Stephanie Reist Explores Displacement in South America

By combining policy with Latin American studies, Stephanie Reist is exploring issues of land claims and displacement in South America.

Reist, from Oak Park, Illinois, is currently a fourth year graduate student in the Latin American studies doctoral program. Last year, she decided to enhance her education by simultaneously pursuing a master’s degree in public policy from the Sanford School of Public Policy.

“There isn't really a formal PhD-Master of Public Policy, but everyone that I've worked with to establish the path I want has been really helpful and supportive,” she said. “It speaks to Duke’s interdisciplinary mission to create those spaces for students to be innovative and creative.”

Reist’s academic focus is on Afro-descendent social movements in South America, particularly around issues of territorial and urban land claims. She is examining the effects of conflict, national and international policies and development initiatives on the large Afro-descendant populations of Brazil and Colombia.

Last summer, Reist and worked with the International Organization for Migration through the Duke Program on Global Policy and Governance in Geneva, Switzerland. With a focus on humanitarian action, Reist applied her research skills to study the changing dynamics of migration in the western hemisphere.

In October, Reist will travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as part of the Felsman Fellowship through the Sanford School of Public Policy. There she will be working with Terra Dos Homens, a children’s advocacy NGO.

“I will be working for the organization with whatever tasks they want me to do, but I also want to use the experience as a way to develop my own research,” she said. “I’m hoping to use the opportunity to branch out and explore Brazil as well.”

Although the organization doesn’t specifically focus on Afro-descendant populations, she will be using many of the skills she learned as a graduate student, such as community organizing and research methods.

“I’m looking forward to it as an opportunity to be in the field both working and doing my research,” Reist said. “It’s an innovative way to go about academic research. In terms of my career, globally there's a lot interest in Brazil, and I think that wherever I end up, being able to speak Portuguese will be really useful.”

Reist said she been interested in a career in academia since she was an undergraduate, but is now leaning toward opportunities outside of academia.

“Going into a think tank or advocacy organization relies on a lot of skills I'm developing as an academic,” she said. “I think I would ultimately use this as an opportunity to branch out but with the university as a familiar space that I hope to go back to eventually.”

Besides her academic commitments, Reist has served on the Graduate Professional Student Council as a representative for both of her programs and is an editor for the Sanford Journal of Public Policy. She is also an avid cook who enjoys visits to the Durham Farmer’s Market.