Laura Abbott is a PhD student in China Studies at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Her research concentrates on Chinese foreign influence strategies and the responses of various countries to Chinese media influence. Laura has a BS from the United States Air Force Academy in Foreign Area Studies, an MA from Stanford University in East Asian Studies, and an MA from the Naval Postgraduate School in Security Studies.

Elizabeth Cherchia

JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Elizabeth Cherchia is a recent graduate from a Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and Tsinghua University dual master’s program, where she focused on China’s infrastructure investments in Southeast Asia, energy finance, and energy security. She holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University, and prior to beginning her graduate studies she spent five years in Haiti working on infrastructure projects spanning public health, transportation, and energy.

David Gitter

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

David Gitter is a PhD student at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and the founder and principal of Erelas LLC. David’s research focuses on deterrence messaging and practice, coercive diplomacy, great power rivalry, and other topics relevant to U.S.-China competition and co-existence. He previously worked in various analytical capacities in the private, public, and non-profit sectors and received his MA in Asian studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University.

Ethan Knecht

NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Ethan Knecht graduated from National Chengchi University’s (NCCU) International Master’s in Asia-Pacific Studies in 2024. His current research focuses on China’s diplomacy in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a particular focus on Chinese foreign policy related to Taiwan. A graduate of Georgetown University, Ethan consulted on East Asian and Latin American issues for government relations executives in Washington, D.C., before moving to Taiwan.

Megan Maxwell

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Megan Maxwell is a PhD student at the University of Chicago. She is interested in how smaller states in South, Southeast, and East Asia cultivate and manage security cooperation with other states in the region in the face of rising tensions between the Unites States and China. Megan is a former James C. Gaither Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a United States Army veteran. She received her BA in Economics and Global Studies from Temple University.

True Sweetser

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: IUP at Tsinghua University

True Sweetser holds a master’s degree in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies from Stanford University, where he also earned a BA in History and Slavic languages and literatures. As he prepares to pursue doctoral studies in history, True hopes to merge his studies of East Europe with his interests in the history of modern China to investigate the varieties of socialism in the twentieth century and international relations among socialist states.

2023–24 Fellows

NBR and the CLFP Advisory Council are pleased to announce the 2023–24 CLFP Fellows. Three PhD fellows will be participating in a 10-month intensive Chinese language program followed by an individualized, one-on-one summer program designed to help develop Chinese language expertise related to their dissertation topics. Five prospective PhD fellows will be participating in a 10-month intensive Chinese language program in preparation for subsequent admission into a PhD program focused on China policy.

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PhD Track Fellows

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Niall Chithelen

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

Chinese Language Program: IUP at Tsinghua University

Niall Chithelen is a PhD candidate in history at UC San Diego. He studies the history of construction, architecture, planning, and the environment. His dissertation focuses on the use and ecological impacts of concrete in Mao-era China. Niall has a BA from Cornell University in history and China and Asia-Pacific Studies, and he previously taught at China Foreign Affairs University through a Princeton-in-Asia fellowship.

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Andrew Devine

TULANE UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Andrew Devine is a PhD student at Tulane University. His research focuses on the relationship between domestic political institutions and Chinese foreign influence strategies. Devine has a MA in contemporary East Asian studies from the University of Duisburg-Essen and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Central Florida.

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Richard Haddock

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Richard J. Haddock is a PhD student in public policy and public administration at the George Washington University. His research focuses on the development of digital government and electronic forms of political participation, with a particular interest in Taiwan and South Korea. He holds an MA in Asian Studies from the George Washington University, and a BA in comparative politics from the University of Central Florida. With a longstanding interest in Taiwan affairs, he has worked at GW as a Program Manager for the East Asia National Resource Center and the Taiwan Education and Research Program, and previously interned at the American Institute in Taiwan and the U.S. Department of State.

Prospective PhD Track Fellows

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Saba Haroon

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-CLEAR LAKE

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Saba Haroon graduated with her MA in digital media studies in 2021 from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and with dual BA degrees in Chinese studies and psychology in 2014 from the University of Houston, in Houston, Texas. Since her undergraduate studies, Saba has devoted herself to Mandarin language studies, efforts which were deepened when she was awarded the Chinese Government Scholarship and spent an academic year studying at Beijing Foreign Studies University in Beijing, China. Saba has also previously undertaken short-term studies at National Taiwan University in Taipei through the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship as well as National Cheng Kung University in Tainan through the Global Ambassador Scholarship Program for the Taiwan-United States Sister Relations Alliance. In 2022, Saba served as the American Executive Committee Chair for the Taiwan-America Student Conference. As she transitions her focus to future doctoral studies, Saba intends to merge her Chinese studies with her interests in visual design, media, and film to understand how artistic elements influence, shape, and impact ethnocentrism in Chinese and American cultures. With the Chinese Language Fellowship Program, Saba seeks to build her Mandarin language proficiency and ultimately obtain professional working fluency to conduct authentic fieldwork and research in Mandarin-dominant communities.

