Honors College 2025 Day 2: Think Tanks and Thinking Theses
Honors College 2025 Day 2: Think Tanks and Thinking Theses
This is the second story in a series of blog posts written by the Fisher Family Honors Program class of 2026 detailing their experiences in Washington, D.C., for CDDRL's annual Honors College.
After our packed first day on Monday, the second day of our Honors College Trip began with an inspiring visit to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. We were excited to learn about Carnegie’s role in developing strategic ideas and producing independent analysis to address global conflicts and propel cooperation between countries around the world.
It was just a short walk from our hotel, and we were immediately struck by the beauty of the building. To our surprise and delight, we were greeted by Stanford alumni working in the DC office (fun fact: there are currently three recent Stanford graduates there!). One highlight was reconnecting with Adrian Feinberg, a member of last year’s DDRL Honors Cohort, who is now a Gaither Fellow at Carnegie.
We sat down with Steve Feldstein, a Senior Fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program. He gave us a crash course on all things Carnegie — from its history to its role in shaping global debates — and insights into his experience transitioning from government service to the think tank world. He also spoke about the current climate in DC and how it is shaping Carnegie’s work today.
He passed around a new publication, Digital Democracy in a Divided Global Landscape, which sparked a fascinating discussion on digital repression, the U.S.-China AI race, and the ways technology is reshaping power globally. A particularly striking takeaway for me was learning more about the new forms of digital repression and how AI has completely transformed the cybersecurity landscape by increasing the frequency, impact, and sophistication of cyberattacks.
In the afternoon, we each had the chance to meet individually with our Fisher Family Honors Program faculty, Steve Stedman and María Ignacia Curiel, to discuss updates and progress on our theses. These conversations were both grounding and motivating, an opportunity to reflect, but also to refine our thoughts and think more deeply about where we are headed as we start Fall Quarter!
