HANA AGHA

Hana Agha is a sophomore from Amman, Jordan. She was born in Kuwait and spent 16 years in Jordan before coming to Tufts. She has always been interested in global topics and ethical debates. Hana was a member of her school's Model United Nations and traveled with them to Cairo and The Hague. She was an organizing member of the Amman Model United Nations conference. She has a broad range of interests, from conflicts to writing to finding numerous yet entertaining ways to spend time. Her indecisiveness over everything means she has yet to settle on a major and decide in which way she will choose to illuminate the world with her wise, delightful character, but she hopes that EPIIC will inspire her. Oh, and she is a skilled, masterful mountain-climber.

DAVID AXELROD

David Axelrod is a senior born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. A political science major, David took a year off after his sophomore year at Tufts to travel to Ecuador where he taught English in a Quito elementary school and helped develop eco-tourism in an indigenous community.   Afterwards, he traveled to Japan to resume the study of Japanese he had begun as a freshman at Tufts. The stark contrast between the societies and his experiences within them cultivated his appreciation for the study of development through different social, cultural, and historical contexts. David also spent last summer in Israel traveling and exploring journalism and media studies. An avid athlete, David spends much of his spare time enjoying activities as diverse as basketball, dancing, yoga, and martial arts.  

ERIN BALDASSARI

Erin Baldassari is a sophomore from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, where she learned to mountain bike, ski and scale trees. She went to high school in the Bay Area and turned her eyes from the evergreen forests to the urban jungles. She deferred from Tufts after high school to take her first trip abroad, volunteering and traveling for ten months in Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina where she learned Spanish. She is interested in photojournalism and documentary studies and recently completed a photo essay on the youth of Kashmir during the EXPOSURE workshop. Erin studies International Relations with a focus on Urban Planning.

JESSICA BIDGOOD

Jessica Bidgood is a sophomore hoping to double major in International Relations and Philosophy (while squeezing in as many English courses as she possibly can). A British native, she has spent most of her life living in various parts of the United States. Jessica is an aspiring journalist whose assignments have allowed her to explore a variety of topics from Tufts students' bizarre superstitious habits to the religious composition of Kashmir, where she participated in an EXPOSURE workshop this past summer. This year, she hopes to take her exploration of religion further by examining the points of contact between religion and poverty. She also looks forward to examining power concentration in the underdeveloped world.

RENEE BIRENBAUM

Renee Birenbaum is an IR and Econ major who chose not to go abroad as a junior, and hopes that EPIIC will help make up for it. She was born in northern New Jersey (which is a perfectly lovely place to grow up, for your information!) to parents from Moscow, and Russian was her first language. An example of Renee's active citizenship: in fifth grade she started a petition for a less-mind-numbingly-boring English curriculum. She has been involved with Tufts groups like NIMEP, ESI, the Chamber Singers, and also plays the piano. Renee hopes to take advantage of the many IGL resources, and perhaps go on a research trip over winter break - destination as yet undecided, but she's open to suggestions. She plans on going to grad school in international affairs, but before that probably working abroad in some capacity, hopefully in development or humanitarian aid. This summer she took a class at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs on The Politics of Human Rights, which really refined her perspective on what she wants to contribute to the world. She cares deeply about the alleviation of suffering, both of people and the environment. In her spare time, she's working on a fantasy book with her best friend.

RACHEL BROWN

MONICA CAMACHO

Monica Camacho is a Tufts senior majoring in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies. She is a dual citizen with the United States and Mexico, and grew up in Vienna, Austria. She studied abroad last year in Oman, Jordan, and in Egypt, and her interests include conflict management and transitional justice.

LAUREN CITROME

Lauren Citrome is a sophomore from Suffern, New York.   An International Relations major at Tufts, Lauren pursued her interest in political science at Choate Rosemary Hall by completing a Capstone Project on Constitution-making during her senior year.   This past summer, Lauren spent six weeks studying and living in Talloires, France.    