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Euchari Majors

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Euchari Majors is a current MA student in International Studies at the University of Washington Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS). Prior to joining the JSIS China Program, she earned her undergraduate degree in Chinese Studies from Willamette University and taught English in southern China for two years during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her research interests include studies on the social barriers experienced by the African diaspora in Guangzhou, and changes to Taiwanese immigration policies.

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Sean McEvoy

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Sean McEvoy is an MA student in North Carolina State University’s Master of International Studies program. His current research combines Realist and Constructivist perspectives to analyze China’s efforts at bolstering its international soft power through global governance initiatives targeting economic development such as the BRI and the GDI. Before attending NC State, he earned his BA from La Salle University, and later worked for several years in the consumer electronics and automotive manufacturing industries in China.

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Dan Spinelli

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Dan Spinelli is an MA candidate in Georgetown University’s Asian Studies program, where his research focuses on Sino-Indian relations and comparative ethnic policy, looking specifically at China’s treatment of Uyghurs. Before entering graduate school, he worked as a national security reporter at Mother Jones in Washington, D.C. He was born in Philadelphia, where he studied English literature at the University of Pennsylvania (and became a lifelong fan of Philly’s professional sports teams). He hopes to eventually pursue a PhD in public policy or political science with a focus on ethnic policy.

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Alden Taylor

YENCHING ACADEMY OF PEKING UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Alden Taylor received a BA in history with honors from Williams College in 2019 before matriculating to the Yenching Academy of Peking University to pursue an LLM in China Studies (international relations and politics). His scholarship there attempted to historicize the PRC’s vocabulary of great power conflict—in particular, the origins and evolving logic of its discourse of “hegemony.” He moved to Taiwan in 2021 on a 12-month Huayu Enrichment Scholarship. In 2023, he was awarded the Rhode Island Foundation’s Beatrice S. Demers Foreign Language Fellowship and spent the summer at Middlebury’s Chinese School before returning to Taipei.

2022–23 Fellows

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PhD Track Fellows

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DAHLIA HASTA COLMAN

JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Dahlia Hasta Colman is a PhD student at the Johns Hopkin SAIS. Her research focuses on the interplay of domestic politics and foreign policy in China’s relations with neighboring states in South and Southeast Asia. Hasta holds a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s from Sarah Lawrence College. She was a research fellow at Fudan University in Shanghai and previously studied Chinese at Tsinghua University (IUP). Hasta greatly appreciates heritage arts and loves to learn about Chinese calligraphy, ink painting, traditions of architecture, and textiles.

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ELEANOR FREUND

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Eleanor Freund is a PhD candidate in security studies and international relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a substantive interest in Chinese statecraft and security policy. Her dissertation seeks to explain within- and across-case variation in China’s security partnerships with other states from 1949 to 2019. She holds an MA in global affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing, where she was a Schwarzman Scholar, and a BA in political science with highest honors from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining MIT, Eleanor was a research assistant and associate at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow in China Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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GEOFFREY HOFFMAN

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Geoffrey Hoffman is a PhD candidate in political science and international affairs at UC San Diego. He works on internet freedom and cybersecurity with a focus on China and technology firms. He is a researcher at the 21st Century China Center and the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. He holds master’s degrees from Tsinghua University and Columbia University.

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BRIAN O’KEEFE

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Brian O’Keefe is a PhD student in the Department of Government at Cornell University. His research focuses on the foreign and security policies of China and the United States, with particular attention to their microfoundations in political psychology and behavior, and their connections to domestic politics.

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SCOTT SINGER

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Scott Singer is a PhD candidate in International Relations and Clarendon Scholar at the University of Oxford. He is interested in variation in how academics, policymakers, and publics conceptualize security risk, especially in the context of China-UK/EU relations. Scott is co-founder and director of the Oxford China Policy Lab, an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to producing policy relevant-research to mitigate global catastrophic risk for third countries resulting from U.S.-China great power competition. Scott previously received an MPhil in International Relations (Distinction) from Oxford and BA in Economics and Fundamentals: Issues and Texts (Honors) from the University of Chicago.

