Drawing Boundaries: The Politics of Sovereignty in a Globalized World
Semester: Spring 2025
Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Corredor
Field Site: New Lines Institute
Field Supervisor: Kallie Mitchell
Praxis Poster:
PIS_REVISED_ Peyton_Davis_Praxis Poster
Further Context:
One of my first assignments for my Praxis course, “Drawing Boundaries: The Politics of Sovereignty in a Globalized World,” I assisted my field supervisor, Kallie Mitchell, on research for a 40-page report. She authored this report on gender-based violence in Tigray, Ethiopia in order to present to U.K. Parliament in March. I helped to find, cross-verify, and categorize facts and testimony related to these crimes. It was eye-opening and sobering to read of these experiences. I learned that, often, sovereignty of territory and sovereignty of body go hand-in-hand. Systemic gender-based violence was used as a method of “claiming” land and women.
The culminating, capstone element of my course was authoring an independent report. At first, I only had a broad idea of what I wanted to do—discuss gender dynamics in the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. Through my own research and feedback from my supervisor, I eventually decided to focus on one specific area. Rojava is a semi-autonomous region in Syria led by a predominately Kurdish government. I chose to analyze the gendered strengths of their democratic model and position it in relation to the fall of the Assad regime. The most interesting challenge in writing this was determining my audience. Unlike writing an essay for a professor, a published piece for a think tank is meant for policymakers and the general public alike.
One major lesson learned from this experience is how much a policy paper evolves over the course of its creation. My original idea underwent many changes as I worked through the process and received feedback. I learned that there is no need for attachment to the first direction I envisioned for the report—in fact, the truly critical writing will naturally evolve as one uncovers more information and develops an argument. Writing sometimes flows, and other times, it’s a frustrating uphill climb. The climb is the point in which I have grown the most!