Student Profile: Isabelle Soulay Soifer
Email address: isoifer@uci.edu
Dual/concurrent degree you are pursuing: J.D./Ph.D. Cultural Anthropology
Expected graduation (for each program, if at different times): Spring 2024
Research interests/agenda: Legal/political anthropology, urban U.S., housing/education/criminal law, economic development, and global studies
Past Education:
- B.A. Cultural Anthropology, minor African Studies—Rice University, August 2011-December 2013
- M.A. Cultural Anthropology—Columbia University, September 2015-May 2017
Academic Experiences, Awards, Scholarships/Fellowships, Honors, Teaching Assistant positions, etc.:
- SIT Study Abroad: Multiculturalism and Human Rights, Cape Town, South Africa—August 2012-December 2012
- Office of U.S. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, December 2016 – Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, earned in recognition of outstanding and invaluable service to the community
- Rice University, December 2013 – President’s Honor Roll, for recognition of outstanding academic achievement in a particular semester
- Teaching Assistant- Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology
- Teaching Assistant- American Culture
- “Soifer: Combating poverty, one person and one policy at a time.” Houston Chronicle.September 2015. https://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Soifer-Combating-poverty-one-person-and-one-6486061.php
- “Yang, Soifer: USAID reforms needed to save lives.” Houston Chronicle. June 2015. https://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Yang-Soifer-USAID-reforms-needed-to-save-lives-6356618.php
- “Civic Vitality Community Indicator Report.” Center for Houston’s Future. May 2015.
- “The Center for Houston’s Future Community Indicators.” Center for Houston’s Future. December 2014. houstonindicators.org
- “Arts and Cultural Heritage Community Indicator Report.” Center for Houston’s Future. May 2014.
- “Humanitarianism in Northern Uganda and the Imaginings of Child Soldiers.” Academia.edu. December 2013. https://www.academia.edu/5639070/Humanitarianism_in_Northern_Uganda_and_the_Imaginings_of_Child_Soldiers
- “Los Jardineros de Houston.” Blurb Books. December 13, 2013. http://www.blurb.com/books/4863951-los-jardineros-de-houston
- “Perspectives on the Marikana Miners’ Strikes.” The Rice Standard. January 8, 2013.
- “The Marikana Massacre and the Reactions of South Africans.” Independent Study Project (ISP). Fall 2012. http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/1409
- “The Afrikaner Identity.” The Rice Standard. December 3, 2012.
- “Economic Realities in the Eastern Cape.” The Rice Standard. November 14, 2012.
- “Impressions of a South African Church.” The Rice Standard. November 6, 2012.
- Yuh, Soifer: Interview with Truong Doan. Houston Asian American Archive, Chao Center for Asian Studies, Rice University. April 2012. https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/64512/wrc02605-transcript-rev.pdf
- Yuh, Soifer: Interview with Alice Chen. Houston Asian American Archive, Chao Center for Asian Studies, Rice University. March 2012. https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/64075/wrc02601-transcript-rev.pdf
- Cuba Transnational: A Celebration of Cuban Diasporic Artists. University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. May 2011. http://cubatransnational.blogspot.com/
What made you interested in pursuing dual degrees? Attending UCI for the dual anthropology-law program is crucial to giving me the knowledge and skillset to successfully position myself for my future. Combining insights gained in my anthropological training with an in-depth knowledge of legal systems and processes will help me to understand the interactions of legal systems within increasingly pluralist cultural societies and to apply this skillset in the communities I work with. I am interested in being a legal consultant and providing pro bono services to low-income and homeless individuals, particularly those impacted by rezoning laws and city gentrification that lead to the dispossession of low-income communities from neighborhoods and city regions. I am pursuing a dual program because I am adamantly opposed to playing the part of an aloof observer and seek to be a person of action. The dual degree program will maximize my opportunities to be an engaged and effective member of society.