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Prospective PhD Track Fellows

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IVAN ALBERTO JIMENEZ RAMOS

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Ivan Alberto Jimenez Ramos finished his MA in Asian Studies at Florida International University (FIU) Steven J. Greene School of International Affairs. His research focused on the growing international relations between China and Latin America. It concentrated on how Chinese critical infrastructure capabilities are enticing growing alliances within the Latin American region. In 2019, he served as the American Executive Committee Finance Chair for the Taiwan America Student Conference (TASC) and toured Taiwan for a month as the Cultural Conflict and Identity roundtable leader. He hopes his time in Taiwan will allow him to effectively translate official government documents for future doctoral research on Sino-Latin American state relations. Prior to his graduate program, he received his BA in International Relations at FIU.

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KARUNA NANDKUMAR

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: IUP Chinese Center

Karuna Nandkumar recently completed her MA in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar. Her previous research focused on China’s expanded role in the peacekeeping space and approach to conflict mediation. She hopes to advance her Mandarin ability to conduct comparative research on Chinese and American approaches to peacekeeping abroad. In the long term, she aspires to pursue a diplomatic career. She graduated with a BA in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

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BOBBY ALLAN SHORE

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Bobby Allan Shore is a FLAS Fellow in Stanford University’s Center for East Asian Studies pursuing an M.A. He previously graduated as a Stamps Scholar from the University of Miami triple majoring in Economics, Political Science, and Chinese studies with a minor in Math. Bobby’s research interests include Chinese political economy and tech development in East Asia. Previously, Bobby interned with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Congressional Affairs Office. He seeks to improve his Mandarin proficiency so that he can research Chinese state-directed investment in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.

2021–22 Fellows

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PhD Track Fellows

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ERIC DE ROULET

Eric de Roulet is a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Global Studies at UBC Okanagan. His research focuses on the academic life courses of international students from China and their cost-benefit analyses of studying abroad given the rising tensions in U.S.-China and China-West relations. Mr. de Roulet’s interest in this topic comes from his experiences teaching English as a second language, first at the California State University, Fullerton while earning his MA in applied linguistics and then for two years as a lecturer at Dongbei University of Finance and Economics in northeastern China.

JOHN TOBIN

John Tobin is a PhD student in Chinese and Tibetan history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research focuses on empires, nationalism, and the formation of ethnicity. He is especially interested in how different actors in ethnic border regions use history as a tool for political and social authority, as well as in the reception of state messaging. Prior to graduate school, Mr. Tobin worked as an English teacher for the Colorado China Council and Sichuan University. He received his BA from Marquette University, majoring in history and philosophy, with a minor in Asian studies.

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Prospective PhD Track Fellows

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MARYLIN LONGLEY

Marylin Longley graduated with an MA in political science from Columbia University. Her primary research focused on China-India relations, maritime security in the South China Sea, and economic development in Asia. Prior to embarking on her MA studies, she received a Boren Fellowship to study Hindi in Jaipur, India, where she achieved advanced fluency in both Hindi and Urdu. She received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley. Her other areas of interest include history, critical theory, and international migration flows.

BAILEY MARSHECK

Bailey Marsheck will soon conclude his MA in Chinese Studies (politics and international relations) at the Yenching Academy of Peking University. He focuses on the intersection of political psychology and interstate competition, exploring how public opinion shapes, and is shaped by, the behaviors of national leadership within the U.S.-China relationship. He hopes to obtain a Mandarin capability in order to conduct empirical research via text mining and survey experiments. Mr. Marsheck earned a BA in international economics from UC San Diego.

CHARLEMAGNE MCHAFFIE

Charlemagne McHaffie is a recent graduate of the Security Policy Studies Program at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. His research interests encompass contemporary security issues in Asia and the twentieth century military and political history of China. His contemporary interests include cross-strait tension, Indo-Chinese competition, and maritime security. His historical interests include the early years of the Chinese Communist Party, China’s role in World War II, and the Chinese Civil War. In future doctoral work, Mr. McHaffie hopes to explore how these historical issues inform modern China’s perceptions of its security environment. Before earning his MA, he received a dual degree in mathematics and interdisciplinary physics from the University of Michigan.

