Alexis Lopez is a graduate candidate in the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program at Georgetown University. She is pursuing a concentration in International Development and a certificate in Gender, Peace & Security. As a scholar of contemporary South Asia, Alexis’ main areas of inquiry include the gendered implications of diplomacy and development and the politics of social change in the Himalayan region with a focus in Nepal.

Prior to joining the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Alexis obtained her BA in International Studies from California State University, Long Beach. During her undergraduate studies, she was a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and a Fellow of the Global Studies Institute. Alexis has received a Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for language-intensive training in Nepali, and she is honored to be an Alumni of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program in Nepal for which she received an Open Study/Research Grant. For her Fulbright project, she investigated the micro and macro-level impacts of counterculture and cultural exchange through an ethnographic study of the emerging skateboarding subculture that can be found in Kathmandu and Pokhara. Her study considered Nepal’s complex demography and was particularly interested in how her informants challenge and maintain politically salient sociocultural groups in light of broader processes related to globalization, urbanization, and democratization.

Alexis is a southern California native, originally from Orange County. She speaks Nepali and Spanish, and has limited proficiency in Hindi.