Summer 2025 Named Fellowships
Each year, the Keck Center offers several fellowships in various research areas during both the academic year and summer. Fellows conduct research falling under one of the categories in the seasonal application. In summer 2025, the program expanded to involve direct collaboration with four professors: Dr. Hicham Bou Nassif, Dr. Jennifer Taw, Dr. Lisa Koch, and Dr. Hillary Appel. In eight weeks over the summer, fellows worked in teams on a themed project with distinct deliverables under each professor. This page will be updated as opportunities for summer 2026 are finalized.
Contact the Keck Center with any questions at KeckCenter@cmc.edu.
Summer 2025 Projects:
William Crouch Fellowship in International Affairs: U.S. Foreign Policy under Trump (Supervised by Professor Bou Nassif)
Students examined the new directions in American Foreign Policy emerging under the Trump Administration. Students worked in teams to develop a podcast series on a range of topics including: How far will the current crisis in American-European relations go? Will America really take over Gaza – and where will the Palestinians go should that happen? Will the Trump administration defend Taiwan should it be attacked by China? Students researched these (and other) important American Foreign Policy questions and transformed the answers into podcasts published on Spotify.
Students: Mary Martin, Jenna McComas, and Lucy Meza
Recognition, Relocation, and Ramifications - Three Students One Region | Podcast on Spotify
Updates, Predictions, and Hopes - Three Students One Region | Podcast on Spotify
Students: Danah Plair, Malia McColl, and Jacob Pippel
White Genocide? - Make Africa Great Again | Podcast on Spotify
The Africa Exit - Make Africa Great Again | Podcast on Spotify
Students: Zach Kwong and Ian Heuberger
Trump's Economic Policy - What in the World? | Podcast on Spotify
What in the World? Ep 2. - What in the World? | Podcast on Spotify
Harold W. Rood Fellowship in International Security: Enhancing U.S. Security (Supervised by Professor Taw)
Student researchers: Caden Lewis, Tulip Hori, Sara McMurtray, Sydney Nate, Isabel Del Villar
This summer research project investigated possible avenues to enhance U.S. security. The group spent the first couple of weeks in a cycle of discussion and research on what constitutes U.S. security, what factors affect it, what means there are to enhance it, and how leaders should prioritize among its many components. By the end of the second week, the group identified one-to-two policy questions to address and developed a group presentation deck: https://claremontmckenna.app.box.com/folder/331369636708
Peter Adams Fellowship in International Political Economy: US Economic Statecraft – Sanctions and Trade Wars (Supervised by Professor Koch)
Student researchers: Alex Chacon, Asher Engelberg, Advik Harlalka, Ellie Leiter, Jayla Provance, Matteo Quadrini & Shelby McIlroy
Students studied how and why the United States uses tariffs and economic sanctions in the international system? They examined the benefits and costs of these tools of economic statecraft and investigated the past and ongoing use of sanctions and tariffs by the United States. Working together in small groups, students developed policy recommendations regarding either tariffs or sanctions in US foreign policy today.
https://claremontmckenna.app.box.com/folder/331365872602
Jack Stark Fellowship in Global Affairs: The Future of the Global Capitalist and Democratic Order (Supervised by Professor Appel)
Student researchers: Riley Cooper, Myles Kim, Nathan Perry, Violet Ramanathan, Abigail Niquette, Sophia Prosper & Akniyet Aldabergen
This research team examined past and current threats to the global liberal order that for decades promoted peace among democracies (in particular on the European continent after centuries of warfare), economic growth, higher living standards, and the rule of law. Many of the core members of that liberal order were imperfect democracies, often with self-serving foreign policies, but they nonetheless offered an attractive alternative to authoritarian political systems in the Cold War and Post-Cold War eras. Students discussed readings and worked in teams to develop two policy memos per group on current threats to the liberal order, including the rise of populist leaders, the abandonment of the free trade regime, and the weakening of multilateralism. https://claremontmckenna.app.box.com/folder/331369794481