This winter quarter, 54 undergraduates completed the Jackson School’s Donald C. Hellmann Task Force Program, a capstone course that involved several weeks of research, writing, and group collaboration on a current global issue. The program concludes with a student-led evaluation day, where each Task Force presents their final report to an subject field expert.
Safaa Turner-Rahman during the March 14 Task Force evaluation day.
Meet Safaa Turner-Rahman, B.A. International Studies, 2025
“[Task Force] was where so many fun and memorable moments happened — whether it was joking around with teammates about our specific parts of the project, diving into wide ranging conversations while we worked, debating which policy recommendations were actually viable (unfortunately, we all agreed that recruiting kids to cut undersea cables wasn’t), or trying to come up with the perfect alliterative title for our report.”
Hometown: Pullman, Washington | Task Force: International Information/Internet Infrastructure Security
Meet Riley Centerwall, B.A. International Studies, 2025
Riley Centerwall during the March 14 Task Force evaluation day.
“One of the reasons why I chose to do Task Force … is because of the team effort and mutual support that a Task Force brings. We all leaned on each other when things were tough this quarter, particularly since migration policy has been completely upended this year. Moreover, I’m not only walking away with a network of future leaders in international studies, but I’m leaving with more friendships and community than I had before. That, in itself, is invaluable.”
Hometown: Sacramento, California | Task Force: Managing Migration: U.S. and EU Asylum and Refugee Policies
