PhD candidate profiles

Fletcher’s communications folks have been writing profiles of PhD candidates throughout this year.  In total, there are about 60 students in all phases of the PhD program.  Numbers vary significantly year to year, but about 15 are generally here taking courses, and then another dozen are preparing for comprehensive exams.  The remainder are writing their dissertation proposals or the dissertation itself, and for those phases they might be on campus, or they might be off wherever their research takes them.  Rather than sending you searching for the profiles, I’m going to highlight them here.

Roxani Krystalli: “When I look at who fills key roles within leading organizations working on gender issues, it is often a Fletcher alum.  The list of faculty either teaching explicitly on gender issues or incorporating a gender perspective into their courses is ever evolving.  I am excited to continue to support the current and future leaders of the Gender Initiative in their endeavors, and look forward to sharing what we learned with peers at other institutions, while also replicating some of our key lessons to reflect on other dimensions of identity, power and inequality within The Fletcher School.”  (Long-time blog readers might remember the posts that Roxani (who also goes by Roxanne) wrote while she was in the MALD program.)

Melanie Reed: “I have done consulting work for a number of public and private institutions, including the OECD, Transparency International, the Chr. Michelsen Institute (an international development research group based in Norway), and others.  This work helps me stay on top of current trends in the area of anti-corruption. It is important to me that I don’t get so involved in my own research that I miss changes in the international landscape around me.  Doing work on the side is challenging in terms of maintaining balance, but it also helps me maintain perspective about where my work fits into the larger picture.”

Rizwan Ladha: “From a very young age, I was interested in global affairs because my parents are from Pakistan and Uganda; they told me so much about their own history and background growing up, as well as their struggles coming to the U.S.  My father was a Ugandan political refugee during the 1970s, so I was always aware of the fact that the world is much bigger than Atlanta, where I grew up, and Georgia Tech, where I majored in International Affairs.”

Lami Kim: “As a former practitioner, I believe that tackling complex issues in international politics requires us to look at the many differences of each issue.  As my dissertation is highly interdisciplinary (involving the subjects pertaining to the military, security, legal, economy, etc.), I am certain that I chose the best place” to study.

The full profiles, and other news about the PhD program, can all be found here.