Weatherhead Scholars Program

Undergraduate Student Support of Scholars and Practitioners 

By Walid Hammam 

Every year, the Weatherhead Scholars Program brings together a diverse group of affiliates, both scholars and practitioners, who address pressing global challenges across regions and disciplines. Each cohort reflects the program’s commitment to interdisciplinary, policy-relevant research. Visiting affiliates work closely not only with each other but also with Harvard faculty and students, and bring invaluable scholarly, professional, and international perspectives to our campus.  

The Weatherhead Scholars Program Seminar is one of our foremost places for affiliates to discuss current research projects. This year’s series explored a variety of topics: nation building and language politics in India; postconflict reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina; extractivism and Indigenous consent in Canada; minority autocracies; and migration and youth mobility in sub-Saharan Africa. Fellows engage in discussion with leading faculty from across Harvard and beyond, including Michèle Lamont, Melani Cammett, Steven Levitsky, and many others.  

This year, program affiliates connected with the newly formed Global Affairs Program (GAP), an undergraduate group at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. Fellows Karin Heissler and Ditmir Bushati collaborated with GAP as advisors. Karin Heissler, former child protection regional adviser at UNICEF, has spent the year examining the mobility and migration of girls and young women in West and Central Africa in the context of urbanization, gender inequality, and climate risk. Ditmir Bushati, former minister of foreign affairs of Albania, used the fall semester to study transatlantic relations and regional security in southeast Europe. In addition, Fellow Luis Carlos Ugalde, previously the director general at Integralia Consultores, and program alum Santiago Creuheras, former deputy minister for the environment and sustainable energy at the Ministry for the Environment-Mexico, presented to GAP students on democratic backsliding and institutional resilience in Latin America. 

Individual scholarly projects are bolstered by the Weatherhead Center’s student research assistant program, which connects Harvard students—primarily undergraduates—with program affiliates based on skillset and interest. These students support literature reviews, policy analysis, and data collection while gaining mentorship, building their own professional networks, and securing hands-on research experience. Program affiliates consistently describe the research assistant program as a highlight of their fellowship, and value connecting with students with different backgrounds and perspectives.  

Together, these collaborations highlight the unique environment of the Weatherhead Scholars Program, which brings together scholarship in the social sciences with public policy and practice. We look forward to continuing these mutually beneficial partnerships in the years ahead.