Building a Career in International Education with a Focus on Africa

Emily Weiss
MA ’18
African Studies

Emily decided to apply to Johns Hopkins SAIS because of its combination of quantitative requirements, excellent regional studies options, and an ideal location. Her studies have pushed her to extend her thinking beyond her professional experience and education toward a more economics-focused perspective. She is an African Studies concentrator and has enjoyed studying Africa while getting an international degree.

Prior to her graduate program, she was working in partnership with Peace Corps Response and Save the Children International to develop educational programming for out-of-school youth and displaced university students in Mahama Refugee Camp, Rwanda. Before that, she worked in refugee resettlement in the Washington, DC area, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia.

Outside the classroom, she is involved in the Africa Association and the SAIS Women Leads Practicum. Over winter break, Emily will be returning to Nigeria with her practicum group to conduct research on the retention of female teachers in the North.

This past summer Emily interned with Adam Smith International, working on a project which provides vocational and skills training to unemployed youth in Kano, Nigeria. After graduation she hopes to pursue a career in international education policy.