Watson student awards, grants and prizes 2026
The 2026 Watson School student awards, grants and prizes celebrate students pursuing work across the globe and across traditional academic boundaries — through research, internships, language study, public service, honors projects and policy engagement.
Photo Credit: Azurae Cruz
Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies Summer Research Fellows
- Olha Burdeina '27, International and Public Affairs and Political Science
Governing Veterans' Rights Under War: Decentralization, Martial Law, and Service Delivery in Ukraine - Lila Chamlagai, PhD Candidate in Behavioral and Social Health Sciences
Investigation of the Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Bhutanese Refugees and their Association with Sociodemographic Characteristics: Quantitative Cross-Sectional Survey - Mustapha Kharbouch '27, International and Public Affairs (Development) and Socio-cultural Anthropology
Queering the Camp: Storyweaving Oral Histories and Futurities of Queer Palestinian Refugees - Esteban Salmón, Postdoctoral Research Associate in International and Public Affairs
Managing Growth in Violence Settings: Corporate Risk-Management in the Mexican Retail Sector - Anjie Wang, History PhD Student
Failed Promises of Protection: Pennsylvania Treaty Rhetoric and the Formation of Humanitarian Networks in the British-American World, 1682-1837
Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies Summer Internship Placements
- Nicholas Freund '28, History and English
Human Rights Watch - Washington Advocacy - Sara Amir '28, International and Public Affairs (Security) and History
International Crisis Group - UN Advocacy - Ana Olinda Gomes Aguiar leonel Ferreira '27, International and Public Affairs and Anthropology
International Crisis Group - Latin America - Sadia Qazi '27, Applied Mathematics and Economics
International Crisis Group - Gender & Conflict - Kristin Cho '28, Public Health
Project HOPE - Global Health - Infectious Disease - Jinte Bejinsberger '28, Biology
Project HOPE - Global Health - Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health - Mansur Ahmadi '29, International and Public Affairs and Psychology/Behavioral Science
Refugee Dream Center - Christina Charie '26, MPA
Kobo - Jonnay Berry '27, MPA/MPH
InterAction - Pedro Valdez Castro, PhD student in Sociology
TECHO República Dominicana–Haití
IAPA Conference Travel Grants
- Paige Censale '27, International and Public Affairs
Alzheimer's Disease International Conference - Canaan T Estes '28, International and Public Affairs
Conference of the International Association for Reconciliation Studies (IARS) - Tiziano Pardo '28, International and Public Affairs
Texas Democratic Convention
IAPA Internship and Research Grant
- Emma Brignall '27, International and Public Relations
The Carter Center (China Focus) in Atlanta, GA - Nathaniel Campion '28, International and Public Relations
Alexander Hamilton Society in Washington, D.C. - Leah Freedman '27, International and Public Relations
Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island in Providence, RI - Rene Novakova '28, International and Public Relations
Embassy of the Czech Republic in Cairo, Egypt - Hrachya Sahakyan '28, International and Public Relations
Teevial in Armenia - Gretchen Scott '28, International and Public Relations
Center for Strategic and International Studies; Human Rights Initiative in Washington, D.C. - Razanne Shoukfeh '27, International and Public Relations
Financial Literacy Youth (FLY) Initiative in Providence, RI - Leyad R Zavriyev '27, International and Public Relations
The Bronx Defenders in New York City
Research Projects:
- John Graser '28, International and Public Affairs
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen [Research Project] in Aachen, Germany - Blaine T. Maye '27, International and Public Affairs
"Faith, State, and the Frontline: How State-Religion Integration Shapes Resistance to Extremist Recruitment in West Africa" in Dakar, Senegal/Abidjan, Ivory Coast - Eiffel Sunga '28, International and Public Affairs
“Arms of Empire: The Weaponization of Space and Place in the U.S. Quest for the Philippines” in Manila, Philippines
Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia Summer Research & Travel Funds
- Avani Ashtekar
Taking Friendship Seriously: Everyday Registers of Governance at the India-Bangladesh Borderlands - Rhitama Basak
Towards Islamic 'Presents': Sufi Shrines and Pious Intimacies in India (working title) - Lila Chamlagai
Evaluating the Utilization of Physical and Mental Health Services Among Bhutanese Refugees in
Eastern Nepal - Sneha Chowdhury
