Samantha Vortherms

Samantha Vortherms received her BA in International Studies and German from the University of Richmond and two Masters degrees in International Relations and Public Policy at the University of Chicago in 2010 before beginning her PhD studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After completing her BA, she spent a year teaching English at a public school in southern China. While at the University of Chicago, she worked as a research intern at Heartland Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting human rights. Her studies and research have been supported by multiple FLAS fellowships as well as the Social Science Research Council. Samantha’s research focuses on the expansion of social welfare provision in China and the different tools local leaders use to balance social welfare and economic growth in China’s non-democratic environment. Samantha will use the Scott Kloeck-Jenson Fellowship to meet with local government officials, social science scholars, and political activists in Chengdu, China and pursue archival research to access information and data not available outside of China.

Read on about Sam’s research experience in the PRC here.