University of Pennsylvania, College of Arts and Sciences, 2022
Major: International Relations
Minors: Economics, Japanese, Survey Research and Data Analytics
Languages: English (fluent), Spanish (6+ years), Japanese (3+ years), Tamil
Computer Skills: R (Intermediate), Microsoft Office Suite, and Adobe InDesign (Beginner)
Email: svarsha@sas.upenn.edu
Varsha Shankar is an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania studying International Relations with minors in Japanese, Economics, and Survey Research and Data Analytics. Although from India, she grew up around the world, having lived in Singapore, the Philippines and Japan. This experience has helped form both her personal and academic interests. Within the International Relations major, Varsha is pursuing the International Political Economy track, which looks at the interaction between states and markets.
Outside of the classroom, Varsha has been interning at the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program for almost two years. She currently serves as Project Lead for the 2020 Virtual Global Think Tank Summit and Publications Director for an upcoming book on the Future of Think Tanks. Prior to this, she was Summit Coordinator for the 2019 Asia-Pacific Think Tank Summit held in coordination with UNESCAP. She is also a Research Assistant with the WTO Case Law Project working to analyze Japan-Korea trade policy from a historical and political economy perspective.
Varsha has previously interned with Villgro, one of India’s leading social enterprise incubators, and the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. On campus, she is the Lead Project Manager of Consult for America, Events Secretary for the International Relations Undergraduate Student Association, and Wellness Chair of Phi Chi Theta, a national fraternity specializing in the fields of business and economics.