The 2020-2021 fellowship year will be unlike any other in the history of the MIT Security Studies Program (“SSP”). The global health pandemic has forced everyone to adapt to a new way of living. Lunchtime rendezvous, working groups, and the congenial chats in the hallways of E-40 have been replaced with Zoom breakout rooms and socially distant meetups. The show, as they say, must go on.

Fortunately for the SSP community, this year’s Stanton, and Grand Strategy, Security and Statecraft fellows are up for the challenge.

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Welcome to the SSP family! What were you doing and where were you living prior to joining us in Boston?

Tyler Bowen, Stanton Fellow

Before coming to SSP, I was in the Ph.D. program in Political Science at Yale University. I was living in New Haven and conducting research on my dissertation project which looks at the benefits of conventional military power in the context of crises between nuclear-armed states.

Heather Williams, Stanton Fellow

I was/am a Lecturer at King's College London—I'm still in London because travel plans got delayed due to the pandemic. But at King's, I've been teaching on arms control and deterrence, and running a series of projects on related topics in the Centre for Science and Security Studies. We've had a really busy year with events and publications, most recently a major study on Twitter and nuclear escalation. 

Yeajin Yoon, Stanton Fellow

Before coming to SPP, I had fellowships at Harvard Belfer and Stanford CISAC, and received my graduate training at the University of Oxford in England. I am originally from Korea.

Renanah Joyce, Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow

Before coming to SSP, I was at Columbia University, where I finished my PhD in Political Science this summer. My physical move to Boston is from Washington, DC, where I did a predoctoral fellowship last year at the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at George Washington University.

Audrye Wong, Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow

I was at the Harvard Kennedy School for the first year of my postdoctoral fellowship. Before that, I completed my PhD in Security Studies at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs.

What brought you to SSP for a fellowship?

Tyler Bowen, Stanton Fellow

I was attracted to SSP because of the reputation of the scholarly community. It has a great collection of people dedicated to the issues of "nuts-and-bolts" security and issues around nuclear deterrence. I wanted to be a part of that community and improve my research by making connections with the people in it.

Renanah Joyce, Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow

The Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft program offers an unparalleled opportunity to spend two years immersed in security studies, thinking and writing about issues related to statecraft and grand strategy. As an incoming postdoctoral fellow, I’m thrilled to have this time to focus on my book project, surrounded by a community of world-class scholars.

Heather Williams, Stanton Fellow

I wanted a year to engage with the big questions. For the past few years I've done a lot of work with policymakers, so am keen to take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and get back to some first principles about arms control- how do states cooperate in arms control while also competing in other areas of geopolitics? Can arms control mitigate risks associated with nuclear weapons and emerging technology, or is it of waning utility? And how would arms control integrate emerging technology, such as cyber and AI?

What do you hope to gain from SSP?

Audrye Wong, Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow

This will be an unusual year, to say the least, but I hope to still be able to exchange ideas and build connections with members of the SSP community - learning from both academic and policy perspectives will be most invaluable as I work on my book manuscript on economic statecraft and find inspiration to start new projects.

Yeajin Yoon, Stanton Fellow

I plan to develop my dissertation into a book manuscript during this year. My research sheds light on the security competition and nuclear politics in Asia, and I hope to make substantive progress and receive feedback on my work from SSP experts. 

Heather Williams, Stanton Fellow

I'd really like to dive more into the history of arms control, particularly early in the nuclear age, but also going back further to see how arms control attempted to manage new technologies. I'm hoping to do some in-depth historical case study analysis and identify what it means for "asymmetric arms control" and how it can inform contemporary arms control policy. I'd also like to gain a better understanding of American academia, because it's still a bit foreign to me.

We’re still in the throes of the pandemic, but is there anything you’re hoping to do or see over the course of your year here?

Heather Williams, Stanton Fellow

Seafood! My husband is an amazing chef and we always like exploring local food scenes, so I'm looking forward to some lobster rolls and New England produce. (If anyone is reading this and has food recommendations, seriously, please email me!) After a decade of living in London, I'm also looking forward to being closer to my family in upstate New York and driving on the right side of the road.

Tyler Bowen, Stanton Fellow

Unfortunately, the pandemic has nixed my favorite activity in Boston: going to Red Sox games. I am a huge Red Sox fan, but I did already go to Fenway during a game to check out what pandemic baseball was like. It's eerie. But I have always liked the Boston area. I look forward to runs along the Charles River, trips to seaside towns, and hikes in the Berkshires and the White Mountains.

Yeajin Yoon, Stanton Fellow

I am hoping to learn to sail on the Charles!

Renanah Joyce, Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow

I’m looking forward to running along the Charles River paths! It’s such a gorgeous area to run (greatruns.com calls it “one of the greatest runs in the United States”). Even better, it’s a pandemic-friendly activity.

Audrye Wong, Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow

I've really enjoyed the access to the outdoors - including hiking and kayaking - in the Boston and New England area. Perhaps I will have a chance to take some sailing classes via MIT in the spring!

Tell us one thing about you people might find surprising to learn.

Heather Williams, Stanton Fellow

I own over 20 copies of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. When I was an undergrad at Boston University, I geeked out a bit on Russian literature and started collecting different editions of this one book. They will not be traveling with me to Boston.

Renanah Joyce, Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow

I attended high school in the Gaza Strip. My family and I lived in the Rafah refugee camp for five years, in the southernmost part of Gaza. While there, I attended the Al Quds secondary school and graduated with a General Certificate of Secondary Education in 2001. When I started, I didn’t know how to read or write Arabic (the instruction was all in Arabic), so it was quite an intense learning experience.

Yeajin Yoon, Stanton Fellow

I like cooking and eating Korean food.

Audrye Wong, Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Fellow

I love Sichuan peppercorns and buy them in bulk.

Tyler Bowen, Stanton Fellow

People are always surprised when I tell them that my favorite type of music is hip-hop/rap.