We’re thrilled to announce the appointment of three outstanding new fellows for 2019-2021 who will launch their fellowships over the next few months:
Elizabeth Hawkins
(El Salvador, 2019-2021)
Push factors leading to emigration and asylum seeking
Elizabeth will spend her fellowship based in El Salvador as a Critchfield Fellow, studying the push factors that lead so many to emigrate and seek asylum in the United States, with a focus on women who have experienced gender-based violence. She will document the impact of changing US immigration policy on the lives of Salvadorans and connect with human rights advocates and others who are working to improve conditions for women and their families.
After graduating from the University of Washington School of Law in 2010, Elizabeth founded a humanitarian immigration law practice in Seattle. She has represented hundreds of individuals and families as they navigate the US legal system, with an emphasis on advocating for those who have been subjected to abuse. Prior to law school, Elizabeth majored in English literature at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and studied abroad in England and Spain.
David Kenner
(Saudi Arabia, 2019-2021)
Economic change
David will explore the economic changes underway in Saudi Arabia. With 60 percent of Saudis under 30 years of age, the kingdom is poised for massive transformation in the years to come. He will focus on how the new generation of Saudis is adapting to that change, and its members’ hopes for the years ahead.
David has reported widely from across the Middle East for more than a decade. He was Foreign Policy‘s Middle East editor from 2013 until 2018, when he guided the magazine’s regional coverage while based in Egypt and Lebanon. He reported on the upheaval in Cairo that followed Hosni Mubarak’s fall from power, and has spent the past several years tracking Syria’s increasing fragmentation. He has also covered political developments in Libya, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and the Gaza Strip, and has written frequently for The Atlantic over the past year.
A lifelong student of Arabic, David is a graduate of Georgetown University, and also attended the American University of Beirut. He is particularly interested in how American values and interests intersect with Middle Eastern politics.
Emily Schultheis
(Germany, 2019-2021)
Historical understanding and the rise of the far right in Germany and Central Europe
Emily Schultheis will spend her fellowship based in Berlin, focusing on the rise of right-wing populism. Her research will focus primarily on Germany, but also explore parallels with populist parties in neighboring countries including Austria, Hungary and Poland.
Prior to receiving an ICWA fellowship, Emily worked as a freelance journalist in Berlin covering German politics and the rise of populist parties in more than a dozen countries. Her reporting has appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, CBS News, The Los Angeles Times, NBC News, World Politics Review, BBC Online, Spiegel Online International, Deutsche Welle and Der Tagesspiegel, among other outlets.
Before moving to Germany, Emily worked as a reporter in Washington, DC, covering American politics and elections for Politico, CBS News and National Journal. She is a previous recipient of a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship, an East-West Center Jefferson Fellowship, and an Arthur F. Burns Fellowship for her reporting on international politics and populism.
Emily is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and received her B.A. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania.