Ari Tolany, 2019-2020 Brumley Fellow under the mentorship of our State Fragility program director Ashley Moran, recently reflected on her time at the Strauss Center.

“The Brumley Next Generation Fellows program gave me the financial support to allow me to conduct archival research, gather feedback on my work (through funding me to present at the Middle East Studies Association conference), and build knowledge of Iran’s involvement with Southern Asia, the topic I now work on in my current position.”

During her time as a Brumley Fellow, Ari examined the connection between communal tensions and anti-Muslim rhetoric in India with the country’s personal law system, seen in cases like Shayara Bano v. Union of India and Others in 2017.

Ari is currently employed as a Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow with the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center.

“Through the guest speakers and luncheon program, the fellowship also allowed me to meet and hear from a diverse array of experts. Equally as important, the editing support and career advice from Ashley Moran helped me to find my post-grad placement, become a better writer, and learn concrete skills to translate skills built in academia to a policy community.”

Ari graduated with high honors from the University of Texas with a major in International Relations and Global Studies and a minor in Persian.