School of Integrative Studies graduate student Abhigya Pandey received the 2026 CHSS Dean’s Challenge Scholarship, which recognizes exceptional students who have demonstrated academic excellence, a commitment to education as a powerful tool for change, and commitment to leadership and community engagement. It is among the most competitive and prestigious scholarships that the college offers and is open to all CHSS students.
Shortly after being accepted into the interdisciplinary studies (MAIS) program in the School of Integrative Studies at George Mason University, Abhigya Pandey, MAIS '26, received more good news—she landed a job.
Pandey, who graduated in May with her master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in social justice and human rights, was offered a graduate professional assistant position (GPA) at the Center for Leadership and Intercultural Engagement with George Mason’s University Life. The GPA helped cover tuition and provided valuable work experience, allowing Pandey to supervise undergraduate leadership consultants, facilitated workshops, dialogue programs, and service events.
But, perhaps more importantly, for someone coming to the United States for the first time and leaving her family and home country of Nepal nearly 8,000 miles away, the center and university provided a community.
“It created a space for me and other students to feel heard, to feel valued,” she said. “It gave me a real sense of belonging in the U.S. One of the things I value most about Mason is its diversity. People often talk about that, but what stood out to me was how genuinely interdisciplinary, service-oriented, and community-focused the university is.”
Through the Center for Leadership and Intercultural Engagement, Pandey led the Active Leaders program, a leadership development initiative for students, and served as a teaching assistant for INTS 404: Ethics and Leadership. She also served on the international student advisory board for the Office of International Programs and Services, where she was a student international orientation assistant for incoming students.
“My time here at Mason, I think it was one of the best times of my life. It was very transformative, very fulfilling,” said Pandey, who is currently pursuing nonprofit and community engagement career opportunities. “Coming to the U.S. as an international student from one of the poorer countries in the global South, I was navigating a completely different environment, new culture, new academic system and Mason helped me navigate those things in a simpler way. My experiences here strengthened my commitment to leadership development, social justice, and education, and they helped me become more confident in the work I want to pursue."
Her experiences also spanned overseas as she embarked to three countries through two study abroad programs offered by the Global Education Office. She traveled to Thailand on one trip and then went to Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Both experiential learning trips focused on conflict resolution but a course centered on the aftermath and reconciliation from the Bosnian War from 1992-95 inspired her capstone project— “Bodies as Battleground: Wartime Sexual Violence and the Weaponization of Women in the Bosnian War.” Her research explored how sexual violence was systematically used during the Bosnian War, particularly against Bosnian-Muslim women, and how international institutions responded to those crimes.
Much of Pandey’s research was done firsthand in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as she visited museums, memorial sites, and even spoke with officials at the U.S. Embassy in Bosnia. Drawing on survivor testimonies, feminist theory and case materials from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), she explored how gender, power, and nationalism shaped these forms of violence and emphasized the importance of survivor-centered approaches to justice and memory.
“Another major aspect of my research was examining the gap between the legal justice and the lived realities of the survivors,” Pandey said. “Legal accountability is very important,. but I also wanted to explore more on how the survivors are still continuing to face marginalization, stigma, and long-term support even after these crimes have been recognized internationally or legally.”
School of Integrative Studies Associate Professor Julie Owen taught Pandey in INTS 405: Women and Leadership during Pandey’s first semester and served as the committee chair for her capstone project. Owen said Pandey’s research, though focusing on a war 30 years ago, still resonates and is extremely significant.
“Anything that amplifies attention to this global phenomenon is needed,” Owen said. “Abhigya’s paper is in itself an important work of social activism. By elevating survivor narratives, she is bringing attention to how much work is still left to do—and mobilizing communities to keep working for change.”