SAM DUPONT

Sam duPont is a senior from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, majoring in International Relations. After spending a summer in central China teaching English, he returned for the fall of his junior year to study Mandarin at Beijing University. He has concentrated much of his academic work at Tufts on US-China political and economic relations. This past summer, Sam focused his attention on journalism--writing and editing for Foreign Policy magazine and ForeignPolicy.com. He then traveled to Kashmir, where he practiced his photo and journalism skills firsthand in a workshop with EXPOSURE. In addition to taking pictures and writing, Sam plays ultimate frisbee with the Tufts E-Men, hikes in the White Mountains and feels passionately about crossword puzzles.

JJ EMRU

Joseph "Bonecrusher" Emru began his wrestling career in 1984 after meeting Hulk Hogan in a supermarket looking at steaks. His meteoric rise to fame started with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1993, wrestling under the name Terra Ryzing. Following a dramatic cage-match defeat to Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake in 1996, Joseph abruptly retired from Professional Wrestling, took the moniker "J.J.," and enrolled at Tufts University as a major of International Relations. J.J. has since re-dedicated his life to more intellectual pursuits, spending the past summer working for Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign in his native New York, and the summer prior examining conflict resolution at the Toledo International Center for Peace, in Madrid, Spain. When not keeping honed his patented "Atomic Leg Drop," J.J. volunteers on-campus for National Student Partnerships and assiduously continues campaigning for Senator Obama. J.J. is passionate about traveling and understanding new cultures, and after his graduation in 2008 J.J. hopes to one day find himself arbitrating peace negotiations or organizing community action groups at the farthest reaches of the earth. Whether through Professional Wrestling or by way of public service, J.J. hopes in the end to leave his mark on the world by improving the lives of the people around him.

DANIEL ENKING

As a sophomore and an International Relations/Economics double major, Daniel Enking looks forward to the many adventures that lie ahead for this year's EPIIC class. His involvement with the IGL began as a freshman participating in the Energy Security Initiative (ESI), where he participated in renewable energy research in Colorado, carbon cap-and-trade research in Brussels, Belgium and is now the group's membership director. Daniel is also the President of Marketing and Project Development for a start-up company called Emergent Energy Group, which is run entirely by Tufts students. The company develops wind farms and aids communities in developing their own small wind projects. In his bountiful spare time, Daniel enjoys hiking, skiing, Ultimate Frisbee and various arts. Since he was six, his life ambitions have included a desire to climb Mt. Everest and to travel into outer space.

TIM FITZSIMONS

Tim Fitzsimons is a second year International Relations major.   His interest in the EPIIC topic of global poverty and inequality draws upon his interest in the workings of global migrant labor flows, and particularly the flow of undocumented labor in and out of the developed world.   He is a member of the New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP), and EXPOSURE, the IGL's organization for photojournalism, documentary studies, and human rights, and recently returned from a workshop in Kashmir.   He is interested in making pictures work.

HANNAH FLAMM

Hannah Flamm is a junior majoring in Political Science.   After several summers working on community development projects in El Salvador, she became interested in understanding the dynamics of rural and urban poverty.   She spent the summer of 2006 working at an immigrant services center in Washington, DC, through Tufts' Career Services Internship Grant and the summer of 2007 in El Salvador researching the prospect of gold and silver mining there through Tufts' International Relations Program's Anne E. Borghesani Memorial Prize.   Hannah is currently participating in an initiative of The Project on Justice in Times of Transition on Central American youth civic engagement and youth violence.

GABE FRUMKIN

LIZ FUSCO

Liz Fusco is a Junior from Brooklyn, New York.   She is a Peace and Justice Studies major and an Africa in the New World minor.   At Tufts, Liz is co-chair of the Tufts Feminist Alliance and works at the Fair Trade student-run coffee shop on campus.   This past summer, she worked at a nonprofit in New York, providing social services to recently resettled refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from Western Africa, and hopes to pursue Refugee and Migration issues in the future.   She loves reading, home-cooked Italian food, and all things Brooklyn.

