CLASS OF 2027 GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWS
Tai Brown
Tai Brown is a PhD student in Northwestern's Political Science Department. His research interests are situated within the fields of international relations, international law, and comparative politics, with a regional focus in Southeast and East Asia. Currently, he is developing a research project investigating transitional justice in South Korea and Taiwan. Prior to beginning his graduate studies at Northwestern University he completed two bachelor's degrees in Asian and Asian American Studies and Political Science at the University of Connecticut, and a Master's Degree in International Affairs from Ming Chuan University in Taiwan. In his free time he loves reading manga, watching anime, skateboarding, and playing video games. Tai can be reached at: tarifbrown2029@u.northwestern.edu
Oana Alexan Katz
Oana Alexan Katz is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Working at the intersection of performance, visual culture, and literature, her research explores how Spanish post-migrant artists care for and comfort their ancestral longing as a self-making practice. Oana's own life is traversed by migration from Romania, which has also inspired her decade-long investment in migrant justice work. She feels grateful to read and learn for work and with her son. Her family enjoys the simple, wholesome pleasures that their life and community in Evanston afford them.
Hannah Reynolds
Hannah Reynolds is a PhD student in the History Department specializing in the intersections between race, capitalism, and gender in nineteenth century U.S. land policy. Prior to coming to Northwestern, Hannah got her B.A. in History at Vassar College and worked for six years as a high school educator in her home state of Oregon. Hannah enjoys playing the guitar, singing in a choir, and reading fantasy novels in her free time. Hannah can be reached at hannah.reynolds@u.northwestern.edu.
Megan Whitaker
Megan Whitaker is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology. She has several strains of research and currently studies the intersection of collective memory, race, politics, and religion in the U.S., exemplified by competing narratives surrounding the history of Christian missions, as well as the phenomenon of White Christian Nationalism in the United States. Originally from New Jersey, Megan received her B.A.s in Sociology and Psychology from Williams College and an MPhil in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation from the University of Oxford, UK. Outside of work, she enjoys walking along Lake Michigan, ice cream, and hanging out with her husband and friends with a cup of tea in hand.