women in the fields surrounding International Relations. For fun, she likes to make herself cold brew coffee and granola, read the news, and eat kale for every meal.

Anna Kanter

Anna Kanter is a senior studying Political Science and Community Health. Her interest in global health has flourished over the years thanks to many incredible people, organizations, and opportunities. She has been a volunteer for Peer Health Exchange, an organization that trains college students to teach health workshops in public high schools in Boston for four years. She has taught workshops including Pregnancy Prevention, Drugs, and STIs & HIV. For one semester of her junior year, Anna spent time in India studying public health and researching the political landscape that has influenced changes in policy regarding maternal and child health issues. This past summer she worked with Children’s Health Fund in New York City, researching childhood obesity interventions. Anna loves hiking around outside with wonderful people, the changing seasons, and cooking with music and friends. She is absolutely thrilled to be a part of the EPIIC community this year.

Maria Karam

Maria Karam is a senior at Tufts majoring in International Relations with a focus on Europe and the Former Soviet Union, and a minor in History. She is a coxswain for the Men's Crew Team. She was born in Cyprus to Lebanese parents, lived in France, and now lives in Canada as a dual Canadian and French citizen. She is fluent in French and English and advanced in Spanish. She finds it difficult to identify herself with one culture because of all this, and considers herself a "Third Culture kid." Educated by the French system, Maria has always had an interest in Europe, particularly the sustainability of the institution of the European Union, human rights across the continent, and international cooperation. She hopes to further her understanding of the continent through EPIIC.