What Are International Studies Majors Doing Now?

Alex Schramkowski is an Associate at Littler Mendelson P.C., representing employers in labor and employment matters across the United States and internationally. After graduating from Rhodes, he earned his law degree from Belmont University in Nashville and clerked for a judge on the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Grady Vaughan is a Research Analyst at Freedom House in the United States. After graduation, he served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Astana, Kazakhstan, where he strengthened his Russian and studied Kazakh. He later completed a Master of Arts in Russia, Eurasia, and Eastern European Regional Studies at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, focusing on transnational repression and exile activism among Central Asian diasporas. His current research job builds on this work examining repression across borders.

Hunter Hallman is the Associate Director of Publications at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the United States. After working at an immigration law firm post-college, she pivoted from research and policy roles in the think tank space to the administrative side (communications, marketing, and publications). Her career shows that there are a range of roles that support foreign policy beyond traditional research tracks and that don’t require advance degrees.

Laurie Williams is an Associate Donor Relations Officer with UNHCR in Switzerland. After graduating, she began her career in Washington, D.C., first as a Senate intern and later working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She eventually transitioned to the UN Refugee Agency, where she has worked for the past five years.

Lucy Right is a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University and a Social Development Consultant with the World Bank. After graduating from Rhodes, she worked at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, D.C., organizing study tours for Members of Congress throughout the European Union. She later earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from Duke University, conducting extensive fieldwork in Cambodia on local governance. Her work with the World Bank has included designing and analyzing large-scale surveys across countries such as Tajikistan, Mali, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Kyrgyzstan. She continues to expand her research on Cambodian politics while teaching a course at Yale on Southeast Asian politics.

Karrington Knight serves as a Legislative Correspondent and Staff Assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives. After graduating, she worked at Jehl Law Group while applying to graduate programs and fellowships in international affairs. She was selected as a 2023 USAID Donald M. Payne International Development Fellow and earned her Master’s in International Affairs from George Washington University.