Ellie Murphy, A22 photo
Ellie Murphy, A22

Ellie (she/her)  is an international relations and sociology double-major from Bedford Hills, New York. Throughout her time at Tufts, Ellie has worked to promote the empowerment of women, specifically in the fields of international relations and education.

She is a founding member of Tufts Women in International Relations (WIIR), an organization that serves to foster an inclusive environment for femme-identifying students studying international relations, a traditionally male-dominated field. In partnership with other WIIR members, Ellie has helped to begin conversations about decolonizing the syllabus in International Relations courses. She is also a “Big Sister” as part of the Big Sister program in the greater Boston area. Over the summer of 2021, Ellie worked as a student researcher for the Maranyundo Initiative under Professor Beardsley. This organization seeks to decrease educational gaps in Rwanda between women and men. 

She taught an Ex-College course entitled “Privilege and Power: the Ethics of Voluntourism” in which she and her students explored the phenomenon of voluntourism, wherein individuals travel for the purpose of providing service to a given region while also vacationing. The class more specifically explores voluntourism’s interaction with neoliberalism, globalization, the rise of mass-media, and neocolonialism.

Ellie is a member of the 2021-2022 EPIIC colloquium, “Problems without Passports” in which students address some of the world’s most pressing transnational issues related to globalization. 

After graduation, Ellie hopes to have hands-on experience working in a Nongovernmental organization related to humanitarian aid or international development. 

Ellie Murphy, A22

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