Pursuing her passion for social justice, Tiwaladeoluwa Adekunle, Ph.D., graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2017 with a bachelor's degree in international studies and English. Her studies explored topics in global development and Africa and the Middle East. From a young age, Adekunle knew she wanted to pursue a field of study that sought to understand cultural differences and societal inequities from an interdisciplinary perspective.
“I knew it would give me the opportunity to better understand societies across the globe and prepare me for a meaningful career tackling the issues that most hindered individuals' lives and opportunities,” she said.
While at UK, Adekunle enrolled in courses that fueled her passion for fighting social inequities and challenged her to think critically about these topics. By the end of her undergraduate career, she felt confident in her ability to assess critically the arguments of others as well as craft cohesive, well-researched arguments of her own.
Through her coursework, she was able to pursue her passion for social justice and its intersection with health. After receiving her Ph.D. in health communication from Purdue in 2023, Adekunle was became a postdoctoral fellow in integrated health services and outcomes research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
As of 2025, she assumed the role of assistant professor of reproductive and population health in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Throughout her academic and professional career, Adekunle credits the skills she learned at UK to analyze how marginalized communities create meaning around their health as well as the structural factors that lead to disproportionately worse health outcomes for minority populations.
Adekunle's undergraduate experience was greatly influenced by her work in the nonprofit sector and faculty-sponsored research. She completed internships with the Prison Fellowship of Gambia and Kentucky Refugee Ministries, all while serving in leadership positions with the African Students’ Association.
Through an independent research project with Dr. Charlie Zhang, Adekunle discovered a love for research that prompted her to pursue graduate school.
“My research interest and approach is directly informed by what I learned as an IS major about development, and how I've come to understand the impact of institutions on people's realities,” she said,
At Purdue, Adekunle worked as an intern for United Way of Greater Lafayette and as a research assistant for the Purdue Peace Project.
Alli Peoples graduated in spring 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in international studies and Spanish. After graduation, she moved to Madrid, Spain, where she worked as an English language and culture assistant at the bilingual primary school, CEIP Lepanto. Upon completing her teaching assistantship in Madrid, Peoples worked as community outreach coordinator for the Family and Children’s Place in Louisville before returning to the world of study abroad, working as an adviser, instructor and curricular alignment coordinator for education abroad at the University of Kentucky before bringing her expertise to the UNC-Wilmington.
While in Spain, Peoples played an active role in English instruction in the classroom in multiple subject areas and in helping students to develop a multicultural mindset.
"Being an international studies major helped me develop a foundation of knowledge that gave me the confidence to pursue a job abroad," she said,
She believes her ability to help cultivate this mindset in her students was greatly enhanced by her coursework as an international studies major, which helped her to first understand the shared values and identities of her own culture and then employ this knowledge to develop an understanding and great respect of others.
Through the international sStudies major, Peoples was able to combine her academic interest in international relations and political systems with her passion for the Spanish language. On campus, she became involved with the Language Services Department with UK Healthcare, where she observed patient-interpreter relationships. This experience not only highlighted the array of opportunities available for international studies students as postgraduates, but also readily prepared her to be successful in her role as a sports management liaison volunteer during her time studying abroad in Granada, Spain, during the fall 2017 semester.
One of the first graduating cohorts of the international studies major, Jon Hibbard was able to combine his interest in European art and culture with his passion for the French language through pursuing a double major in International Studies and French. Hibbard views the major as having given him a distinctive opportunity to explore his diverse academic interests in a manner that was complementary to his studies of French and history.
“I was able to meet and form connections with many amazing professors and peers I wouldn’t have otherwise met,” he said,
\Upon graduation, Jon began his master’s degree in French studies through Middlebury College’s French School while living in Paris and Poitiers, France. After he completed his master’s degree, he returned to work as a study abroad adviser at the University of Cincinnati. In 2018, he returned to UK, where he now worked as an education abroad adviser and curriculum integration coordinator before accepting a position as assistant director of academic integration & global learning at Northeastern University.
As an undergraduate student, Jon worked at the UK Medical Center to support himself through college. During his junior year, he studied abroad in Saint-Etienne, France, for the full academic year. Jon described his time in France as the most profoundly impactful experience his life to date.
"The knowledge, skills, and friendships I gained during that year shaped who I am as a person and are still part of my daily life," he said,
The flexibility of the International Studies major gave Hibbard a formative personal experience and helped him solidify his career intentions.
Willow Kreutzer, Ph.D., is a quantitative methodologist with the U.S. government, specializing in the analysis of conflict. She has served as a lead analyst for the Global Fragility Act, where she developed and applied quantitative methods to evaluate the effectiveness of U.S. programs abroad in collaboration with partners such as USAID and the Department of Defense.
Kreutzer has also traveled to Africa and Asia in a diplomatic capacity with the U.S. Department of State, contributing to efforts addressing civil conflict and human rights atrocities. In addition, she has supported initiatives to expand data collection and funding at the intersection of gender and conflict.
She earned her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Iowa along with a graduate certificate in gender, women’s and sexuality studies. Her research focused on international relations with an emphasis on civil conflict, international institutions and gender. Her work examines how conflict and institutional frameworks uniquely impact women, and how institutions can be reformed to better address gender-specific needs.
