Maeve Murphy is a Gender and Global Security Program Assistant at WIIS Global and an undergraduate student in the Elliot School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. At GWU, she is pursuing a bachelor's degree in International Affairs with a concentration in Security Policy. Maeve is also the WIIS GWU chapter president, which is what originally connected her with WIIS Global.
Since growing up in Salem, Massachusetts, Maeve has always been passionate about travelling the world. She has been everywhere from London, where she studied abroad last year, to Japan and Jordan, where she participated in two cultural exchange programs. While abroad, Maeve lived with host families and enjoyed learning how to cook various local cuisines. Maeve is also passionate about music and enjoyed learning about different kinds of music through her travels. She plays a few instruments, and loves to sing, believing that music is something that connects people all across the globe and is a shared way in which everyone can express themselves.
In high school, Maeve was particularly interested in environmental issues, and her argumentative nature drew her to an interest in environmental law. However, that changed when she read Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This book discusses the oppression of women and girls in the developing world, and it opened Maeve’s eyes to the issues that women face across the globe. As a result, she changed her career focus and has spent time throughout college becoming active within feminist movements across DC and on GWU’s campus.
Within her Security Policy concentration at GWU, Maeve is especially interested in fourth generation, asymmetrical warfare and how this relates to gender, identity and culture. She predominantly focuses, within this field, on issues such as human trafficking and child soldiering. During her time at GWU, Maeve has also pursued research focused on gender dynamics and inclusivity in peace processes.
Since joining the WIIS Global team, Maeve has been working on multiple projects. Currently, her main project is launching a new blog series that focuses on the intersection of race and global security. Maeve is also conducting a research project on the junction of climate, conflict, and gender. Some of her other tasks include planning a WIIS gala with all of the organization’s international chapters and organizing policy round tables.