Meet 2017 RBSI Scholar, Asia Stewart

Asia Stewart, Harvard University

Asia Stewart is a junior at Harvard University, currently pursuing a joint concentration in government and women, gender, and sexuality studies and a secondary in ethnicity, migration, rights. After working at the New York State Division of Human Rights and the internationally recognized organization, Physicians for Human Rights, Ms. Stewart identified her growing interest in notions of sexual citizenship and belonging, diaspora, and queer migration. In search of ways to enact social change through the mechanism of the law, Ms. Stewart began to conduct research on asylum law and U.S. immigration policies at the Harvard Center for American Political Studies in 2016. Currently, her research specifically focuses on the legal barriers that LGBT asylum seekers face in the United States. She is particularly interested in the effect that various performances of gender and sexuality in the courtroom have upon asylum case outcomes. In the future, Ms. Stewart hopes to attend law school and later defend the rights of those most marginalized in society.

See all 2017 RBSI Scholars.