2025–2026 Undergraduate Student Fellows


The Music Sustainability Initiative’s Undergraduate Fellows Program brings together outstanding Georgetown students whose diverse backgrounds and interdisciplinary studies reflect a shared commitment to the arts and the public good. Fellows engage directly in research, policy, and creative practice, exploring how music connects to global challenges in sustainability, health, culture, and technology. Through events, collaborations, and public-facing projects, MSI fellows apply their talents as musicians, researchers, and advocates to advance dialogue and innovation across the arts and society.

Sophia Lu

Sophia Lu is a senior in the School of Foreign Service majoring in Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA) with minors in Philosophy and Film & Media Studies. A creative practitioner and researcher, she has served as a Google Public Policy Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, where she focused on copyright in the age of AI, strategies to revitalize the creative economy, and public interest technologies.

Her current research explores the aesthetic, economic, and social implications of artificial intelligence for the future of creative work, the subject of her senior thesis. As a Music Sustainability Initiative Undergraduate Fellow, Sophia looks forward to convening cultural advocates, advancing conversations on intellectual property reform and new funding models, and helping bring MSI’s work into broader public consciousness.

Eleanor Hughes

Eleanor Hughes is a sophomore in the Walsh School of Foreign Service majoring in International Politics with a concentration in Foreign Policy and Processes, and she hopes to pursue a certificate in Diplomatic Studies. Music has been a constant presence in her life—from jamming with her dad on the way to drum lessons at age seven to singing and playing in a rock cover band through middle and high school.

Beyond performing, Eleanor organized Battle of the Bands fundraisers that supported a local food pantry and interned with a county council in the U.K., where she focused on historical sustainability and public communication. She brings these experiences to the Music Sustainability Initiative with an interest in how music can foster dialogue across cultures and serve as a resource for building sustainability in the music industry.

We will announce the call for 2026–27 Fellow in May 2026
For questions, contact Professor Benjamin J. Harbert.