Contact Us
Contact:
Rebecca Coughlin
Director, SIS Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives
School of International Service, Room 112 on a map
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 United StatesHistorically Underrepresented Groups
SIS defines “historically underrepresented groups” to include people who have been denied access or suffered institutional discrimination in the United States. This includes racialized groups(e.g., African-American, Black, Hispanic, Latinx, Asian-American, and Native American populations), people from low-income families, first-generation college graduates, women (especially in leadership), LGBTQ+ identifying people, people with disabilities, and people in religious groups who have suffered discrimination.
SIS Values at Work in the World

Ukrainian Refugees Are Welcomed with Open Arms – Not So with People Fleeing Other War-Torn Countries
Commencement Speaker Inspires Hope

Bertha Nibigira, SIS/MA '22
As graduates of SIS, we must find hope everywhere.
I’m leaving SIS ready—not for a job but for a transformative career in the very agencies I knew as a [refugee] child....SIS teaches us to think critically. Development can be problematic, and institutions are flawed. Despite this, I remain an optimist. It was the people in these institutions that made a difference to me. People matter.
Past Events and Video Stories
In honor of the 120th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize, SIS hosts a virtual event highlighting the important work of Nadia Murad, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for her efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. She is an advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence, and she herself has written about her experience of being imprisoned by ISIS in Iraq. AU professor Tazreena Sajjad leads a conversation with Nadia, a current AU student, about the crucial work she is doing with her organization, Nadia's Initiative, and about the importance of winning the Nobel Peace Prize to further the critical mission to help advocate for these survivors.