MADELINE GARDNER

Madeline Gardner is a sophomore majoring in Engineering Science. She was born and has lived most of her life in Bermuda. She is interested in researching the development and economic and social state of small island nations. Previously, she has been involved with Model United Nations, the Bermuda Sail Training program and debating societies. At Tufts, she is on the Tufts sailing team, plays classical guitar, and intends to work with Engineers Without Borders this year.

RACHEL GEYLIN

Rachel Geylin is senior double majoring in International Relations and Spanish, with a minor in Communications and Media Studies.   She was born and raised in Northern New Jersey.   As a freshman and sophomore at Tufts, Rachel was active in EXPOSURE and the Tufts Observer as a photographer and photography editor.   In August 2005, she traveled to Prizren, Kosovo to participate in an EXPOSURE photojournalism workshop with VII photographer Gary Knight and Mort Rosenblum, former editor of the International Herald Tribune .   This first venture outside of the United States was quickly followed by trips to Peru and London. Having been bitten by the travel bug, Rachel spent her junior year studying in Buenos Aires and Mendoza, Argentina.   During that time, she returned to Peru and visited Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.   Her summers have been spent as an intern at VII Photographer James Nachtwey's studio and at ABC News.

TENLEY GHAN

Tenley Ghan is a sophomore hailing from just outside Seattle, WA, from which she is well learned in the ways of rain and Starbucks coffee.   Tenley is studying International Relations and Community Health and is currently a co-chair for the Tufts HIV/AIDS Collaborative.   Her primary area of interest is global health issues and their link to poverty, and she hopes to find the means to translate this passion into a tangible mechanism for change with EPIIC this year.   Although spare time is sometimes hard to come by, Tenley loves to play soccer, go to movies on opening night, and draw.

JEFF GOLDBERG

Jeff Goldberg is a senior at Tufts, majoring in International Relations and Spanish. This past summer, Jeff discovered his passion for water-related issues while working as a consultant in the Department of Sustainable Development of the Organization of American States, during which time he traveled to Guatemala and presented a paper on watershed valuation at the VI Inter-American Dialogue on Water Resource Management. Beyond water, Jeff's academic interests span a wide spectrum, ranging from human rights, to transitional justice and sustainable development. Outside of EPIIC, Jeff is captain of the men's swimming and diving team and an active member of Tisch College's Citizenship and Public Service Scholar's program, in which he co-coordinates the Community Language Bank in Somerville, an organization that provides affordable translation and interpretation services to the greater Somerville community. Jeff also spent a semester of his junior year studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A lover of dogs, the outdoors, good conversation, travel, dancing and Harry Potter books, Jeff grew up in Brookfield , CT and is excited about the intellectual opportunity that EPIIC will provide him this year.

LIZ GROSS

Liz Gross is a junior majoring in Peace and Justice Studies and Economics. In an attempt to join these two disciplines, she spent the summer of 2007 working with KLD Research and Analytics, a Boston-based, socially responsible investment (SRI) research firm. At Tufts, Liz has been highly involved in Pangea, a student organization promoting humanitarian action and global awareness.   With Pangea, she worked on issues ranging from the genocide in Darfur, to refugee resettlement, to the need for transparency and responsiveness in the Tufts endowment.   Next summer, she hopes to do research on the state of economic development in South America. In her spare time, Liz enjoys practicing yoga, performing children's theater, and taking trips to the beach.

