Diana Zhumalieva

Diana [dee-ah-nah] is the newest member of the OISS team and hails from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan! She first came to the U.S. as a Future Leaders Exchange Scholar, studying and living with American host families for a year in Bentonville, Arkansas. She then earned her Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University, double majoring in anthropology and psychology. Her second year, she studied abroad in Bologna, Italy, learning about local urban history, theater, and art of aperitivo. Diana wrote her senior capstone on contesting (post)Soviet historical narratives, drawing on her ethnographic research conducted in Kyrgyzstan.

At Wesleyan, Diana held multiple leadership roles, serving as the International Orientation Leader for three years and the Director of the First-Generation Low-Income Student Advisory Board for two years. She enjoyed mentoring and organizing with her peers, practicing the power of collective action. Prior to coming to Yale, she worked as the Intern at Wesleyan’s Office of International Student Affairs. Diana is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a critical advocate of liberal arts education.

Diana loves to dance, learn from others, and ponder on the state of the world. She is excited to meet everyone in the Yale international community!<3