Experts and Scholars Begin Third Albright Institute Wintersession

January 4, 2012

Forty young women will learn how to become effective world leaders this month at Wellesley College’s Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs, which kicks off its third Wintersession Institute on January 4, 2012. The institute brings students out of the classroom and into a hands-on world of policy-making.

 "We are witnessing a generational change in the American political scene," said Albright, a member of the Wellesley College class of 1959, when launching the Institute in 2010. "This is the right time—and Wellesley is the right place—to help train a whole new group of young women leaders."

The 40 Albright Fellows represent both the breadth of academic interests and the international diversity of the Wellesley College community. From neuroscience to architecture, the fellows come from 26 different majors in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. The students represent 21 countries, spanning the globe from Alaska to South Africa.

Senior Hilary White, a history and mathematics major from South Paris, Maine, says she is most looking forward to addressing global issues through the lens of her discipline, as well as seeing it through the eyes of other areas of study.

“I believe that the discipline of history should not confine itself to past events but strive to provide explanations of the present and solutions for the future,” she says. “During the Albright Institute, I am excited to work with students from a wide variety of fields, in addition to focusing my own historically minded perspectives, on tackling some of the major issues facing the world today.”

The experience of the Albright Fellows begins with an intensive, three-week course, taught during January session by Wellesley professors, researchers from the Wellesley Centers for Women, and experts in international relations and global policy from around the world. The following summer, Albright Fellows participate in Wellesley-funded internships in the United States and abroad, applying what they have learned to experiences all over the world.

Albright Institute faculty—including experts such as Major General Angela Salinas, the director of the Manpower Management Division, and retired Ambassador Mary Ann Peters—work with students and provide an invaluable perspective on global affairs. 

“I daydream about accomplishing great things,” says Fellow Elena Mironciuc, a Russian and Studio Art major from Beltsy, Moldova. “But in order to improve the quality of life in third-world countries, protect unique ecosystems, or complete a dozen other projects that abound in my head, I need an operational knowledge of international governmental systems and many other skills I don't even know I lack. I hope that my peers and esteemed lecturers will help me translate daydreaming into doing.”   

Full List of 2012 Albright Fellows

  • Bethel Adefres ’12 (Neuroscience) from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • Samaa Ahmed ’13 (Psychology) from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Karachi, Pakistan
  • Misbah Aslam ’13 (Health & Society) from Kansas City, Mo.
  • Eliana Blaine ’13 (Environmental Studies) from Orcas Island, Wash.
  • Carolyn Bonner Campbell ’13 (Economics) from Lewisberg, Penn.
  • Pratibha Chauhan ’13 (Architecture) from Paonta Sahib, India
  • Joanna Concessao ’13 (Neuroscience) from Toronto, Canada
  • Anya Corke ’13 (Russian and Philosophy) from Hong Kong
  • Tenzin Dongchung ’13 (Peace & Justice Studies and Political Science) from Dharamsala, India
  • Cassandra Duarte ’12 (Biological Chemistry) from Lincoln, R.I.
  • Rutendo Gambe ’13 (Neuroscience) from Harare, Zimbabwe
  • Sophia Ghaus ’12 (Neuroscience) from Cupertino, Calif.
  • Aisling Grogan ’12 (Russian Area Studies) from Austin, Texas
  • Marice Guzman ’13 (Political Science and Spanish) from Miami, Fla.
  • Camille Hamilton ’13 (Biological Sciences and French Cultural Studies) from Palos Verdes, Calif.
  • Davina Huang ’13 (History) from Singapore
  • Esther Im ’12 (International Relations/Political Science) from North Little Rock, Ark.
  • Kathryn Alexa Jackson ’13 (Chemistry and Economics) from Bronxville, N.Y.
  • Kimberlee Ann Johnson ’13 (History) from San Antonio, Texas
  • Zoee Kanellias ’13 (Economics) from Needham, Mass.
  • Melanie Kaplan ’12 (Latin American Studies) from La Jolla, Calif.
  • Angela Lee ’13 (History) from New York, N.Y.
  • Elena Mironciuc ’13 (Russian and Studio Art) from Beltsy, Moldova
  • Anna Moses ’13 (History and Political Science) from York, U.K.
  • Evgenia Nizkorodov ’13 (International Relations/Economics) from Novosibirsk, Russia
  • Pin Pravalprukskul ’12 (Environmental Studies) from Bangkok, Thailand
  • Kim Quarantello ’13 (Political Science) from Ridgefield, Conn.
  • Melda Salhab ’13 (Economics and Peace & Justice Studies) from Beiruit, Lebanon
  • Zsofia Schweger ’12 (Studio Art and Comparative Literature) from Budapest, Hungary
  • Karen Scott ’13 (Economics) from Pomfret, Conn.
  • Christina Moriah Smith ’13 (Peace & Justice Studies) from Boston, Mass.
  • Julia Solomon ’13 (Economics) from Sharon, Mass.
  • Cailey D. Stevens ’12 (Economics) from Kodiak, Alaska
  • Jugera Sulejmani ’13 (International Relations/History) from Fier, Albania
  • Deborah Tien ’12 (Astrophysics) from Troy, Mich.
  • Michelle Vogelzang ’13 (Peace & Justice Studies and Biological Sciences) from Durban, South Africa
  • Wendy West ’13 (Women’s & Gender Studies) from Springfield, Mass.
  • Eugenia Camille White ’13 (Chemistry) from Baton Rouge, La.
  • Hilary White ’12 (History and Mathematics) from South Paris, Maine
  • Julia Wucherpfennig ’12 (Biological Sciences) from Brookline, Mass.
  • Lily Zhang ’12 (Physics) from New York, N.Y.  

To learn more about the Albright Institute at Wellesley, visit http://www.wellesley.edu/albright/ .