Kreutzer’s scholarship has been published in Politics & Gender, International Interactions, Disasters, Foreign Policy Analysis, and The Conversation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from UK with minors in gender and women’s studies and international studies.
After graduating in 2016, Cheyenne Maddox pursued her interest in international development through attaining her bachelor’s degree in international studies with minors in Spanish, business and international business. Within the IS major, she focused her studies in the area of global development as well as Africa and the Middle East. Maddox felt as though her thematic concentration coupled with her language skills and business background provided her with a solid foundation in the field of international development.
Maddox's coursework as an international studies major prepare her for a career in her field of interest and connected her with valuable opportunities for involvement on campus. As an undergraduate, Maddox applied her knowledge of the factors constraining social and economic development through acting as student president of SSTOP Hunger: Sustainable Solutions to Overcome Poverty. As president, she gained experience with project and budget management as well as exposure to effective marketing strategies.
The skill set and knowledge Maddox developed through her studies at UK prepared her to pursue a career with the United Nations. Upon graduation, Maddox accepted a position as an events associate with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network in New York. In this role, she uses the skills she attained as president of SSTOP Hunger to manage the planning and execution of such events as the International Conference on Sustainable Development and Leadership Council meetings.
Graduating in 2012 with his bachelor’s degree in International Studies, Caleb Lucas, Ph.D, was one of few IS students with a thematic concentration in international relations. Using the knowledge and experience he gained from focusing his studies in Africa and the Middle East, Lucas worked for a nonprofit in Detroit ,where he assisted newly arrived refugees from the Arab world. In this role, Lucas helped establish an English language program as well as construct a four-season greenhouse all while continuing his Arabic studies at a local university.
As an international studies major, Lucas was also able to pursue his interest in learning the Arabic language both on campus and abroad. Through his study abroad experiences in both Morocco and Syria, he was able to directly translate what he learned in the classroom regarding authoritarian governments to the events unfolding around him.
Lucas' ventures in the Middle East continue to inform his research as a Ph.D. student and serve as the basis for further developing his Arabic. These student experiences made him a distinguished applicant in the eyes of both employers and graduate schools.
After earning his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan, he is now an assistant professor of international relations and statistical methodology at the University of Indiana-Bloomington, Lucas is also an affiliate of the Luddy Artificial Intelligence Center and Tobias Center for International Development. He also serves as a faculty consultant on artificial intelligence for the Joint Special Operations University. Before joining IU, he was a political scientist in the National Security Research Division at the RAND Corp.
A recent graduate of the class of 2019, Rachel Lietzow obtained her bachelor’s degree from UK in international studies with a focus in comparative politics and societies in East, South and South East Asia. To further refine her knowledge in the realm of Asian affairs, Lietzow earned a second bachelor’s degree in Chinese and international economics (FLIE).
“I enjoyed studying other cultures and learning languages, especially pertaining to the region of Asia," she said, "I was also interested in international relations and worldwide issues, so this major fit me well.”
As an undergraduate, Lietzow said, her coursework in American foreign policy, international conflict and Asian philosophy were especially challenging. Her work enhanced her understanding of how comparative politics and cultural differences between the East and West influence states’ relations across regions. Lietzow's studies have enriched her world perspective as well as increased her awareness of current global political issues and the history of international politics.
Lietzow challenged herself through rigorous academic coursework and by participating in multiple internships and on-campus activities. Having interned with the UK Education Abroad Office, Kentucky Governor’s Office and Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State, she has learned important workplace skills while enhancing her knowledge of other cultures.
Additionally, Lietzow served as a correspondent for Chinese and East Asian Affairs with the Sigma Iota Rho Journal of International Relations, where she published op-eds and blog posts. Lietzow sees these experiences as having enhanced her scholarship of soft and hard diplomatic tools and as having prepared her to attend graduate school. Lietzow obtained a master of Chinese economic and politiAacalaffairs at the University of California, San Diego, in 2021 and now works as a research nalyst.
Courtney Evans graduated in the spring of 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in international studies. Her focus area was global development and Latin America. After graduation, Evans received her master’s in Iiernational development at Tulane University in 2014. During this time, she was able to complete internships for the U.N., the International Labor Organization,and Pew Research Center,. After working with Peace Corps Mission 108 and Big Brothers Big Sisters, she returned to Kentucky as drector of advancement for JFCS Louisville in 2022.
After she completed her master’s degree, Evans joined the Peace Corp and worked in Ecuador for 27 months teaching English, drug and alcohol prevention, sex education, human rights and domestic violence prevention. Upon returning to Kentucky, Courtney worked as the global partnership director for Mission 108, a local anti-human-trafficking organization in the United States and India. Currently, Evans works as a regional director for Big Brothers Big Sisters in the Boston area.
Evans began her time at UK as a history and political science major, but after being inspired by a seminar speaker who asked the group, "Think of a time when you were most at peace. Can you make that a career?,” Evans , realizing her love for travel, found the IS major and switched in her junior year.
Evans most appreciated the freedom the international studies major allowed. While she was able to study a variety of issues, she was also able to focus on the topics she was most passionate about.