ELIZABETH HERMAN

Elizabeth Herman, known as Biz, hails from Newton, Massachusetts and is a sophomore leaning strongly towards an Economics major and a Communications and Media Studies Minor.   Ever since she first heard the word 'microfinance' last year, she's been hungry to learn more, and when the opportunity to take EPIIC and immerse herself in the world of economic development arose, she leaped at the opportunity.   Biz can also be seen leaping when she's performing with the Traveling Treasure Trunk, Tufts' children's theater troupe.   Just as Trunk combines her love of education and theater, she hopes to continue to find other ways to bring her varied interests together; she would love to study abroad in Africa, researching microfinance and creating a documentary to inform about the desperate need for poverty alleviation.

JESSICA HERRMANN

Jessica Herrmann is a junior majoring in economics. She is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, although her family just recently moved to Chicago. Her interest in the causes and effects of poverty started in high school when she spent a month in Klong Toey, the worst slum in Bangkok. Here Jessica had the opportunity to work directly with those in need and see the hardships of their lives.   This past summer she spent two months in Chile working in a preschool for children who have experienced domestic violence.   Jessica is also a member of the Women's Varsity Squash Team at Tufts.

SHANA HURLEY

Shana Hurley is a sophomore from Weston, CT. She plans to major in international relations with a concentration in political theory. Academically, she is interested in questions of justice, human rights, and international law. For this year's colloquium, she is intrigued by concepts of political will, resource scarcity, and the intersection of poverty with violence. At Tufts, Shana is the secretary of the Tufts Democrats and co-director of Tufts Votes, a non-partisan initiative using voter registration, education, and mobilization to empower young people. She is also a DJ for WMFO's "Sandcastle Plots and Plans," a Tisch Residential Leader in Haskell Hall, and involved in various outlets for social justice. When she isn't hanging out at Tisch Library, she digs armchair punditry, sing-alongs, good reads, Connecticut, and laughing.

SAM JAMES

Sam is a junior from Cincinnati, Ohio in the combined degree program with Tufts and the School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He is a Synaptic Scholar of the Institute for Global Leadership, as well as a member of the photojournalism and human rights group EXPOSURE. In January 2007, Sam's interest in the urban environment brought him to Lagos, Nigeria, where he researched the megacity. Through EXPOSURE, he worked with photographer Gary Knight and journalist Mort Rosenblum in Indian-administered Kashmir. Sam has spent summers in Cincinnati making public art with ArtWorks and coaching soccer. He is an avid supporter of Arsenal Football Club and a two-year member of the Tufts varsity soccer team. Sam greatly enjoys food. .

ANGI KANG

Angi Kang is a senior International Relations and Community Health major born in South Korea and raised in New Jersey. Her interests include global health and sustainability, fighting for justice, and art for social change. She has been involved in multiple performances with the Tufts Drama Department and is club director of the Tufts Timmy Foundation, as well as co-chair of the IR Directors Leadership Council. Angi spent last semester in Madrid, Spain, and this past summer in Seoul, South Korea on two different study abroad programs. She is excited to be back on campus and doing EPIIC during her last year at Tufts.

HENA KAPADIA

Hena Kapadia is a freshman from Bombay (now Mumbai) and is thinking of majoring in either International Relations or Economics. She took a year off after high school and spent a part of it working with a Non-Governmental Organization called Akanksha in Bombay, where she was involved in teaching slum children basic English and Math. She also worked with a publishing company and traveled to several places from Sevilla to Shimla in the same time. She is interested in technical drama and has been a production manager in high school.

LAURA KAPLAN

Laura Kaplan is a sophomore, majoring in International Relations and possibly Spanish or Peace and Justice Studies. Although she comes from New York, she is a big fan of Boston and loves being a student at Tufts. After volunteering in Northern Israel last January and in rural Honduras in March, Laura became very interested in the power dynamics between majority and minority groups and hopes to eventually research ways through which minority groups can empower themselves. At Tufts, Laura is involved in Hillel and teaches English to Spanish immigrants in the Somerville area. When not studying, Laura loves to run, speak Spanish, take walks, and be in the relaxing company of her friends.

