The Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS) is proud to announce the six scholars receiving an IRIS Area and International Studies Award for Incoming Graduate Students. The selected scholars will receive $5,000 each to support international fieldwork, language immersion, or the development of cultural competence away from the UW–Madison campus. Since its inception, this award has been a cornerstone of our commitment to fostering global research, and we are thrilled to welcome these new students into our scholarly community.
Natália Ceolin E Silva
Natália Ceolin Silva studies the history of colonial Spanish America, with an emphasis on the Caribbean, especially Cuba. Her research examines the articulation between theories of bodily interchangeability, medical and surgical knowledge, the regime of slavery, and practices of poor relief within the framework of settlement projects and colonial policies implemented on the island of Cuba during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with particular attention to the Bourbon reforms.
Caroline Akosia Amewokpor Anipah
Caroline Anipah is a P.hD. student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. She holds a Master of Philosophy in communication studies and a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science from the University of Ghana. She also has a postgraduate diploma in innovation and design thinking from Emeritus, taught by Columbia Business School Executive Education, MIT Sloan, and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Her current research interests include the role and use of communication and non-traditional journalistic practices such as open-source intelligence (OSINT) to address information disorder.
Bruno Lacerda
Bruno Castro Lacerda is a Ph.D. student in science communication (CALS) and environment & resources (Nelson Institute). Originally from Maranhão, in the Brazilian Amazon, his research focuses on how science communication can strengthen bioeconomy policies and public engagement in the Pan-Amazon region. Previously, Bruno worked as policy and incentives manager for the Americas at Conservation International, advancing initiatives on REDD+, carbon markets, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable land use. He also served as deputy state secretary for territorial development in Maranhão, Brazil, where he led policies to improve livelihoods in low-HDI (Human Development Index) municipalities.
Archi Mukherjee
Archi Mukherjee is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Gender and Women Studies department with a health concentration. She is studying how marginalized women’s bodies become bioavailable and are disciplined through medical and technological interventions. She is particularly interested in understanding how unequal social positions lead to easy access to women’s bodies and labour, commercialising them as properties, with a specific focus on India. She received a Master of Arts in North American studies from Freie Universität Berlin in 2025 and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Jadavpur University in 2021. Most recently, she worked as a research assistant in the School of Women’s Studies at Jadavpur University, archiving oral histories of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women in Indian higher education and examining the intersecting marginalities that shape their experiences.
Zhanyang Liu
Zhanyang Liu is a first-year Ph.D. student in political science. Her research focuses on identity, contentious politics, and state–society relations in the Middle East and beyond. She holds dual master’s degrees from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor: an M.S. in information (big data analytics) and an M.A. in international and regional studies (Middle East and North Africa).
Pari Bishen
Pari Bishen received her BA in economics from Barnard College. She is a first year Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology. With this award, she plans to research legal archives and conduct fieldwork in India.