Ashwin Raghuraman ‘27

Ashwin Raghuraman is in his final semester studying Global Affairs with a regional concentration on Russia and Central Asia. As a Kellogg International Scholar, he works with Dr. Nikhit D’Sa at the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC) on a multi-year project measuring teacher agency in Uganda. His research focuses on the conceptual foundations of teacher agency in academic literature and previous efforts to quantify it, contributing to the development of culturally grounded measurement tools. Beyond this project, Raghuraman has supported GC-DWC initiatives across three countries, contributing to the design and analysis of mixed-methods research, thematic synthesis, and education-focused monitoring and evaluation tools. His work supports the Center’s mission to localize and support holistic child development programs globally, and he has presented internally on the use of AI tools in education research.

Raghuraman has conducted research across Central Asia, East Africa, and North America through several fellowships and programs. He received a Pushkin Grant in 2024 to study Russian in Kyrgyzstan, where he deepened his linguistic and cultural expertise in the post-Soviet space. In 2025, he was awarded the FLIP grant to serve as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced International Studies in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where he published policy briefs and articles on politics, culture, and environmental issues in the region, with his work appearing in major newspapers and think tanks. Raghuraman also supports a Keough School project that quantitatively tracks the impact of academic publications. 

Beyond research, Raghuraman serves as Captain of the Notre Dame Debate Team and individually won the 2024 ACC National Championship as a first-year student. He is currently writing a textbook for collegiate debaters, drawing on his decade of competitive and coaching experience.