PIYALI KUNDU

Piyali Kundu's family, homes, and interests are all over the place! Born in Calcutta, India, her family now lives in New York City, and she has lived in Bulgaria as an exchange student during high school and in Yemen this past summer as a volunteer and student. Travel and seeing the world as "a classroom" has been a continuously ingrained value in her life and having family and friends throughout the world has been a great resource to learn and grow. Coming from a family of doctors, her major interest lies in health issues, especially public health and the tremendous impact it can have on communities. Since coming to Tufts, she has found a strong inclination for the International Relations and Community Health programs and hopes to pursue research in international health issues, especially in the developing communities she has lived and visited in Calcutta, Bulgaria, and Yemen. Along with participating in EPIIC this year, she is also a sophomore Citizenship and Public Service Scholar at the Tisch College and is looking to tie in her opportunities there as a global active citizen with the knowledge she gains in EPIIC and through the classes in her major. She is also a sister at Chi Omega and participates in a human rights magazine here at Tufts.

DAVID MOK

David Mok was originally born in Hong Kong, grew up in downtown Chicago, then moved back to Hong Kong when he was 12 to attend two different international schools, and he is now attending Tufts as a sophomore! He is an International Relations major with an Economics concentration in finance, and he is also minoring in entrepreneurial leadership. He might even major in economics as well. In terms of global poverty, he is interested in the areas of power dynamics and in approaching poverty in non-conventional ways.   An example is promoting transparency among elites that will force them to use their enormous influence to spur social development as opposed to exploiting the system for personal gain. In his free time, if he's not traveling to cool places such as Fiji or Boracay, he loves playing basketball, wakeboarding and meeting new people.

COURTNEY MORRISSEY

Courtney Morrissey is a sophomore at Tufts majoring in International Relations with a concentration in economic development.   She enjoys politics and is an active member of the Tufts University Democrats and solved the problem of having to choose a presidential candidate by volunteering for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in New Hampshire.   In the spring of 2007, she served as a legislative intern for State Representative Carl Sciortino, working on a bill to provide low-income housing for Greater Boston families.   A certified scuba diver, she also enjoys opera, grocery shopping, and predicting the annual Academy Awards.   This past summer she interned for Congresswoman Louise Slaughter and took part in a service trip to Guatemala, where she became particularly interested in rural poverty in Latin America.   She is interested in NGO work and microfinance and looks to continue her studies of low-income communities in EPIIC this year.

DANNY NEGLESS

Danny Negless calls Washington State his home and has lived there with his mother for 17 years. Then, granted the 2007 CBYX congressional scholarship to study in Germany for a school year, he learned German and had the opportunity to see 14 countries in Europe. He is now a freshmen studying at Tufts as a probable International Relations major, though Economics or Political Science majors are possible. He hopes to work in either a diplomatic setting or international law.

NNENNA OKOYE

Nnenna Okoye is a freshman planning to major in Biochemistry. Her wonderful Nigerian parents emigrated from Nigeria to Vienna, Austria, where she was born and lived until she was ten.   She later moved to Delaware, Chicago and to a boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts. Always ready for a change, she exchanged a year of high school for an amazing study abroad experience in China her junior year. While abroad, she conducted a survey on the use of traditional medicine and visited many herbal medicine centers. She can't live without her passport, books and faith. Looking ahead, she hopes to be a field doctor and president of Medecins Sans Frontieres. Nnenna is excited about this year's colloquium, especially in the context of equity in health and healthcare.

ALY PITTMAN

Aly Pittman is a native of Houston, TX and a sophomore at Tufts.   She is majoring in International Economics and Community Health and is also learning Chinese. She lived abroad for most of her schooling, attending elementary school in Aberdeen, Scotland and middle and high school in Jakarta, Indonesia. Growing up in a community of corporate ex-patriots, she became interested in the roles multinational corporations play in both sustainable development and the perpetuation of income disparities.   Returning to Houston to graduate from high school, Aly became highly involved in the Junior Statesmen of America program and began to take an interest in US welfare and health policy.   As an international food junkie, she can tell you where to get the best, tamales, pao de quiejo or Thai curry in Somerville.

