Ava Escobedo received her B.A. in History from the University of California, Berkeley, where her senior thesis examined U.S. imperialism in Cuba and the role of humanitarian narratives in shaping interventionist policy during the Spanish-American War. During her time at Berkeley, she served as a Research Fellow at the Institute of International Studies, Oral History Center, assisted with research projects for various faculty members, and worked with the U.S. Department of State on projects applying data analysis to gender-based violence reporting. She also interned at the Commonwealth Club World Affairs, where she helped develop civic education programming and youth engagement initiatives.
Her research interests center on U.S.–Latin American relations, particularly the intersections of foreign policy, economic development, and social movements. She is especially interested in how U.S. policies have influenced patterns of underdevelopment in Latin America and in exploring pathways for sustainable growth and democratic resilience in the region. Within the MA/MSc in International and World History at Columbia and LSE, she intends to focus on the historical dimensions of economic policy and transnational activism in Latin America, combining archival research with quantitative methods.