2020–21 Fellows

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Benjamin Kletzer

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

Chinese Language Program: IUP Chinese Center

Benjamin Kletzer is a PhD candidate in modern Chinese history at the University of California, San Diego. Before beginning his doctoral studies, he earned a BA in history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and spent three years working as a kindergarten teacher in Beijing. His research focuses on the development of railways in the People’s Republic of China, highlighting the role of the railway working class in constructing a modern industrial nation. His research combines archival history, oral history interviews, and economic analytics to understand how railways contributed to China’s development. Outside of academics, he enjoys railroad photography, rowing, hiking, and traveling.

Adam B. Lee

JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Chinese Language Program: IUP Chinese Center

Adam B. Lee is a PhD candidate in China studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. His current research interests include Chinese foreign policy, U.S.-China relations, cross-strait relations, and East Asian maritime security issues. His dissertation research focuses on China’s policy of deliberate ambiguity with regard to the substance and scope of its South China Sea claims. He received his BA in political science and Asian studies from Williams College and his MA in East Asian studies from Stanford University.

Winslow Robertson

IESE BUSINESS SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF NAVARRA

Chinese Language Program: IUP Chinese Center

Winslow Robertson is a PhD student in the Managing People in Organizations Department of IESE Business School at the University of Navarra. His research focuses on the decision-making structure of Chinese provincial state-owned enterprises as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Prior to IESE Business School, he was the founder and managing member of Cowries and Rice, a China-Africa strategic consultancy. He also worked at Morgan Stanley, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the University of Maryland, College Park, in the Latin American Studies Center. He earned his MA in West African history from Syracuse University and his BA in the same subject from James Madison University.

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2019–20 Fellows

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Wesley Hill

TULANE UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: IUP Chinese Center

Wesley Hill is a PhD student in Political Development at Tulane University, where his research focuses on the many facets of Sino-African relations. Having received a BA in Political Science and History from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as a double major with a focus on diplomatic history, Mr. Hill has opted to pursue a PhD to contribute to understandings of Sino-African and Sino-U.S. relations. His dissertation aims to add nuance to discussions of Sino-African relations by utilizing Chinese sources and perspectives on the mechanisms of interaction between Chinese and African state actors.

Haemin Jee

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: IUP Chinese Center

Haemin Jee is a PhD student in the Political Science Department at Stanford University. Her research interests lie in comparative politics, with a regional focus on China. She examines public opinion, with an emphasis on how government policy can shape citizens’ incentives and opinions. Ms. Jee graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Political Science. Born in South Korea, she moved to the United States at the age of six. Outside of research, she enjoys reading novels and traveling.

Evan Jones

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Evan Jones is a PhD student in Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park. Before coming to Maryland, he earned a BA in International Relations and minored in Mandarin at Oakland University. A China scholar by training and a mathematician at heart, Mr. Jones combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to better understand the economic and media dimensions of China’s influence and how individuals and governments react to the country’s growing presence in their economies and politics. Mr. Jones has studied and conducted fieldwork in Nanjing, China. Beyond academics, he enjoys cooking, traveling, hiking the great outdoors, and playing guitar.

Dexter Lensing

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: IUP Chinese Center (Fall 2019) and CET Harbin Program (Spring 2020)

Dexter Lensing is a PhD student in Political Science at Georgia State University. He received his BA in Political Science from Boise State University. His current research interests include foreign NGOs (INGOs) that operate in China and Chinese foreign policy.

Sarah Sklar

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Chinese Language Program: IUP Chinese Center (Fall 2019) and Middlebury Kunming Program (Spring 2020)

Sarah Sklar is a PhD student in Political Science at Boston University and a predoctoral research fellow at the Pardee School’s Global Development Policy Center. She studies global development and international political economy, with a particular focus on politics and economics in China. Her dissertation research looks at local-central government relations in China and how they influence Belt and Road Initiative projects. Ms. Sklar also uses network analysis to examine global trade and financial networks and China’s role within them. She received her BA in Development Studies from Brown University and worked in international education before attending graduate school.

Nel Yang

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN

Chinese Language Program: ICLP at National Taiwan University

Nel Yang is a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Texas, Austin. His research focuses on the impact of data and finance technologies at the Hong Kong–Shenzhen border. He completed his MA in 2018, in which he focused on the transformations of identity and labor mediated by mobile wallets. Prior to graduate school, Mr. Yang worked in public health and community organizing with Asian American, LGBTQ, and youth communities in Boston. He received his BA from Wesleyan University, where he majored in Anthropology and minored in Spanish. Other areas of intellectual interest include theory, pedagogy, and descriptive writing.