Alumni Spotlight – Keaton Nara

Keaton Nara (she/her) (CAS ’22) graduated from Georgetown with a B.A. in Justice and Peace Studies (JUPS) and a minor in Mandarin Chinese. She is currently doing her Masters in Communication, Culture & Technology (CCT) and will graduate in December 2026. She shares her experiences with us as a JUPS major below:

What is your current occupation? 

I currently hold a joint position at Georgetown University as a Program Specialist at both the Earth Commons Institute and the Red House. The Earth Commons Institute is the university’s hub for environment and sustainability, while the Red House focuses on innovative research and development. Combined, my role centers on the new, visionary undergraduate degree: the B.S. in Environment & Sustainability. My role primarily concentrates on curriculum development, but also spans marketing, recruitment, project management, qualitative research, and design.

How has your time in JUPS prepared you for this role?

JUPS prepared me for both my specific career trajectory and the broader professional world. 

Environmental work as a whole is deeply connected to the themes at the heart of JUPS. Courses ranging from Conflict Transformation to Humanitarianism taught me how to approach complex problems that are rarely “solvable”. Instead, through empathetic, systems-thinking approaches, we can challenge the systems that enable or induce harm, as well as their perceived permanency and legitimacy.

JUPS also instilled in me a deep appreciation for interdisciplinary collaboration. No individual can be an expert in all fields or hold all perspectives, making the practice of continually learning from and working alongside others not just beneficial, but essential.

What advice would you give to your past self?

Draw connections across your courses. JUPS is a uniquely interdisciplinary degree. Part of what makes it such a rich program is the capacity it provides for students to create their own framework for approaching justice and peace. Your classes provide you with access to foundational concepts and skills, but how you weave them together and apply them is ultimately up to you.

Practice this early on by making direct connections between courses. For example, ask yourself: how does this concept from Class A reinforce or challenge what I learned in Class B? In doing so, you build a cohesive narrative across your academic portfolio of knowledge, skills, and mindsets. It’s a helpful step on the path to develop your own unique perspective.