Public Policy Events

Studies of employers as well as job seekers consistently show that the skills gained through study abroad have a long-term impact on career progression and promotion. These skills include not just intercultural skills, but also curiosity, flexibility & adaptability, confidence, self-awareness, communication, problem-solving, language, tolerance for ambiguity, teamwork, leadership, and work ethic. What's more, you can find a program that also enhances your major beyond language facility, including STEAM and even pre-med, not to mention, William & Mary is ranked 4th among undergraduates participating in study abroad programs compared to any other public university in the US. Members of this panel will share how studying abroad has enhanced their career path as well as career choices.

Maya Sapiurka is the Associate Director of Administration of the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience at Georgetown University. In addition to overseeing the day-to-day running of the Ph.D. program, she plays an active role in managing the program’s training grants, developing the curriculum, and supporting the student body. At William & Mary, Maya was a Monroe Scholar who majored in Neuroscience with a minor in Hispanic Studies, studying abroad and completing research projects in Spain and Peru. After W&M, she received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UCSD, where she studied the brain structures involved in spatial and non-spatial working memory in the labs of Drs. Robert E. Clark and Larry Squire. Before joining Georgetown, Maya was the Scientific Training Manager at the Society for Neuroscience, leading the Society’s scientific and professional development programming. In addition to the Reves Board, Maya is a member of the W&M Inclusion Volunteer Leadership Circles and the DC Alumni Chapter Board.

Nasha oversees the outreach efforts of the Global Education Office, and she administers the Cross-Cultural Collaboration program, the international exchange student program, Re-entry programs, and the scholarship program. She enjoys working on international education projects related to diversity and student preparation. She is particularly interested in inclusion issues and providing access to international opportunities to all students. Nasha is excited to spearhead study abroad outreach on campus and looks forward to encouraging the global engagement of the W&M community.

Prior to coming to W&M, Nasha managed to study abroad and exchange programs at Virginia Commonwealth University and worked for the US Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa. 

Students can participate in person or virtually. Students should log into TribeCareers for additional information. 

Teresa Longo is a Professor of Hispanic Studies. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.A. and B.A from the University of Montana. Her scholarship focuses on the relationship between Latin America and the United States as it is articulated culturally.

Professor Longo's publications include Visible Dissent: Latin American Writers, Small U.S. Presses, and the Political Imagination; "Humanity Rendered Visible: Literature, Art and the Post-9/11 Imagination”; and Pablo Neruda and the US Culture Industry. Her current research project centers on the literary legacy of copper mining in the Rocky Mountain West and in Chile.

Her courses engage the literary arts within a global studies framework. She teaches Local-Global Issues, Urban Images, and Issues in Canon Formation. In the spring of '22, she taught a seminar on Copper, Gold, and Silver in Literature and Art.

She is the recipient of William & Mary's Thomas Jefferson Award, a Jefferson Teaching Award, an Alumni Society Teaching Award, and a Plumeri Award; she was recognized by the Case-Carnegie Foundation as a Virginia Professor of the Year.