
THINK PIECES
This page features written work developed by participants in the Summer Cohort. Each piece reflects a student’s engagement with a pressing issue in the humanitarian field.
UNDERSTANDING THE RELIGIOUS CONTEXT AND THE SHIFTING LANGUAGE OF AID
Cosette Cordova & Lara Howell
This piece summarizes and presents three tables illustrating the religious composition of UN HNRP countries, while also highlighting the significance of changing the language of aid in transnational humanitarian efforts.
View Project →
RELEARNING LOCALLY: A GUIDE FOR PRACTITIONERS OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AMID THE GLOBAL DECLINE OF DONORSHIP
Kate Hatley
This article explores how international development practitioners can adapt amid the global decline of foreign aid and the dismantling of USAID. It highlights the importance of participatory, locally led approaches and offers insights from experts navigating this shifting landscape. Ultimately, it serves as a guide for sustaining community-driven development in an era of shrinking donorship.
View Project →
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL RELIGIONS AND HUMANITARIAN ACTION
Sanjana Jaiswal & Lara Howell
This piece draws similarities between the teachings of charity and justice from the world’s major religions. This brief aims to provide groundwork for interfaith buy-in to humanitarian goals and secular humanitarian investment into religion.
View Project →
PUTTING COMMUNITIES ON THE MAP: HOW OPEN DATA TRANSFORMS DISASTER RESPONSE
Amelia Johnson
This piece explores how open-source mapping can transform disaster response by making geographic data more accessible, collaborative, and locally driven. It highlights how empowering communities to create and maintain their own data can improve response efforts and build long-term resilience.
View Project →
A DARK LEGACY AND A HOPEFUL FUTURE: COLONIALISM’S LASTING IMPACT ON HUMANITARIAN AID AND STEPS TO DECOLONIZATION
Grace Theriot
This paper examines the historical and modern intersections between colonialism and humanitarian aid, arguing that while aid has often been used as a tool for powerful nations to gain influence, it also holds potential for genuine anti-colonial progress.
View Project →
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY IN THE HUMANITARIAN FIELD: MIT EARLY ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND FURTHER APPLICATIONS TODAY
Lacey Wortzel
This piece explores how emerging technologies and data-driven models can improve humanitarian response by identifying supply chain disruptions before they occur. It highlights the potential of AI and predictive analytics to enhance disaster preparedness while also raising important ethical considerations for their use in the field.
View Project →
LISTENING WITHOUT ASKING: CULTURALLY-RESPONSIVE TOOLS FOR GIRLS’ PARTICIPATION
Gabriella Bartlett
This piece explores the barriers that prevent girls from fully participating in research and highlights participatory methods, including: Photovoice, peer-to-peer interviews, community mapping, grandmother-led approaches, and storytelling, that can empower girls when implemented with safety, trust, and agency. It argues that centering these values is more important than any single method for generating meaningful data and advancing ethical, inclusive research.
View Project →
LIFELINE OR LANDMINE? HAZARDS OF HUMANITARIAN AI
Chiara Purificato
This opinion piece explores the risk and rewards surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) deployment in the humanitarian field, arguing that regulation is imperative to check the continued innovation and incorporation of AI in this work.
View Project →
EXPLORING CONCEPTS OF “WELL-BEING” IN ARABIC AND BEST PRACTICES FOR TRANSLATION IN PROGRAMMING FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT (MHPSS)
Grace Shawah
This piece explores how the concept of well-being is understood and translated in Arabic-speaking communities, particularly in mental health and psychosocial support programming. It offers practical recommendations for more culturally and linguistically responsive approaches to supporting displaced and refugee populations.
View Project →
INTEGRATING FEMINIST APPROACHES INTO ANTICIPATORY ACTION
Allaire Tetrault
This piece explores how anticipatory action, humanitarian measures implemented before a disaster, can be more effective and equitable by incorporating feminist and community perspectives.
View Project →
AFFECT AND AID: POWER, HIERARCHY, AND DISPARATE HUMANIZATION WITHIN THE HUMANITARIAN AID INDUSTRY
Lauren Yeboah-Kodie
This piece examines how emotional narratives and perceptions shape humanitarian responses, revealing how power dynamics and historical legacies influence who is seen, valued, and supported. It calls for a shift toward more equitable, dignity-centered approaches that prioritize local agency and challenge existing hierarchies.
View Project →
UNDERSTANDING FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND RELIGIOUS GIVING IN THE UNITED STATES
Lara Howell
This piece provides an overview of how faith-based organizations were affected by federal funding cuts, how donors responded, and how religious affiliation influences donor behavior.
View Project →
MAP THE RISK: DATA-DRIVEN DISASTER DECISIONS
Mark Slezak, Kendall Hyer, Pacific Rwanika, & Hiba Khan
This succinct, data-driven summary of the INFORM Subnational Risk Index demonstrates how Southern African governments can use subnational risk mapping to pinpoint vulnerable populations and high-risk locations for focused, evidence-based disaster response and prevention. To facilitate proactive resource allocation and early warning planning, the infographic places a strong emphasis on regional indicators and actionable insights.
View Project →