UAA student Samantha M. Mack receives 2018 U.S. Rhodes Scholarship

First student from University of Alaska to earn prestigious award

Nov. 20, 2017

UAA alumna and graduate student Samantha M. Mack is the first student from the University of Alaska to receive a prestigious U.S. Rhodes Scholarship.

Samantha received her B.A. magna cum laude in 2016, with majors in Political Science and English and a minor in Alaska Native Studies, and will receive her M.A. in English with an emphasis on literary theory in May.

An Aleut woman from a remote village in the Aleutian Islands, her family brought her to Anchorage as a young girl for better educational opportunities. She has excelled across disciplines as she brings the lenses of indigeneity and feminism to issues in the development of Western democratic traditions. Her work in Alaska Native studies and political theory reflects her strong interests in equity, respect for different patterns of life, and the prevention of the degradation of nature.

Samantha is one of 32 students selected for the American Rhodes Scholar Class of 2018 that will commence studies at Oxford University in October 2018. She was selected from a pool of 866 candidates nominated by their colleges and universities. The total value of the scholarship averages approximately US$68,000 per year, and up to as much as approximately US$250,000 for scholars who remain at Oxford for four years in certain departments.

Samantha plans to pursue an M.Phil. in Politics (Political Theory) at Oxford.

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