Student Spotlight: Celina Stewart ’16

Name: Celina Stewart ’16

Concentration: International Relations and History

Hometown: Nashville, TN

How did you become interested in Cybersecurity?

My freshman year, I took the course Cybersecurity and International Relations to fulfill one of my security track requirements. The course caught my attention in a big way. Since then, I've been tailoring my International Relations degree and my professional experiences around my desire to continue working with cybersecurity after Brown. I'm specifically interested in the adoption and impact of mobile technology in Latin America, including new vulnerabilities to critical infrastructure that have emerged in the past several years.

Can you elaborate more on the work you have done?

My research has largely focused on the "human" elements of cybersecurity, such as the "One Laptop per Child" program in Uruguay and a global comparative analysis of smartphone vulnerabilities. My honors thesis builds on those topics by proposing a comprehensive framework for understanding cybersecurity not only as a geopolitical concern, but as a human impact concern as well. For my thesis, I'll draw largely upon security studies theory and cultural anthropology in addition to other interdisciplinary works.

How do you think your experience has impacted your career at Brown and beyond?

During my time at Brown, I've tried to integrate my coursework with cybersecurity whenever possible, especially for courses with open-ended term papers. I've also been lucky enough to work as a Head Teaching Assistant for the course Cybersecurity and International Relations, as well as travel with a team to Washington, DC, for the Atlantic Council's Cyber 9/12 cybersecurity policy competition. I expect to continue working with cybersecurity topics professionally following graduation. Currently, I'm pursuing employment at a variety of technology-based private sector firms, and I hope to eventually pursue an M.B.A. or J.D. with a focus on cybersecurity.