Reppy Institute Fellows 2025-26

Our Reppy Fellows are master's, doctoral, and law students at Cornell who receive unique opportunities for professional networking and development in the field of peace and conflict studies. Meet the 2025–26 cohort. 

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Anurag Koyyada

Anurag Koyyada is a J.D. candidate at Cornell Law School. He is interested in how law, society, and technology interact in military and surveillance contexts. His work, as it relates to conflict and security, examines how emerging technologies both mirror and mold societal power, both constraining and enabling peace. Anurag is a researcher at the Aerospace ADVERSARY Lab, studying cyber- and space-based warfare, and works on NATO's HEIST project. Previously, he studied political economy at King's College London. 

Carmine Couloute 

Director's Fellow

Carmine Couloute is a PhD student in the Department of Government, specializing in International Relations. Her research focuses on ethnographically examining the enduring impact of French colonialism in Francophone West Africa. She aims to explore how protests over 'war taxes' facilitate practices of sovereignty and self-determination during political upheaval.

Cassidy Fowler

Cassidy Fowler is a PhD student at Cornell University’s Department of Government. Her research focuses on international security, with a particular interest in nuclear weapons strategy and operations, IR theory, and security studies.

Esam Boraey

Director's Fellow

Esam Boraey is a Ph.D. student in Government at Cornell University, specializing in Comparative Politics and Political Economy with a regional focus on the Middle East. His research explores the intersection of authoritarianism, social movements, and economic development, particularly how state structures and societal norms shape political and economic outcomes in the region. Esam is especially interested in the political economy of reform, the role of civil society, and the dynamics of post-uprising transitions. Prior to Cornell, he was actively engaged in civil society initiatives and has worked extensively on issues of democratic governance and human rights across the MENA region.

Kyaw Hsan Hlaing  

Kyaw Hsan Hlaing is a PhD student in the Department of Government at Cornell. He studies comparative politics and international relations with a focus on political violence, insurgency, authoritarianism, and regime change, exploring dynamics of civil conflict and post-war transitions.

Lois Matthew

Lois Matthew is a PhD. Student in the Department of Government, specializing in Comparative Politics, with a Minor in International Relations and Methods. Her research focuses on Democratization, Authoritarian Legacies, Parties, Elections, and voting Behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Or Aroch

Or Aroch is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Anthropology. His research focuses on education and childhood in the context of Israel/Palestine. He examines how educational processes and children’s experiences in conflict-ridden Israel transform amid war, political instability, and civic upheaval, with attention to processes of militarization and nationalization, negotiations over future visions and collective memory, and the role of democratic and peace education in these circumstances.

Paul Caruso 

Paul Caruso is a first-year MPA student at the Brooks School of Public Policy focusing on international affairs and peace studies. Paul’s research investigates the opportunities for conflict resolution and negotiation that shared climate crises present. He looks forward to meeting like-minded scholars and contributing to the institute’s events. Paul is further interested in transatlantic relations, international negotiation, and peacebuilding.

Saomai Nguyen

Saomai Phuong Nguyen (they/she) is a PhD student in the Department of History, focusing on Asian/American history. Their research examines refugee transits and passages after the war in Vietnam, particularly the in-waiting site of the refugee camp and how the children of refugees come to remember, understand, and embody their parents’ displacement and resettlement through memory work and cultural productions.

Sebastian Restrepo

Sebastian Restrepo is a Ph.D. student in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. His research interests focus on the institutional arrangements to improve the implementation of peace agreements in conflict or post-conflict regions. He has more than fifteen (15) years of experience designing and implementing regional development programs. In his last position at the National Department of Development (DNP) in Colombia, he coordinated the execution of loan contracts with the World Bank, IDB, and the Government of the United Kingdom for the implementation of the multipurpose cadaster public policy to consolidate legal security in land tenure, contribute to fiscal strengthening, territorial development, and environmental sustainability. Sebastian holds a master's degree in Public Policy, a master's degree in Engineering, a professional specialization in Project Management, and a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering.

Upsana Singh

Upasana Singh is a J.S.D. candidate at the Cornell Law School. She also holds an LL.M. from Cornell Law School with a focus on conflict resolution and restorative justice. She serves on the review board of the Indian Law Institute Law Review.

Prior to this, she served as an Assistant Professor of Law in India and practiced as an advocate in the Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Delhi.

Upasana is also a certified mediator, holding credentials from the London School of Mediation, UK, and the High Court of Delhi, India. She is the founder of Accords International, an organization committed to shaping the next generation of mediators and restorative justice facilitators.