Meron Tamene is a 2023-2024 SNF Agora Academy Predoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University. Her research interests lie in comparative studies and international migration. She is particularly interested in examining the role that democracy plays in shaping global labor migration and in dissecting the gendered experiences of labor migrants across different regime types. Her experiences as a Black woman and the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants fuel her efforts to utilize research to strengthen democracy and build equity for immigrants and the BIPOC community.
Tamene received a bachelor of arts in political science from Purdue University, where she specialized in human rights and migration studies. At Purdue, she had the opportunity to engage in fieldwork and to conduct research on different aspects of global political systems, such as migration policy, social movements, and electoral systems. She presented her findings at Pi Sigma Alpha’s national and regional research conferences and co-published articles that are featured in PS: Political Science & Politics and the Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research.
Tamene is dedicated to pursuing research and work that contributes to the well-being of marginalized communities here in the U.S. and across the globe. She is the co-founder and founding president of Purdue Immigrant Allies, a student-led advocacy group on the campus of Purdue University dedicated to opening up the dialogue about immigration and the rights of immigrants in the U.S. She also worked as an intern with Lafayette Urban Ministry’s Campaign for Hoosier Families, as a student diversity officer at the Purdue Honors College, and as a legal clerk with Purdue University’s Office of International Students and Scholars. Tamene recently worked as a legal administrative assistant with the Henrico County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court in the state of Virginia.