Student Leaders and Members

Brett Zakheim (’23)

Oslo Scholar 2021

Brett is a rising junior from New York City. She is majoring in Economics and minoring in Chinese. She is interested in pursuing a career in Sino-American relations, the social impact and nonprofit sector, or human rights. Studying Chinese, Brett is planning on studying abroad in Beijing in the fall and Hong Kong in the spring. She was a member of the 2020-21 EPIIC Colloquium: China and the World, which strengthened her desire to continue to study Chinese and China’s foreign policy. In her free time, Brett loves to play tennis, hike, and cook.

Emma Christman (’23)

Oslo Scholar 2021

Emma Christman is a member of the Tufts Class of 2023 from Sudbury, Massachusetts. She is pursuing a major in International Relations with a concentration in International Security. She is interested in journalism and issues surrounding human rights and democracy. At Tufts, Emma is the Editor in Chief of Hemispheres: The Tufts University Journal of International Affairs and serves on the executive board of Tufts Women in International Relations. She is passionate about making space for women to become involved in international affairs, a historically male-dominated field. In her free time, she loves to read, play violin, travel, and spend time with friends and family.

As an Oslo Scholar in 2021, Emma will intern remotely with Srdja Popovich at his organization, the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS) based in Belgrade, Serbia. She is looking forward to meeting international human rights activists and learning more about non-violent democracy movements around the world.

Carlos Irisarri (’21)

Oslo Scholars Coordinator

Carlos Irisarri is a senior at Tufts University studying Political Science and Philosophy. He was selected his sophomore year to an internship in the Olso Scholars program and worked at El Chiguire Bipolar, a Venezuelan satirical periodical. He was also selected to attend the Olso symposium where he met many of the heads of the organizations that now partner with the program. This is where his desire to help advance the Oslo scholars program comes from. Carlos is also heavily involved with other Institute for Global leadership Programs such as the flagship course, EPIIC. When he is not working on academics he enjoys long walks in the park, renaissance art, ventriloquist dummies and eating pizza.

Frankie Michielli (’22)

Oslo Scholar 2021

Frankie is a member of the class of 2022 from New York City. Through her double major in International Relations and Economics, she has developed a strong interest in comparative politics, development economics, and political violence; in particular, she is interested in exploring questions surrounding state power, accountability, and human prosperity. The IGL has been a formative part of her Tufts experience, as she served as President of Women in International Relations, worked with the Tufts International Development Honduras team, and was a member of the 2020-2021 EPIIC colloquium on China and the World. Elsewhere on campus, Frankie loves to sing with the Tufts Jackson Jills and volunteer with the Food Rescue Collaborative. She is excited to be working under Srdja Popovic at CANVAS this summer and hopes to learn about how collective action brings about sustainable political change.

Elizabeth Shelbred (’22)

Oslo Scholar 2021

Liz Shelbred is a member of the Tufts Class of 2022 pursuing a double major in International Relations and Civic Studies, with a concentration in Security and Peace and Justice Studies. From a young age, her travels to various parts of the world sparked her interests in human rights, migration, and conflict resolution. She is a firm believer that education is the key to dismantling systems of oppression and has done research on the transformative power of critical pedagogy.

She carried this ideology to her internship with Education for Employment (EFE) during the summer before her junior year, where she aided in assembling a global network of prominent influencers, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists to fund and promote EFE’s Fall 2020 Women’s Empowerment campaign across the MENA region. At Tufts, she has been involved with The Tufts Daily and Amnesty International. As Associate Editor and Executive Opinion Editor of The Tufts Daily, she used journalism as a means of preserving the truth and mobilizing change on campus. After college, she plans to pursue a career in conflict resolution and human rights law.

As an Oslo Scholar this summer, she is interning remotely with Jamila Raqib and the Albert Einstein Institution, which specializes in the study and application of nonviolent resistance in conflicts. She looks forward to learning more about accessible, grassroots ways to defend democracy and freedom abroad.

Julia Shufro (’22)

Oslo Scholar 2021

Julia Shufro is a member of the Tufts University Class of 2022 with a double major in history and in French, and with an art history minor. Julia is also a joint degree candidate, and she will graduate from The Fletcher School in 2023 with a Master of Law and Diplomacy. She is passionate about human rights and in preventing genocide and mass atrocity crimes. Julia was in the EPIIC Class of 2019-2020, in which she learned about international organizations, conflict resolution, peace negotiations, and policy. She intends to study human security, humanitarian affairs, and international law at Fletcher. On campus, Julia is the president of La Société Française, a choreographer for Tufts Tap Ensemble, and an active participant in Tufts History Society.

As an Oslo Scholar for Summer 2021, Julia will work remotely with the renowned journalist, Rafael Marques de Morais, who runs the Ufolo Studies Center for Good Governance in Angola. As part of her work, Julia will research case studies of police brutality, civic engagement fighting against corrupt governments, and the intersection of environmental crimes and human rights.

Grace Spalding-Fecher (’23)

Oslo Scholar 2021

Grace Spalding-Fecher is a rising junior studying International Relations and French. After growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, she moved to and attended high school in Amherst, Massachusetts. She is a member of Tufts University Social Collective (TUSC), where she serves as the social media coordinator, as well as being the IGL liaison for Amnesty International. She has a special interest in human rights and migration, which she is exploring through the Globalization concentration. She plans on studying abroad in Paris in the spring, where she hopes to spend her time surrounded by art and delicious food.

As an Oslo Scholar, she will be working with One Day Seyoum (ODS), an international human rights organization raising awareness about human rights abuses in Eritrea. She is excited to learn more about lobbying in the international arena and to spread awareness of ODS’s work.