Fall 2011 Interns

Meghan Auker Becker received her B.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies from Swarthmore College, with minors in Latin American Studies and Spanish, in May 2011. Previously, she studied print journalism at the University of Montana.  During the summer of 2010, Meghan interned at Project Amigo, working with preschool, middle-school, and college students at a migrant worker camp in the state of Colima in west-central Mexico. In earlier years, she volunteered at Project Amigo's Vision Clinic, working as a translator and acuities tester. Meghan wrote her senior thesis on alternative justice mechanisms, with emphasis on truth and reconciliation commissions in South America.  She also has worked in marketing fair trade products and as an intern/peer counselor to survivors of sexual assault at her university's Student Assault Resource Center.  Meghan hails from Applegate, Oregon, and is conversational in Spanish and Italian.

Felicia Gomez is a USD senior, majoring in International Relations and Spanish with a minor in Peace and Justice Studies.  From July through November 2010, she studied at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Felicia has been active through Community Service Learning, working for over three years as a tutor at Linda Vista Elementary.  She also serves as the co-president and co-chair of the action committee of the USD chapter of Amnesty International; volunteers at the Character through Literacy Juvenile Hall Program; and has interned at the Trans-Border Institute, working in the Justice in Mexico Project.  In January 2010, Felicia traveled to Naivasha in Kenya's Rift Valley to serve as an elementary school teacher with Fadhili Helpers.  Felicia has interned at the United Nations Association of San Diego and has volunteered at numerous other organizations.  She is proficient in Spanish.

Andrew Paul received his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, with minors in Geography and Peace and Conflict Studies, earning a Certificate in Peace and Conflict Studies. He studied the effects of globalization on Polynesian people as well as the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) while attending University of Otago, Dunedin, in New Zealand. Andy's focus at the University of Colorado, Boulder, was based upon geopolitics in the Asian subcontinent and how geostrategy (namely related to China and India) has affected human rights. During the summer of 2011, he served as a Wilderness Management Intern in Inyo National Forest with the Conservation Association – United States Forest Service.  Andrew earned a Wilderness First Responder Certificate, sponsored by the Wilderness Medicine Institute.  He studied Spanish at the Estudio Sampere in Alicante, Spain, and served as a People to People Student Ambassador in Australia and New Zealand. Andrew participated in the Conference on World Affairs in Boulder, Colorado, in 2009 and 2011.  He speaks conversational Spanish.

Shabnaz Yousefia is studying for an M.A. in Peace and Justice Studies at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, where she is specializing in conflict analysis and resolution and studying gender-specific human rights abuses. For her capstone research during the summer of 2011, she worked at an organization in Nepal that combats human trafficking.  Shabnaz was born in Iran, but lived in Sweden for most of her childhood. She earned her B.A. in global studies and international relations from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2004. As an undergraduate, Shabnaz interned with Amnesty International, researching country-specific human rights abuses and recruiting human rights specialists. She also volunteered for PAX 2100, teaching peacebuilding activities to elementary school children. In 2003, Shabnaz studied abroad in India and conducted research on Mahatma Gandhi's satyagraba (non-violent resistance) movement. Motivated by the resilience and courage of women in India, she later organized a fundraiser for the Global Fund for Women. Before coming to USD, Shabnaz served as constituent representative for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, assisting California residents with pending immigrant visa applications and obtaining emergency visas for individuals needing urgent medical care in the United States.