About Us

PROSPECT is a unique student organization that creates, writes and develops an international affairs journal at UC San Diego. Our goal is to share works that inspire critical thought and action.

We started in 2009, and we have not stopped working and improving since then. Our online journal serves as a forum for intelligent discourse by showcasing works created by students who wish to broaden their understanding of issues with contemporary and global relevance. By publishing online, we maintain our eco-friendly mission and provide a wider readership for our writers. With the exception of our advisor, our journal is entirely student-run: we provide the brainpower, writing, and marketing. By placing ourselves at the intersection of policy and the arts, we believe that we can better understand and respond to the world’s most pressing challenges.

Executive Board

  • Taylor Spencer

    Editor-in-Chief

    Taylor is a third year student majoring in Political Science - International Affairs and minoring in Law and Society. She is passionate about media literacy and hopes to increase awareness of international events. Her writing interests focus on the intersection of media, history, geopolitics, and the law. She hopes to pursue law school in the near future.

  • Kaitlyn Cooper

    Managing Editor

    Kaitlyn is a third year majoring in International Studies with minors in Economics and Spanish. She is passionate about expanding knowledge and rhetoric on topics such as national security, international economics, human rights, and Latin American politics. Fueled by such interests, she hopes to pursue a career in diplomacy where she may advance prosperity and peace for countries and populations around the world.

  • Jayden Rabanal

    Director of Marketing and Outreach

    Jayden is a third year student studying Literatures in English. Her writing passions include the environment, women’s rights, and cultural diversity. Jayden hopes to pursue a career in the legal field or in writing.

  • Ellen Kimbler

    Director of Operations

    Ellen is a third year double majoring in Sociology and Political Science with a minor in Middle East Studies. Her writing passions include social movements, culture and food, and geopolitics in the Middle East. She aspires to pursue a career in advocacy and foreign policy.

  • Audrey Thompson

    Director of Finance

    Audrey is a third year joint Mathematics and Economics major here at UCSD. She is a strong proponent of free thought and speech and her writing passions cover AI, surveillance, and educational models of thought around the world. After undergrad, she hopes to earn a J.D. and work in intellectual property law.

Writers

  • Dhruv Kannan

    Junior Writer
    Dhruv is a first-year studying Political Science - Data Analytics, with potential minors in Computational Social Science and Climate Change Studies. His writing focuses on the social dynamics, politics, and foreign policy of South Asia, especially in the context of an increasingly polarized world. He aspires to a career in public service, applying quantitative analysis to maximize social welfare.

  • Grace Ha

    Senior Writer
    Grace is a fourth year student studying Political Science with a minor in AAPI Studies. Her writing interests include politics and pop-culture of South Korea, drug policy throughout the Asia-Pacific, and the application of intersectionality within the realm of law. Grace hopes to use her international background to pursue a career in the legal field in the near future.

  • Blake Mozingo

    Junior Writer

    Blake is a second year majoring in Political Science with a focus in American Politics. As a result he enjoys writing, and learning about how American foreign policy affects the rest of the world. He hopes to attend either Law School or Journalism School after undergrad.

  • Amelia Dias

    Junior Writer

  • Laian Parralejo del Valle

    Junior Writer

  • Elise Garza

    Senior Writer
    Elise is a third year studying International Studies, Political Science and Environmental Systems. She is passionate about climate, migration, development, and design. She is currently spending the academic year in Barcelona, Spain, perfecting her Spanish. Elise hopes to work in environmental or immigration policy in the future.

  • Grant Mueller

    Senior Writer

    Grant is a third year Revelle student studying History and Political Science. He’s especially interested in postcolonial studies in such regions as Subsaharan Africa and the Indo-Pacific, with a focus on the literature, social movements, and cultures of these regions. Grant will be going to law school, and aspires to become a federal prosecutor.

  • Maikle Low

    Maikle is a first year majoring in political science who is interested in business compliance and antitrust enforcement.

Editors

  • Elie Kansa

    Editor

    Elie is a third year UCSD student majoring in Art History and Communication and minoring in Education. Her articles center around the arts, media, and culture. Elie is passionate about making education accessible and approachable, and hopes to pursue a career in the education sector.

  • Tyler Hunt

    Editor

    Tyler is a third year majoring in Political Science with a minor in Classical Studies. He holds a strong interest in geopolitics, comparative grand strategy, and security studies. After graduating, Tyler hopes to pursue a PhD and work for the federal government.

  • Natalie Fong

    Editor

    Natalie is a third-year majoring in History with an emphasis on East and Southeast Asia. She is specifically interested in the Cold War as Asian American social history, and in Southeast Asia more broadly. She believes in the inherently transnational nature of historical narratives, and a pragmatic approach of the discipline as it relates to current international relations. In the future, she wants to either work in Foreign Service or pursue history academia.

  • Alex Ross

    Editor

  • Emma Chen

    Editor

    Emma is a first year majoring in International Business. She is excited to dive deeper into topics such as international relations, human rights, and global politics. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in law, where she is able to advocate for others.

  • Ella Tackett

    Editor

    Ella is a first year Seventh College student majoring in Political Science/International Relations with a minor in Law and Society. She is interested in international science and technology policy, with a specific passion for space policy. She currently competes with UCSD’s travel Model UN team and hopes to attain a M.A. after undergrad.

  • Bridget Howell

    Editor

    Bridget is a first-year majoring in Linguistics and potentially double-majoring in Political Science. Her writing interests include historical and modern revolutions, language's role in identity and politics, dictatorships and other authoritarian states, and how history shapes the world of today. When not in the classroom or reading the newspaper, she can be found reading and writing science fiction.

Video/ Media

  • Aava Ghorbanian

    Illustrator

    Aava currently majors in Political Science and aims to go to law school in the future. As an illustrator for Prospect, she is mainly interested in covering topics that concern women’s rights and humanitarian issues such as systemic discrimination and poverty. She would also love to make works about environmental issues, as she feels climate change is one of the most pressing issues in our generation.

  • Ashley Smith

    Senior Media Specialist

  • Cheyenne Rahimian

    Media Specialist

  • Olivia Pimentel

    Media Specialist

  • Sirisha Gajri

    Media Specialist

  • Heeyoung Hwang

    Comic Illustrator
    Heeyoung is a third year student studying Psychology with an interest in illustration and East Asian Literature. She hopes to continue cultivating her illustration skills and knowledge of world affairs. Outside of the classroom, Heeyoung enjoys reading obscure recommendations.