Center for International Studies

CIS would like to congratulate our MIT Political Science graduates! Among those who received their doctorates during the past academic year, 17 are affiliated with CIS. We wish you the best and applaud this incredible achievement!

Congratulations to Professor Kathleen Thelen, who has been named to the 101st class of Guggenheim Fellows. The class includes 223 trailblazing artists, scientists and scholars across 55 disciplines. Link in bio.

@jlodoen (right), who is pursuing a PhD in @mitpolisci within the @ssp_mit , is one of two recipients (along with @mitdusp student Mrinalini Penumaka) of the 2025 Jeanne Guillemin Prize, awarded by @mit_cis . The prize provides essential funding for female graduate students conducting research in international affairs. Loden studies how democracies have used different types of state security bureaucracies to suppress their citizens. “By creating these informal institutions that target people, you can see how they’re undermining the democratic process in the shadows,” she explained. Learn more at the link in our bio. 🖊: Danna Lorch

A @mistiatmit -supported initiative, the AquaCulture Shock program, offers international internships for AI and autonomy in aquaculture. The opportunity to work on this hands-on aquaculture project, under a world-renowned research institution, in an area of the world known for its innovation in marine technology — this is what MISTI is all about,” says Madeline Smith, managing director for MIT-Scandinavia. Learn more at the link in our bio.

How drones are altering contemporary warfare: a new book by Prof. Erik Lin-Greenberg examines the evolving dynamics of military and state action centered around drones. Link in bio.

Prof. Mai Hassan was interviewed about recent violence in Darfur on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS. Her interview begins at minute 33 in the link that is in the bio.

#EventAlert: Join us on November 20 at 4:30 PM in MIT E15, Room 070 for our first Starr Forum of the semester: Rethinking Globalization: America First, The World Last? MIT Institute Professor Suzanne Berger, Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship Simon Johnson, and John C. Head III Dean Richard Locke will discuss the impact and potential outcomes of the Trump administration’s withdrawal of support for globalization for our nation and the world. Learn more about the event and how to RSVP here: bit.ly/RethinkingGlobalization @mit_shass @MITSloan

#EventAlert: Tuesday, October 28 | 4 PM | Zoom Register today for our Focus on Eurasia webinar featuring Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at @cnasdc . Carol Saivetz and Elizabeth Wood will co-chair the discussion. Learn more about the event and how to register here: bit.ly/AxisUpheaval @mit_shass @ssp_mit

@mit_spain and @uneduniv expanded their collaboration to include five student research internships for the summer and the creation of the MIT-UNED Seed Fund, set to launch this fall! Five students in the @mit_spain program are conducting research internships this summer at the UNED Faculty of Sciences in Madrid. Camila Pierce ‘27, Christina Fradella ‘27, and Julia Cherchever ‘27, are working on advanced projects related to soft materials and complex fluids at the Complex Systems Laboratory, while Faith Victoria Ni ‘27 and Enzo Zavaleta ’27 are researching new ways to address the degradation of micro- and nanoplastics at the Infrared Spectroscopy Laboratory. Additionally, the MIT-UNED Seed Fund will launch this fall, paving the way for UNED faculty to launch research projects at MIT. Mariana Rodríguez Hakim, an assistant professor at UNED and alumna of MIT and @mit_spain , helped kickstart UNED’s collaboration with MISTI, aided by Laura Alba-Juez, the Vice-Rectorate for Internationalization and Multilingualism. The newly-established seed fund, which will be administered through @mit_cis , and student internships demonstrate MIT and UNED’s dedication and commitment to “an exchange of knowledge and research results at the international level.” @mistiatmit @mitshass

This summer, the Political Science Department and the GDL hosted its third cohort of Pathways to Political Science Summer Research interns. Pathways@GDL is sponsored in partnership with the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) and funded by the Center for International Studies (CIS) and MIT-Africa. Professors Noah Nathan and Ariel White led the Pathways@GDL visit. Join us next summer! Link in bio.

When Gediminas Urbonas discusses MISTI Lithuania, it becomes clear that this is no conventional academic exchange. It is, in his words, a “transatlantic bridge” – one built on the foundations of artistic intelligence, cultural innovation, and a profound belief in the humanities as essential agents of technological transformation. The origins of MISTI Lithuania trace back to the summer of 2022, mere months after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was then that Urbonas met with Professor Elizabeth Wood and MIT-Eurasia Managing Director Ekaterina Zabrovski to explore how MIT could foster transatlantic academic bridges with countries facing heightened geopolitical threats, particularly in the Baltic region. What began as a pilot exchange grew into a national consortium involving major universities and companies. Link in bio to learn more about this exciting collaboration! #art #culture #technology #actmit #misti #mistilithuania @mistiatmit @mit_cis @urbonasstudio @mars_musing

Introducing the MISTI-Lithuania Program: a cross-disciplinary partnership that fosters the exchange of artistic intelligence, cultural innovation, and highlights the humanities as agents of technological transformation. In 2022, Gediminas Urbonas met with MIT-Eurasia managing director Ekaterina (Katya) Zabrovski and faculty director Elizabeth Wood to explore how MIT could foster transatlantic academic bridges in the Baltic region. These efforts led to the formation of the MIT–Lithuania Consortium. The group comprises of major universities, such as @vduni , and companies including Lithuanian Railways, @ignitis_group , and Novian Group. In January 2025, an official collaboration agreement between @mit_cis and the Consortium was signed at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius, Lithuania. To further strengthen research partnerships and build strategic networks, delegations from the Consortium visited the MIT campus in March and June 2025. Over two successful pilot summers, MISTI Lithuania placed MIT students in cultural and technological institutions across Lithuania, advancing a shared vision for educational and technological exchange. Learn more about MISTI Lithuania's mission and future, written by @actmit 's Marissa Friedman, at the link in our bio. @mitshass