Mengzheng is a 2017 alumni and recipient of both the Area Studies Academic Achievement Prize and the David Pong Asian Studies Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Phi Beta Kappa. Since graduation, he studied at Peking University, China’s premier liberal arts university, during summer. He is entering the master program of sociology at the University of Delaware with full scholarship this fall. He plans to pursue a PhD degree in sociology and investigate social issues in Asia in the academia. “I always want to study Asian uniqueness using my sociological methodology learned in the United States.” He is pictured here in Boao Forum for Asia, China.

Major: B.A. International Relations, 2016 with minors in Spanish and Latin American & Iberian Studies

After graduating from UD, Natalie Medlock worked in Latin America as an ESL Teacher, Peace Corps Volunteer and Fulbright ETA. She is currently a State Department Pickering Fellow while completing a MSFS degree at Georgetown University. Natalie says her area studies coursework at UD influenced her decision to join the Foreign Service. 

Brandon Bell graduated from UD in 2021 with a triple major in European Studies, International Relations, and History with a French and Global Studies double minor

After graduation Brandon worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is currently a graduate student at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs studying Global Communication. He recently completed an internship with the U.S. State Department and will soon begin an internship with the United Nations. Brandon says his UD professors challenged him to think critically in an interdisciplinary way, enabling him to establish a strong academic and professional foundation.