Tia Mittle ‘26

Studying spring 2024: Washington, DC

Tia Mittle is from Mumbai, India and is working with Professor Susan Ostermann on investigating the colonial legacies of Hale’s doctrine in India and the US. Hale inspired a series of laws consistent with the principle that women were chattel and had no agency of their own, many of which remain on the books today. Mittle is conducting literature reviews, integrating data from a variety of sources for an analytical report and contributing to ongoing research on gender and the law. Mittle is also assisting Ostermann in editing the BTI report for Nepal and drafting the 2024 Freedom House Report for Nepal.

Mittle leads weekly philosophical dialogue as a God and the Good Life Fellow and serves as the President of FeministND, a club that strives to empower women on campus. In her first year, she worked on a policy-brief with the Student Policy Network, investigating human trafficking in Guatemala under the Central American Research Alliance and the Pulte Institute for Global Development. Mittle was also a Diplomacy Scholar at the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, which involved a cultural immersion trip to the Netherlands and Belgium. Through the program, she visited NATO headquarters, the EEA and other significant diplomatic institutions. Mittle is dedicated to promoting women’s rights, democracy, and development with a focus on South Asia, connecting her research back to her home.