ARIANNA RUBIN

Arianna Rubin was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. A member of the class   of 2009, she is currently double majoring in International Relations and Community Health.   She has participated with Tufts Timmy Foundation where she delivered medical relief to rural communities in the Dominican Republic. She is also in her third year of working as a case manager and advocate for local homeless and indigent community members through the organization National Student Partnerships-Somerville. This past summer she interned with the U.S. State Department in the Political Section of the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.   In the spring, she plans to study abroad in South Africa where she will study reconciliation, development, and community building. She loves to dance, travel, run, and generally be silly! After college Arianna plans to pursue a career in the field of global health.

VALERIE SCHENKMAN

Valerie Schenkman is a combined-degree undergraduate at Tufts University in Medford, MA and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA. She is anticipating a BA in both International Letters and Visual Studies (ILVS) and Peace and Justice Studies (PJS), as well as a BFA in Visual Studies. She is currently establishing a Tufts chapter of Jonathan Kozol's national education activist group, Education Action!, photographing, and tutoring at local public schools. The EPIIC topic, Global Poverty and Inequality, is an extension of both her extracurricular and academic interests and involvement.

ALLISON SCHUSTER

Allison Schuster is a junior majoring in political science. After graduating from Lebanon High School in New Hampshire, Allison spent six months in El Salvador working with two former Peace Corps volunteers on rural development projects. Allison's experiences in El Salvador pushed her to join Tufts Engineers Without Borders when she arrived on campus as a freshman. For the last two years she has been working with the student organization on a rural water distribution and purification project in San Jose Villanueva, El Salvador. This year, in addition to continuing work on the water project in El Salvador, she is serving as the Tufts EWB chapter president.

AUSTIN SIADAK

Austin Siadak is a sophomore hailing from the beautiful city of Seattle, Washington.   He plans to double major in International Relations and Peace and Justice Studies at Tufts and has joined this year's EPIIC program because it deals directly with many of his strong interests, including the relationship between natural resources, conflict and development; the political economy of civil conflict; and the role of corruption in developing states.   At Tufts he is co-chair of the Refugee Committee for Pangea, a member of Pangea's Honduras committee, treasurer of the on-campus percussion group B.E.A.T.S, and a member of the Tufts Buddhist Sangha, among many other activities.   In his free time he enjoys playing basketball, hanging out with his cats, reading, playing drums, meditating, and hiking.   This past summer he was a legislative intern for Climate Solutions, an environmental organization based out of Seattle, went on a sixty mile hike in the Olympic Mountains with his best friends, and spent two weeks building latrines and practicing his Spanish in northwestern Honduras.

JULIA SILBERMAN

Julia Silberman is a freshman this year from Somers, NY who thinks she will major in international relations. She is passionate about and interested in economic development and especially how US foreign policy has affected other nations. These interests were developed on trips to Nicaragua throughout high school. She has also become interested in how corruption and money laundering affects and creates poverty. She can't wait to travel with EPIIC and other Tufts programs.   In her spare time, Julia plays softball for Tufts and loves to water-ski and sail.

LEAH STAUB-DELONG

Leah Staub-DeLong is a senior from Seattle, Washington, majoring in American Studies and Community Health. She is particularly interested in Latin America and has spent three summers working on small-scale development projects in Honduras, Mexico, and Panama. Leah's experiences abroad have not only deepened her interest in Latin America, but have also led her to develop an interest in immigration issues within the United States, which she has pursued in part through her projects with the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. Leah spent the second semester of her junior year in Quito, Ecuador, and looks forward to continued travel in the coming years. In addition to travel, Leah enjoys dancing and learning as much as possible from the people she meets.

