Student Profiles

Rathburn, Emily

Bio:

Emily is a recent graduate of the UNMA Accelerated Program with a concentration in Human Rights, International Law, and Gender Equality. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2019 with her B.A. in Political Science and Russian Language & Literature. She was also designated as a Paul Robeson Scholar and awarded High Honors in Russian Language & Literature after consideration of her honor’s thesis, “The Dynamics of Religion in Dostoveky’s The Brothers Karamazov.” Her experience as a Russian major has complemented her Political Science education by allowing her to better understand conflicts in Russia and Eastern Europe and approach these issues with a strong cultural and historical understanding.

Emily has had unique international experience through her education and extracurricular activities. In the summer of 2019, she studied abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia with the Rutgers Department of Russian Language & Literature. In this program, she completed the equivalent of one year of advanced language classes while living with a host family and experiencing the culture of the city. She also spent time in southeast China competing in the Hobie 16 Sailing World Championship where she placed second in the youth category and tenth in the open category. During this time, she was able to experience the cultural differences between Dapeng, a rural fishing town, and major cities such as Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Though they are geographically close, life can be drastically different between the locations. Emily also studied character dance in L’viv, Ukraine and classical ballet at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow.

During her graduate studies, Emily worked as the Graduate Student Assistant for the UNMA program and as a research assistant for Dr. Davis on the Youth, Social Entrepreneurship, and Sustainable Development Project. In addition, she held internships at the Somerset County Bar Association and Kenneth Vercammen and Associates, PC. She also volunteered as a Student Ambassador for the UNMA program and was a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Phi Beta Kappa Association of New York.

After graduation, Emily will continue her studies at Rutgers Law. She hopes to integrate her educational background with a law degree in order to build a career defending human rights.