Student Profiles – Alina Clay
Alina Clay
During the summer of 2015, Alina Clay was selected as a recipient of the 2015 Undergraduate Summer Research Internship funded by UT’s Office of Research & Engagement to advance her senior project. Her research topic is a comparative analysis of subnational governments in Latin America and Eastern Europe to determine how decentralization affects women’s political participation. She has devised three hypotheses that address issues of institutional political structure, representation, and participation. To refute or support these hypotheses, she will conduct an in-depth, over time country analysis of this topic in Peru and Russia.
This internship covered her stay in Lima, Peru for several weeks to acquire a more holistic understanding of Peru’s complex social and political system, and to gain access to relevant data sources not available in the United States. She visited several universities and organizations that offered resources related to her senior project topic and made contacts with people experienced in her research interests. Alina also had the opportunity to assist Jana Morgan, associate professor of political science at UT, with her field research on social inequality and political participation in Peru. Morgan’s field research complements Alina’s senior project, enriching her knowledge of her research interests and advancing research skills that are critical to her future academic and career goals. In addition to her research pursuits, Alina also had the opportunity to stay in a Spanish-speaking household and travel around Lima, both of which have solidified her Spanish proficiency and given her a more in-depth understanding of Peruvian culture. During the summer of 2016 Alina will be a Pickering Undergraduate Foreign Affairs Fellow in Washington, DC.