Asymmetric Encounters: German-Hindi Translation between Majoritarianism and Modernist Poetics - John Dvorak
A Qualitative Study of Private-to-Public Organizational Change at a Rural Hospital in West Nepal - Arif Erbil
Letters as Bricks, Empires as Buildings: Mahmud Gawan, Ottoman Munshis, and the Connected Islamic World - Evanour Hamadeh
Mapping Diabetes Comorbidities and Health System Referral Pathways Among Rohingya Refugees in HAEFA’s Camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh - Vivek Joseph
Aunties, Goddesses and the Worlds They Hold Together: The Everydayness of Spirit Mediumship in
South India - Ria Modak
The Political Field of Language: Caste, Class, and Ideology in Western India, 1940-1966 - Radhika Moral
Hanging by a Thread: Environmental Change, Agrarian Transition, and Value- Making in Northeast India’s Silk Plantations - Ariba Naqvi
Beyond Marriage and Dowry: Feminist Responses and Resistance in the British South Asian Diaspora - Hamsa Shanmugam
Mapping Access to Surgical Care in Rural Tamil Nadu - Sonakshi Sharma
Neither from Below nor from Above: Civil Society, Reformist Bureaucrats, and the Hybrid Logic of
Welfare Expansion in India
Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia Winter Research & Travel Funds
- Rhitama Basak
Field visits to Bengal and Delhi, India - Lila Chamlagai
Initiating Primary Health Care Post among the Bhutanese Refugee Camp Eastern Parts of Nepal - Vivek Joseph
White Virgin, Tamil Mother: The Virgin Mary and a South Asian Grammar of Finding Place - Yui Miura
Mental Heatlh Among Rohingya Children and Adolescents - Katyayni Seth
Imagine a Room: Caring for children who suffer from seizures in north India - Hamsa Shanmugam
Ethnomusicological Insights into South Indian Contexts - Sonakshi Sharma
Constructing Capacity: State–Civil Society Relations and Health Sector Reform in India - Shreya Singh
Cultivating Consent: the politics of family planning in India - Urvi P Vora
Dance and Psychoanalysis
Student Conference on U.S. Affairs (SCUSA)
- Olha Burdeina '27, International and Public Affairs
- Natalia López '27, International and Public Affairs
- Will Vogel '26, International and Public Affairs
Watson Institute Language Study Grant
- Olha Burdeina '27, International and Public Affairs
Goethe-Institut Frankfurt: German Language Study - Danica Damoah '28, International and Public Affairs
Language Study in Tanzania, East Africa - Owen Inkster '28, International and Public Affairs
Princeton in Beijing (PiB): Chinese Language Study - Eva Kappas '26, International and Public Affairs
Language Study in Cuba - Napintakorn Kasemsri '28, International and Public Affairs
LILLE Winter Program - Janya Kaur '26, International and Public Affairs
Punjabi Language Study - Knox Leonard '27, International and Public Affairs
Language Study in Jordan, Israel - Lily Luby '28, International and Public Affairs
Middlebury College’s Summer German Language School - Rene Novakova '28, International and Public Affairs
Egyptian Arabic Language Study in Cairo, Egypt - Hrachya Sahakyan '28, International and Public Affairs
Language Study in Yerevan, Armenia - Samdol Sichoe '28, International and Public Affairs
Institut Frankfurt: German Language Study - Cindy Sun '29, Economics
Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies - Charlotte Yih '29, East Asian Studies
Princeton in Beijing (PiB): Chinese Language Study
Watson Internship and Research Grant
- Jackie Dean '28, History
Mine Advisory Group in Washington, D.C. - Reese Furhman '28, International and Public Affairs and Political Science
National War College Internship Program in Washington, D.C. - Erin Kim '27, Computer Science and Applied Mathematics-Biology
Heart Scan Clinic, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital in Seoul, South Korea - Acadia Kotov '28, Slavic Studies
World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. - Gloria E Kuzmenko-Latimer '27, International and Public Affairs and Behavioral Decision Sciences
Frolic Community in Seattle, WA - Emily Mansfield '27, International and Public Affairs and Ethnic Studies
Grand Street Settlement in New York City - Claire Piron '28, International and Public Affairs and Public Health
Permanent Representation of Belgium to the United Nations in New York City - Nate Schneider '28, International and Public Affairs/Economics
Brass Ring Ventures in Miami, FL - Sadie Schultz '28, International and Public Affairs
Coach for College Vietnam in Vietnam - Maison E Teixeira '27, International and Public Affairs
Midstory in Toledo, OH - Michele A. Togbe 27, International and Public Affairs
Rooted in Washington, D.C.
