Global Fellows 2021

Kyrre Berland (F’22)

Kyrre Berland is a graduate student at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he studies international organizations, conflict, and governance. Prior to his graduate studies, Kyrre pursued his undergraduate at Sciences Po Paris and the University of Tokyo, where he focused on comparative politics, political theory, and law. He has also worked for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as human rights trainee and as an immigration officer for the Norwegian government. Kyrre is interested in the political and ethical paradigms that underpin governmental policy, especially in conflict and post-conflict areas. To that effect, Kyrre works as a research assistant at Conflict Dynamics, where he assists in research on the roles and election methods in Somalia. This summer, Kyrre is an intern at the Innovation Cell of the UN Department of Peacebuilding and Political Affairs, where he works to link the UNs political work with groundbreaking technology and innovation.

Michael Dianetti (A’22)

Michael is a rising senior in the School of Arts and Sciences studying International Relations and Political Science. He is primarily focused on security studies, political economy, public opinion on foreign policy, and applying data analysis to international relations. This year, Michael is looking forward to writing his senior thesis on the relationship between development assistance, government centralization, and ethnic conflict. Michael currently works as a legal assistant at a family law firm in Somerville and is a Tufts IGL Global Fellow at Project Citizenship, a non-profit that assists immigrants in completing the naturalization process. Last summer Michael was a Tisch Summer Fellow and worked as a research fellow at Community Labor United. After graduating from Tufts, Michael hopes to attend law school and pursue his Ph.D. in International Relations. Aside from his academics, Michael is an avid reader, kayaker, runner, rock climber, and board game player.

Avani Kabra (’23)

Avani is a Civic Studies and Economics major with a minor in Entrepreneurship. She started interning at the IGL last summer, working with Elizabeth (Biz) Herman, an IGL alumna and PhD candidate at the University of California Berkeley, on her project, A Woman’s War. Over the course of the school year, Avani has worked on her own independent project, titled “Women’s Resistance in Independence Movements in the Middle East and Northern Africa”, under the mentorship of Biz. The goal of this research is to investigate how the fight for gender equality, specifically in Algeria and Palestine, is affected by independence movements, and how future struggles for gender equality can learn from the past. So far, she has created a literature review, pre-analysis plan, received IRB approval to conduct interviews with women leaders and activists in Palestine and Algeria. Avani is currently working on conducting interviews as part of her data collection, with the option of conducting interviews in Arabic using a translator. She is excited to continue this work this summer!

Mahika Khosla (A’22)

Mahika Khosla is a third-year student from Bangalore, India, studying Political Science with a minor in Film & Media Studies. Her academic interests include citizenship, political violence, and the precarious relationship between the State and society, with a specific regional focus on South Asia. She is the co-founder of the Tufts South Asian Regional Committee under the IGL, a student group aiming to foster discourse on South Asian politics, economics, and society. As an extension of this work, this summer, Mahika is interning remotely at The Wilson Center, a public policy think tank located in Washington D.C. She is working for the Asia Program, where she assists the South Asia Department with its research on US foreign policy in Afghanistan and India, while simultaneously working on her own research on citizenship, biopolitics, and religious minorities in India.

Amelia Miller (A’23)

Amelia is a junior at the School of Arts and Sciences, majoring in International Relations and Arabic. On campus she serves as one of the Presidents of Tufts Women in International Relations, and as the Photo Director for Tufts Hemispheres Journal of International Affairs. She also volunteers weekly with Potencia Tutoring to help local immigrants and refugees with English language learning, and is currently leading an initiative in her hometown of Pennsylvania to create a virtual 4-H club focused on learning about and embracing different international cultures. In her free time, she enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with her pets. This summer, Amelia will be completing internships with the Middle East Policy Council and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She is looking forward to learning more about her region of focus and the intersection between education and international affairs through her internship with the Middle East Policy Council. She is also excited to expand on her research skills and knowledge of international development through her position with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Ellie Murphy (A’22)

Ellie is a rising senior at Tufts studying International Relations and Sociology. At Tufts, she is the former co-president and current senior advisor of Women in International Relations, the former IGL Liaison of Amnesty International, and a member of the Big Sister program. Ellie is particularly interested in studying systems of global governance, international development, and human rights. This summer, Ellie is working with the Maranyundo Initiative, a program supporting the academic success of girls in Rwanda. She is specifically working with the organization to research potential models for a mentorship program between students currently attending the school and graduates. She has especially enjoyed collaborating with students and graduates at Maranyundo and learning more about different education systems used globally.