As a PhD candidate at the University of California, Brittany Meche often applies the knowledge she gained as a student at The New School. A 2014 graduate of the MA International Affairs program, Meche says she was initially drawn to The New School by the opportunity it offered her to study at an institution with a progressive history that emphasizes examining world events with a critical eye.
“The International Affairs program isn't about just regurgitating what a given professor thinks about an issue; the learning process is dialogic,” Meche says. “Some of my favorite memories are the contentious debates that happened with my fellow students. They pushed me to be a sharper thinker. That has been useful in my current work and has laid a strong foundation for me to pursue doctoral studies."
Meche says she learned how to be self-directed, follow her own interests, and ask incisive questions during her two years at The New School. As an International Affairs student, she took advantage of her access to courses at The New School for Social Research (NSSR), where she shaped her research interests and took courses focused on the politics of expertise, non-Western approaches to the world, and South African history and culture. Meche also worked as a research assistant for Antina von Schnitzler, an associate professor of international affairs, and was a committed campus activist, organizing with LGBTQI students and students of color for a more inclusive and equitable university.
Meche is currently based in Dakar, Senegal, where she is finishing her fieldwork for her PhD dissertation, Securing the Sahel: Nature, Catastrophe, and the Empire of Expertise. In her work, she examines the intersections of transnational security projects and environmental politics in the aftermath of empire in West Africa.
The New School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