Jason Hope graduated from the University of Kentucky with both a B.A. in international studies as well as a B.A. in Spanish and a minor in French. Hope said that his degree in Spanish and minor in French were complements to his IS degree. Within the IS major, Hope focused on Europe. Hope feels that the interdisciplinary nature of the IS degree allowed him to take courses in a wide variety of areas, which “offer the best mixture of all my interests in a way that not only allowed me to study each of them but to understand how they were deeply interconnected.”
While an undergraduate, Hope worked as a private language tutor as well as a volunteer ESL tutor for the Kentucky Refugee Ministries. Hope also participated in the Mary C. Bingham Seminar, a competitive program that offers a funded study-abroad experience.
Upon graduation, Hope continued to work as a private language tutor for US students for two years before beginning his academic career at Midway University. In 2012, Jason returned to his alma mater, UK, as an operations manager for Education Abroad. Now he is the director of international health, safety and security for Education Abroad. He has participated in multiple panels and interviews on the topic of international risk management as well as presented on this topic at multiple conferences. Hope felt his interdisciplinary study at UK through the IS major allows him to look at problems from multiple perspectives and have a basic understanding of many issues.
Daniel Stephens, a graduate of the class of 2020, pursued his bachelor’s degree in international studies with a focus in Latin America and global development. He also earned minors in political science and history, all while seeking out formative international experiences.
During his junior year, Stephens traveled to the Dominican Republic with UK's Alternative Service Breaks program as well as studied abroad in Valparaiso, Chile. While abroad, he was able to refine his Spanish language skills as well as learn about regional human rights topics. These experiences have helped him understand and appreciate the cultural diversity within Latin America.
As an international studies major, Stephens sought to understand complex topics within global development through an interdisciplinary perspective. He completed coursework in history, Spanish, geography, anthropology and Latin American studies. These classes helped him develop the cultural competency necessary to forge lasting relationships while abroad.
As Stephens approached his senior year, the culmination of his experiences and interests in Latin America inspired him to complete his capstone on the Venezuelan crisis. Through this capstone, Stephens traced the shifting ideologies within Venezuelan politics beginning in the late 1990s to the present.
Stephens' formative experiences as an undergraduate extended far beyond the classroom. He has completed internships with both UK Education Abroad and Exchanges and U,S. Rep. Thomas Massie’s office in Washington, D.C. Stephensserved as a temporary staff assistant to Massie before attending the Patterson School of Diplomacy, from which he received his M.A. in diplomacy in 2021. Stephens worked for a variety of globally focused companies ibefore assuming his current role as executive protection intelligence analyst for control risks in San Jose, California.
Pursuing her interest in Latin American culture and arts, Calli Brooks recently graduated from UK with her dachelor’s degree in international studies as well as Spanish language and linguistics. For Brooks , the flexibility and inclusivity of the IS program ]drove her to pursue this field of study. She shared that she was able to easily mold her coursework to her career interests through refining her Spanish language skills and learning about globalization from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Through the international studies capstone, Brooks was able to explore the effects of globalization on language. More specifically, her research focused on Latinos’ incorporation of Spanglish into their daily speech.
"I never really had the freedom to investigate a topic that interested me and pertained to my major like that, so it was really sweet to dive into the specifics while having the help of my professor every step of the way," she said,
Upon graduating, Brooks has continued to pursue her passion for the Spanish language through multiple teaching assistantships abroad. In 2019, she moved to Lugo, Spain, where she worked as an English language and culture assistant at Colegio Público Menendez y Pelayo. Brooks later returned to the United States. where she completed coursework in clinical research and medical translation before moving to Ijuí, Brazil in February 2020. There, she worked as a Fulbright teaching assistant before her program was cut short. Despite this setback, Brooks pursued her passion for teaching and translation by participating in the Teaching Assistant Program in France. She continues to work in the world of academic awards as a program coordinator for the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards at UK.
Beginning his undergraduate studies in chemical engineering, Jakob Burnham, Ph.D., soon came to discover his interest within the broader field of social psychology. Upon receiving feedback from professors and friends, he decided to pursue his bachelor’s degree in international studies due to the flexibility it provided him to forge his own path and pursue his interests. Come 2016, Burnham graduated from the University of Kentucky having studied the international relations of Europe.
While at UK, Jakob took advantage of the many opportunities available for students to study abroad. Through the Kentucky Institute for International Studies, he was able to spend a summer in Paris, immersed within the multiculturalism of the city.
“Experiencing and participating in the cultural accommodation necessary to live in Paris really changed how I thought about the topics covered in the classes that I took on campus when I returned," he said.
For Burnham, the IS program allowed him to explore the many frameworks through which scholars study international relations. Although he values the insights of interdisciplinary approaches, Burnham came to find that historical inquiry offered the most engaging and interesting discussions. As such, he chose to continue his studies in this area by pursuing his Ph.D. in history at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., which he completed in 2024. He now works as as a clinical assistant professor of history at the University of North Texas.
“The exposure I received from the IS major at UKY set me on a path to continue this kind of interdisciplinary research through to my graduate training," he said.