Laura-Lee Smith (USA), M.A., Class of 2009

Laura-Lee Smith is interning at the US State Department in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in Washington D.C. Laura-Lee says "I am really picking up on how everything works. I have been in meetings with Secretary Clinton's deputies, and next week I am scheduled to attend two confirmation hearings and the main celebration for Black History Month by the Office of Civil Rights. It is very exciting and I am already learning so much about possible career paths with the State Department. I am seriously considering becoming an Foreign Service Officer (FSO) and will be conducting as many informational interviews as I can while I am here."

Additionally this year, Laura-Lee was selected as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow for 2009-2010. The Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship promotes academic cooperation between excellent scientists and scholars from over the world and from Germany. Fourty-three former Alexander von Humboldt fellows became Nobel laureates.

For one year, starting in September 2010, Laura-Lee  will be conducting research in Berlin with the German Council on Foreign Relations. Her individual project is about the German role in the Afghanistan war and contradictions between Germany's international obligations with NATO and waning public support at home.

Laura-Lee comments: "I would not have chosen this topic if I had not been inspired during the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy conference last summer, and if I hadn't met the policy analyst from the German Council of Foreign Relations who encouraged me to apply for fellowships such as this one. It's incredible how one event leads to so many others and I am very grateful to AGS for supporting my attendance to this conference."