Honors in International and Public Affairs
- Aderinsola Ariike Aderoju
- Benjamin Tyler Buka
- Maize Elizabeth Cline
- Marisa Antonia Coghlin
- Julian Denny Cohen
- Jackson A. DeBorde
- Luc Drymer Graham
- Salma Tamer Eldeeb
- Jude Alexander Farley
- Adedoyin Rasheedat Folarin
- Morgan Mae Glazier
- Jenny Hu
- Davis Ryan Kelly
- Yiyun Li
- Margaret Madelyn Lorraine
- Carston Maher
- Nia Alexandra Matthews Cox
- Jacqueline Priya Metzler
- Camila Murillo Hernández
- Manav Musunuru
- Benjamin Brennan Ringel
- Marcelo Andre Rodriguez Parra
- Margaret Cecilia Seidel
- Elliot Russell Smith
- Ela Subramaniam Snyder
- William Alexander Vogel
- Annabel Skelton Williams
Community Service Award
Lailah Williams
Policy in Action Project Award
ACLU:
- Michael Brent IV
- Jocelyn Limon Arredondo
- Hannah Sears
- Emily Walshin
Boston Main Streets Foundation:
- Emmanuel Colmenares
- Shuhan Li
- Nicole Nehiley
Leadership Award
- Kelsey Crowley
Academic Excellence in International and Public Affairs
- Oluwanifemi T. Adetunji
- Jenifer E. Bonilla
- Marisa A. Coghlin
- Julian D. Cohen
- Casey J. Crockett
- Veronica S. Dickstein
- Meilyn Farina
- Neel Godbole
- Luc Rey Drymer Graham
- Ciaran Henry
- Thomas C. Kvaal
- Alexander H. Lee
- Yiyun Li
- Margaret M. Lorraine
- Albert Z. Lou
- Maria Mesadri Diniz
- Gavin J. Schilling
- Elliot R. Smith
- Avilev Villalobos-Sharone
Noah Krieger ’93 Memorial Thesis Prize for Academic Excellence
- Jacqueline Metzler '26
“Rhetoric Under Pressure: Protest Pressure and Kamala Harris's Shifting Campaign Rhetoric on the Israel-Hamas War”
Richard C. Barker Award
- Margaret Lorraine '26
“Restrictive Capacity and Sanctions Evasion: European Arms Exports after Russia Sanctions” - Elliot Smith '26
“Beyond Brussels and Beijing: Decoupling Surveillance Technology and Privacy Law Diffusion in the Global South”
Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia Thesis Prize in South Asian Studies
- Indigo Mudbhary
“Remoteness and its Consequences: The Imagined Geographies of Rural Development in Nepal (1990-Present)”
Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia Undergraduate Paper Prize
- Vidya Iyengar
“The Hidden Hide: Caste, Animal Bodies, and the Mridangam”
Watson School Outstanding Thesis Prize
- Jenny Hu '26
“Exorbitant Privilege, Endogenous Fragility: The Unmet Promises of Digital De-Dollarization”