Arthur Koenig ’25 earns Rotary Global Grant Fellowship to fund master’s program abroad at SOAS University of London

After graduating from Carleton, Arthur Koenig ’25 moved to Bologna, Italy, to pursue a two-year master’s in international affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies. For the second year of his degree, he had the choice to finish his studies at a different European university. Supported by the Rotary Global Grant Fellowship, Koenig seized the opportunity and will transfer to the Global Development program at SOAS University of London.

“I’m excited to go to SOAS because they teach about the international development system in a really historical, critical way,” Koenig said. 

The Rotary Foundation Global Grant Fellowship gives recipients the freedom to choose what and where they want to study, as long as they align with one of the Rotary Foundation’s areas of focus: promoting peace; fighting disease; providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene; saving mothers and children; supporting education; growing local economies; and protecting the environment.

“I’m going to be focusing on migration and development and the nexus between those two,” Koenig explained, making his focus part of Rotary’s “promoting peace” category.

Not only does he appreciate SOAS’s academic opportunities, he also looks forward to immersing himself in London.

“I think it will be a really valuable place to continue my education,” he said, “and as an English major, I’m looking forward to going to plays.”

Koenig credits Carleton’s educational structure and his on-campus experiences with his post-graduation success.

“I think the skills of being able to participate in small classes and connect multiple ideas from disparate fields or topics are still valuable and have really been an asset here,” he said.

Specifically, he plans to continue studying Arabic, a language he minored in at Carleton — along with a second minor in medieval and Renaissance studies — and really loved.

Looking to the future, Koenig hopes to apply his academic work to the field right away after finishing his graduate studies.

“Any kind of intergovernmental organization or non-governmental organization that’s working with migrants in a resettlement context is where I want to immediately go,” he said.

Koenig offered several pieces of advice to potential Carleton applicants.

“Start as early as you can,” he said. “Be thinking about what you want to do. Rotary has a real emphasis on on-the-ground, practical work, which I think is great and aligns with what I want to do. Look into what your home Rotary club may be offering and get to know them.”

For more information and to ask questions about the Rotary Foundation and other fellowships available to Carleton students, contact the Office of Student Fellowships.