Majors: Political Science and French
Minor: Chinese
Hometown: Providence, RI
Note: A previous feature on Cynthia can be seen here. 

What accomplishments and/or activities are you most proud of doing while at URI?
I am proud to have represented URI during two of my study abroad programs to China and to France. I represented my school and my state at the PPIA Fellowship program and in three weeks, I’ll represent URI again at the National Association of African-American Studies Conference in Dallas Texas.

What research projects, internships, and/or study abroad programs did you participate in at URI? How did they enhance your education?
During my time at URI, I had the opportunity to participate in two studies abroad programs (in China and France). I am a Gilman Scholar, a Demers Language Fellow, a PPIA Law Fellow, and I was recently awarded a Fulbright to study in Belgium after graduation. I have interned for U.S Senator Jack Reed of RI and I am currently interning at the Naval War College. I am working on a research project that looks like Identity Construction through Immigration- Child Refugee Experience. I will be presenting that at the NAAAS Conference in Texas, as well as at the Honor’s Project Event. 

What do you value about your liberal arts education? 
My liberal art education has helped me become a well-rounded individual. Having knowledge in various topics helped me become a diverse person. It emphasizes my goal to not just be one thing. It teaches me to use multi-hats when making a decision or having a debate with someone. It gives me the tools to compromise and not seek to always be right. 

On Cynthia’s next steps:
After a ten-month long application process, Cynthia was recently informed she was awarded a highly prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarship! Her Fulbright award will fund her graduate studies at Ghent University, in Ghent, Belgium. Each year, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards approximately 2,000 grants in over 140 countries; these include funded English teaching assistantships, individualized study and research opportunities, and awards to fund graduate-level study at universities around the globe.

While at Ghent University, she will pursue a one-year Masters in Conflict and Development with a research focus on the Congolese diaspora — an interest stemming from personal experience. When the Second Congolese Civil War broke out, her family was forced to flee the Democratic Republic of Congo for the Central African Republic, and then again to Benin. The family spent the next seven years in the Kpomasse refugee camp, and these formative years profoundly shaped Cynthia. This early multicultural experience in the camp, and her first-hand look at the realities of war, kindled an interest in other people and cultures, culminating in her research interests today. Cynthia aims to research politics and development in the Global South, and to address the humanitarian aspects of these complex issues. She feels as though quantifying human suffering minimizes the reality of the experience, and that the qualitative, rigorous, and human-based research going on at Ghent University is exactly what we need more of in development studies.