HELAINA STEIN

Helaina Stein is a sophomore at Tufts University majoring in International Relations, hoping to pursue a career in diplomacy and/or NGO work. Growing up in rural Goldens Bridge, NY gave her a passion to see the world and learn everything possible about it. Helaina spent the summer of 2007 interning at the New York Stem Cell Foundation, as well as participating in the Tufts Wilderness Orientation Support Staff. At Tufts, Helaina is actively involved in Pangea, Tufts' global outreach and awareness organization, in which she is co-chairing the Refugee/IDP Committee this year. She is currently a volunteer manager at Oxfam Café on campus, and is the captain of an intramural field hockey team. Helaina is excited at the prospect of studying abroad in Senegal next year. Her academic interests include conflict negotiation, economic development and microfinance, and refugee issues. In her spare time, Helaina enjoys playing piano, running, Boggle, and seeing the world.

KELSI STINE

Kelsi Stine is a sophomore and thrilled to be participating in this year's EPIIC colloquium, which coincides with her growing interests in transitional justice, conflict, and refugees. As a native of San Diego, her undergraduate experience is shaped by the pursuit of a double major in International Relations and Peace and Justice Studies while struggling to cope with cold winters. She first became interested in global issues and social awareness through three years on her high school's Speech and Debate team and through spending a summer as an exchange student in Argentina. Kelsi's most recent personal and academic venture occurred this past summer in Ghana at a refugee camp where she taught adult literacy and independently researched the impact of aid and resettlement initiatives on Liberian refugees.   In addition to presenting her research to campus and community organizations, Kelsi currently works as a Residential Assistant and volunteers at soup kitchens through the Leonard Carmichael Society. In her spare time she enjoys reading, going to the gym, baking, traveling, and swing dancing.

PHOENIX TSO

Phoenix Tso is a sophomore at Tufts, majoring in international relations with a concentration in African Studies. This year she hopes to do fieldwork in Africa related to microfinance or something else to do with poverty alleviation. She will be traveling to Kenya this winter break on a service trip related to HIV/AIDS. Last year she participated in Pangea, Tufts' human rights organization, as part of the Darfur group.   She helped plan a few protests, as well as the group's Symbolic Refugee Camp, which raised $6,000 for Mapendo International, an NGO that resettles and assists refugees at the highest risk of danger/neglect.

MATTHEW WEINBERG

Matthew Weinberg, a native New Yorker, is currently a senior at Tufts majoring in International Relations.   He spent the spring of his junior year in Istanbul studying at Bo ? azici University, and in the summer, he interned with the Department of Defense's Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP).   On campus, Matthew is a board member of ALLIES and works part-time in the undergraduate admissions office.   Academically he is interested in Middle Eastern and South Asian studies as well as military transformation.   In his free time Matthew enjoys playing tennis, going to concerts, trying new restaurants and supporting his beloved New York Mets.

RACHEL WENGER

Rachel Wenger is an International Relations major and has recently become a member of the class of 2009. She came to Tufts with the intention of graduating in 2008, but plans changed when she took off for West Africa in what would have been her junior year. She spent seven months in Burkina Faso teaching and helping at the clinic of a boarding school for children from poor families. Born in the United States, she lived the second decade of her life with her family in Switzerland and India. Wherever she is, she loves to play outside - whether it be hiking, climbing, skiing - and to sing.

ADAM WHITE

Adam White is from Los Angeles, California.   This year he is a junior at Tufts in the engineering school.   In EPIIC he hopes to combine his interests in civil engineering in infrastructure and transportation with his interests in global development to tackle this year's theme.   Adam spent his summer studying at the Tufts European Center in Talloires, France, before traveling on a service-learning trip to Buenos Aires.   At Tufts, he is a resident adviser in a first-year dorm, a team-member of tuftslife.com, and a member of Engineers Without Borders.   He also works for AV services and is a returning tour guide and current coordinator.   He has produced two student films and worked at Universal Studios Hollywood as a ride operator on Back to the Future the Ride.