Summer 2010 Interns

(From Left to Right):

Maryam Rokhideh is graduating June 2010 from the University of California, Irvine, with a major in International Studies and minors in Comparative Literature and Conflict Resolution.  She is a certified mediator with Orange County and serves as the student representative on the executive board of UCI's Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, directed by Paula Garb.  Maryam has studied and worked in Cameroon and traveled throughout various regions of that country. She is the president of Sigma Iota Rho, the International Studies Honors Society, is active in Model United Nations, and is a member of the Pre-Law Society and of UNICEF.  Maryam is on the Dean's list and is a recipient of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award. She is proficient in French and fluent in Farsi. 

Paige Wopschall is a senior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with a major in Social Sciences and a minor in International Relations.  Within her major, her concentration is in International Development and Cross-Cultural Studies.  Paige has studied at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), where she took courses in Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in International Politics; Human Trafficking in Europe; Holocaust and Genocide; and European Union. During her time in Copenhagen she also took time for a number of field study trips; these included a visit to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, and another to Brussels to interview a senior-level policy advisor from UNICEF.  In 2009, Paige interned with Lifewater International, an international development organization based in San Luis Obispo. She researched hygiene, water, and sanitation and helped to create educational curriculum to be used in communities in Uganda and Mozambique. Paige has also gone on a service-learning trip to the Dominican Republic to work with young girls and abused women, and has been active in various organizations affiliated with the National Charity League.

Gavin Koenig is a senior at the University of San Diego, majoring in International Relations with minors in Peace and Justice Studies and Spanish.  He is in the University of San Diego Honor Program, is a recipient of a USD Trustee Merit Scholarship, and is on the Dean's List.  Gavin studied in Guadalajara, Mexico in the summer of 2008 and n Barcelona, Spain in the fall of 2009.  He has volunteered at the Guadalajara Orphanage, with the Snowboard Outreach Society, and with the Winter Special Olympics. Gavin is currently conducting research on the International Criminal Court, as part of two academic projects.  The first, his Peace and Justice Studies capstone, will focus on the issue of United States membership in the ICC.  The second, for his honors thesis, is on the present situation in Uganda and the question of whether to grant amnesty to Joseph Kony.

Elizabeth Dean is a senior at the University of California at Berkeley, majoring in Development Studies with a minor in Music.  She spent the spring 2010 semester in a Spanish immersion study abroad program in Córdoba, Spain.  During that time she interned with the World Fair Trade Organization, translating documents and developing the WFTP official website.  In August 2009, Elizabeth was as an education team leader with Global HEED (Health, Education and Economic Development), a health-services nongovernmental organization, serving in the village of Calhuitz in Huehuetenango, a department in western Guatemala.  In that capacity she worked with local community leaders to conduct interviews with community members about their resources and educational needs, and facilitated discussion with fellow education team members to develop and modify interview questions that addressed the community needs and were sensitive to Guatemalan culture.  Elizabeth has also worked at Galileo Learning Summer Camp in Oakland, and volunteered with an energy conservation campaign of CalPIRG (California Student Public Interest Research Group), among others.  Elizabeth has intermediate Spanish language skills.

Sarah Montgomery is a junior with senior standing at the University of California, San Diego, double majoring in Political Science-International Relations and Philosophy with a minor in Human Rights.  She served at UCSD as a College Ambassador, is enrolled in Thurgood Marshall College Honors Program, and is a part of the Pi Sigma Alpha Political Honors Society. She is also Director of Scholarship for Delta Gamma Fraternity in La Jolla, and has been named Greek Scholar on the Rise.  Sarah is an active member of Amnesty International, of Schools for Schools which raises money for Sacred Heart Secondary School for Women in Uganda, and UNASD. She is certified in International Humanitarian Law, receiving a certificate from the American Red Cross, San Diego/Imperial Chapter. Sarah plans on volunteering with Alliance for African Assistance this summer and will be traveling in Argentina in 2011. Sarah has intermediate Spanish language skills.