Student & Alumni News

July 5, 2023

Each year, Brandeis celebrates nine alumni who have graduated in the last ten years and have already made major contributions in their chosen fields. IGS alumna Iyvon E. ’13 was selected as one of the nine in 2023.

Iyvon is artistic director for a theater company and founder of a play development company for audio storytelling.

June 1, 2023

Congratulations to IGS Major Maya Schultz on receiving a Hiatt World of Work (WOW) Fellowship Award. Maya received a Social Work WOW and will be working for the Center for Employment Opportunities in San Diego, CA.

Follow her journey on the Hiatt World of Work blog site.
IGS Global Citizen Senior Prize

June 12, 2023

Congratulations to Elizabeth Brewer! Elizabeth won the annual International and Global Studies Award for Global Citizenship. This prize is awarded to an IGS senior student who has demonstrated a commitment to global concerns through their work on campus and off campus, and/or impressive volunteer work.

April 25, 2023

IGS Brandeis senior Elizabeth Brewer ’23 has been awarded a Fulbright Research grant to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Elizabeth will conduct ethnographic research in Sarajevo and Banja Luka to examine perceptions of the roles and effectiveness of international institutions and supranational organizations among Bosnian youth. She is majoring in International and Global Studies with a Hispanic Studies minor.

Elizabeth spent spring 2022 studying abroad in Jordan where she interned at The Jordan Times, and then spent the following summer interning with the Youth Initiative for Human Rights - Serbia in Belgrade. She is currently writing her senior thesis on the impact of historical and contemporary international involvement in the former Yugoslavia. These experiences, in addition to her Serbian and Arabic language skills, have prepared her to integrate successfully with her host community and build the necessary relationships to conduct her project.

June 1, 2022

Congratulations to IGS Major Monica Alfaro on receiving a Hiatt World of Work (WOW) Fellowship Award. Monica received a Social Work WOW and will be interning with United for a Fair Economy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to challenging the concentration of wealth and power that corrupts democracy, deepens the racial divide, and tears communities apart.

Follow her journey on the Hiatt World of Work blog site.

May 11, 2022

During spring 2022, 11 students were awarded the Giumette Academic Achievement Award (GAAA). The GAAA recognizes currently enrolled sophomores who have distinguished themselves and made a significant contribution to the community during their first two years at Brandeis.

Scarlett (Tong) Ren & Noah Risley were 2 of the recipients. Scarlett is an international midyear student, majoring in the International and Global Studies Program and minoring in journalism. Noah Risley is an International and Global Studies Program and comparative literature double major and a legal studies minor. 

January 26, 2022

William Kevorkian ’23, interviews prominent alumni, among other successful professionals, for his WBRS radio show. Brandeis Alumni news interviewed him about his experience on the radio, and two of his most notable interviewees—a Baroness and a Tech entrepreneur.
Maria Aranibar Receives Brandeis Arts Engagement BIPOC Creator Grant

October 28, 2021

Congratulations to Maria Aranibar '22 who received a BIPOC Creator Grant this year! The grant will support Maria, a non-binary artist, in expanding their jewlery design business, known to many in the Brandeis community and beyond as Cafecito Con Maria. Maria majors in Sociology and International & Global Studies with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies. Follow Maria on Instagram @ cafecitoconmaria

July 7, 2021

IGS Alum, Peniamina (Ben) Percival ’18, is headed to the Tokyo Olympics this month to compete in judo, representing his home country of Samoa.

IGS Alumna Spotlight: Creative Producer & Dramaturg Iyvon Edebiri

June 1, 2021

Since graduating from Brandeis University in 2013, Brooklynite, creative producer, and dramaturg Iyvon Edebiri has been working hard to revolutionize the theater industry.  Her most recent project, The Parsnip Ship, is a modern podcast play company bringing underproduced playwrights and artists to the digital stage.

January 25, 2021

Sophie Warren ’19 secured a seat in the Maine House of Representatives in November, besting the District 29 incumbent by just 230 votes. An Independent from Scarborough, she vows to work with both sides of the aisle to help Maine protect public health, aid economic recovery, emerge from the coronavirus pandemic and address the harmful effects of climate change.

An American In Ukraine – Reporting on the Trump Impeachment from Kyiv

October 14, 2020

Matt Kupfer’s work for an English-language newspaper in Ukraine took a strange turn last August, when President Trump tried to get the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe Biden, his rival in the 2020 election. Suddenly Matt wasn’t covering allegations of corruption in a former Soviet state: instead, charges of abuse of power in Washington followed a paper trail back in Kyiv. It seemed every journalist in America needed Matt as a guide to twists and turns of a country where Russians, Europeans, and Americans were all fighting for influence.

November 29, 2020

Jennifer Almodovar Jimenez ’18 has been named a member of the newest class of Schwarzman Scholars, a prestigious program that provides graduate fellowships based in Beijing, China.

The Schwarzman Fellowship sends scholars to Tsinghua University, one of Beijing's top schools, for a year of study alongside the best and brightest of China and the rest of the world. 

July 3, 2018

Congratulations to IGS Major Danielle Bertaux on receiving a Hiatt World of Work (WOW) Fellowship for social work. Danielle will be interning at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau in Cambridge, MA-- one of the oldest student-run legal services program in the country, founded in 1913.

June 26, 2018

Congratulations to Zosia Busé on receiving the Hiatt World of Work Social Justice Fellowship Award! Zosia will work with Nonviolence International (NI) as the lead intern for the Palestinian project.

July 24, 2018

Congratulations to Hannah Cook on receiving the Hiatt Social Justice WOW Fellowship Award. Hannah will intern at the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).

September 14, 2018

Congratulations to the Alyssa Kann, the recipient of the Alexander P. Heckler/Governor Ann Richards Public Service Hiatt WOW Fellowship! Alyssa will intern with the Bureau of International Organization Affairs (IO) within the Office of Regional Policy Coordination (RPC).

August 16, 2018

Congratulations to Maria Kulchyckyj on receiving Hiatt's Experiential WOW Fellowship! Maria will intern with the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York, NY.

July 31, 2018

Congratulations to Siwar Mansour on receiving the Social Justice WOW award. Siwar will intern with Integrationswerkstatt in Siebengebirgsstrasse, Germany.

July 24, 2018

Congratulations to Rebecca Orbach on receiving the Social Justice WOW fellowship. Rebecca will intern at Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) in Refugee Services, where she will have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of refugees, helping them find employment and build meaningful careers.

July 18, 2018

Congratulations to IGS Major Eli Wasserman on receiving Hiatt's Social Justice WOW Fellowship!  Eli wil be interning with Gardens for Health International (GHI) in Kigali, Rwanda.