Ava Matza, a political science major and rising senior who studied abroad on the Learning Abroad Center’s Summer in Sicily program in summer 2025, has published a research paper in The Tulane Journal of Policy & Political Economy. The paper, "Securing Borders, Sacrificing Rights: An Analysis of Italy's Externalization Strategy and Its Effects on Migrants," originated from original research Matza conducted in Sicily.
The Summer in Sicily program engages students in topics like human rights, migration, international law, and marine biology and ecology, both through coursework and a research project with a local human rights organization. In the Research in Sicily course, Matza learned how to conduct research on migration, asylum, and human rights in the Mediterranean, as well as how to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
