Jackson School doctoral candidate Katie Gonser and International Studies major Juliette Lanser have been awarded scholarships for the 2022-2023 academic year by the Mortar Board Alumni / Tolo Foundation. Mortar Board is the oldest continuing national honor society on the University of Washington campus, and recognizes outstanding scholarship, leadership and service.
Both received the Dr. Eleanor Hadley Scholarship. A partial list of Hadley’s accomplishments includes being one of General MacArthur’s key advisors on the Japanese economy following WWII, serving on the faculties of Smith College and George Washington University, authoring a highly respected book about Japan, enjoying a distinguished career with the United States government, and receiving the Sacred Treasure of the Third Order from the Emperor of Japan.
Katie Gonser
“Dr. Eleanor Hadley was a very accomplished and brilliant woman, and it is an honour to be a recipient of this award in her name,” said Katie Gonser, a Jackson School doctoral candidate in international studies. “My research reflects my commitment to human rights, and this scholarship will allow me to continue pursuing that commitment in my doctoral studies and beyond.”
Gonser recently completed data collection for her dissertation on humanitarianism and human rights in North Korea. She spent the past spring in Seoul, South Korea, interviewing NGO staff and meeting with experts including journalists, policy advisors, professors and government officials, and recently connected with experts in Washington, D.C. Since 2020, Gonser has been working on a National Science Foundation-funded research project on COVID-19-related mis/disinformation on Twitter under Jackson School faculty Sara Curran and Jessica Beyer, where she leads a team of undergraduate researchers.
Juliette Lanser, a Jackson School senior majoring in international studies with a track in international human rights and Near Eastern studies, who received the Graham-Trzcinski Scholarship in addition to the Eleanor Hadley Scholarship, said:
Juilette Lanser
“I am honored to have received the Graham-Trzcinski and Hadley Scholarship as it strengthens my commitment to my work and interest in refugee situations and human rights and will allow me to participate in a study abroad program in Spain on Gender and Disability in Human Rights Law and Practice.”
This past summer, Lanser participated in a UW Disabilities Studies Research Fellowship at the United Nations in Geneva, where she worked with the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Her research focused on the United Arab Emirates’ compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which informed the committee on important gaps present in the UAE’s approach to disabilities.
She also serves as President of the Jackson School Student Association and works as a transcription intern in a digital humanities project, the Svoboda Diaries Project, in the Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Department at the UW.