Exploring Global Trade: A Fulbright Year in Kenya

The question of how geopolitical trade competition between the United States and China impacts Kenya is difficult to answer. Yet that’s just what Caroline Gray BA ’17 set out to do as a 2024 Fulbright Scholar in Kenya. While abroad, Gray learned about and fostered relationships between U.S. and Kenyan diplomats, observed trade talks, and researched Kenya’s dynamic economic systems.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, fosters mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges. Lewis & Clark is one of the top producers of Fulbright award winners in the country, demonstrating a sustained commitment to international education and engagement.

An International Focus at L&C

Caroline’s Fulbright story began with her choice to come to Lewis & Clark all the way from Chicago. What initially drew her here was the “amazing international affairs program and study abroad opportunities.”

Caroline Gray BA ’17“I just felt like there was a really tight-knit community in the IA major.” She attributes her great experience at L&C to multiple international affairs professors, including Elizabeth Bennett, Kyle Lascurettes, Bob Mandel, and Cyrus Partovi.

Caroline’s passion for international affairs took root early at Lewis & Clark. As a first-year student, she became involved with the International Affairs Symposium, one of the oldest student-run symposia in the United States. The annual symposium is organized around six debates, each tackling a controversial issue in international politics. “It was a really cool opportunity that got me involved in the major, and I chaired the symposium my sophomore year.”

Caroline’s minor in political economy allowed her to gain a multifaceted and interdisciplinary perspective of the issues that impact international relations through taking classes like anthropology, history, and social theory, which she felt were “really exciting.”

An Overseas Influence

Caroline says that her experiences at Lewis & Clark, specifically her time studying abroad in India, largely factored into her later decision to do research in Kenya. As a junior, Gray was awarded the prestigious Dina Dodds Endowment for International Studies to help her continue her studies abroad. This allowed her to complete an independent study of archival research in New Delhi, a city she fell in love with during her overseas study program to India.

After she graduated, she coled the same India overseas study program she had completed during her undergraduate days. “It got me excited to do similar research in foreign countries.”

Going back overseas has consistently been a goal of Caroline’s, specifically to work on U.S.–China political competition. When looking for an interesting place to study these dynamics, Caroline’s research kept coming back to East Africa. This sparked her decision to go to Kenya.

The Fulbright Experience

During her time in Kenya, Caroline worked as a research associate in the Department of International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of Nairobi. She spent a lot of time at the Africa Centre for the Study of the United States, a new center formed during her time in Nairobi. There, scholars and students gather together to research and discuss complicated U.S.–African relations.

Caroline’s research focused on U.S.–China competition in East Africa and U.S.–Kenya trade, investments, and relationships. “I spent a lot of time interviewing diplomats and folks at the U.S. embassy,” says Caroline. “This helped me to get a sense of what the process of these negotiations looked like.”

With help from faculty and her advisors at the university, Caroline helped to put on events to “bring U.S. embassy folks into the fold and build partnerships between the Americans and my Kenyan colleagues.” Caroline also worked outside of the university by conducting interviews, observing trade talks, and researching Kenya’s dynamic economic systems.

Her favorite part of her trip was working with Kenyan academics at the University of Nairobi. “It was amazing meeting people doing interesting work from all over the world,” Caroline says. “I wouldn’t have traded for anything.”

From Kenya to New York City

After returning from her Fulbright experience in Kenya, Caroline recently accepted an offer to work at Ergo, a geopolitical risk and advisory firm in New York City. She will be researching how the shifting political and economic dynamics between the United States and the rest of the world will impact emerging and frontier markets. “It is a nice extension of my research and work in Nairobi,” Caroline says.

International Affairs Overseas and Off-Campus Programs Academic Awards and Fellowships