Meet Ramsey Ismail

Tell us a bit about your background 

I am a third-year Ph.D. student in the Anthropology Department, specializing in psychological and medical anthropology. I discovered my interest in anthropology when I was an undergraduate at the University of Rochester. There, I studied abroad in Tokyo in my junior year and got to conduct my own fieldwork project in order to graduate.

Describe your involvement in the UC San Diego Community

At UC San Diego, I have TA'd in the Anthropology Department for 5 quarters and have received a number of fellowships, including a Critical Language Scholarship for Japanese, a Gary E. and Jerri Ann Jacobs Diversity Fellowship from the dean of Social Sciences, and a Joseph Naiman Fellowship for summer fieldwork in Japan. Most recently, I earned a National Science Foundation - GRFP for my proposed research on social withdrawal and a Nippon Foundation Fellowship to study advanced Japanese in Tokyo next year. I also play intramural volleyball on campus and in the community.

Why UC San Diego? 

When I was deciding on schools, the kindness of my prospective advisor, Joe Hankins, really made me feel welcome at UC San Diego. Upon arrival, Dr. Hankins showed me a number of potential professors to work with across campus and I knew that I would be able to hit the ground running with all that support. I have been going ever since. My favorite thing though, being from New York, is how nice the weather is and all the opportunities to be outside all year long.