Hi, My name is Sanjida Parvin. I am a Master’s student in International Relations at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh — and I have spent my academic life asking one question: how do ideas shape the world?
I serve as the Chapter Lead of the Ladies of Liberty Alliance (LOLA) in Bangladesh, where I work to empower young women through the principles of individual liberty, free-market economics, and civic engagement. I am not a passive observer of global politics — I am someone building the scaffolding for change, one conversation, one program, one community at a time.
This summer, a door opened that I never imagined would open for someone like me: I was selected from a highly competitive global pool to attend the TFAS Prague 2026 Summer Program at Charles University — one of the most respected academic institutions in Central Europe. And yet the cost of getting there stands between me and this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I am not asking for charity. I am asking for a partnership — your belief in what ideas, education, and one determined woman from Dhaka can accomplish.
Where Your Support Goes
• Program Tuition $3750 (less $2,750 scholarship already awarded by The Fund for American Studies): Remaining $1,000
• Round-trip Airfare — Dhaka ↔ Prague: $2,000
• Visa, Insurance, Weekdays dinner and Weekend Meals (3-week program essentials): $1,000
Total to Raise: $4,000
The Program
Politics and Economics of the Free Society
Three intensive, graduate-level modules taught by world-class faculty at Charles University, Prague. 9 ECTS credits. Three weeks. A lifetime of impact.
01 — Political Economy
Analyzing how property rights and institutional frameworks foster cooperation over conflict — and how economies thrive when individuals are free to create, exchange, and govern themselves.
02 — Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE)
Examining the philosophical and constitutional foundations of the state — the deep ideas that determine whether societies flourish or fracture under pressure.
03 — Conflict Management & Analysis
Exploring the structural causes and resolution mechanics of militarized conflict and terrorism — knowledge that directly informs peacebuilding work in volatile regions.
My Story
I am a self-dependent student. There is no other scholarship covering flights, no institutional support for the cost of a Schengen visa or three weeks of meals in Prague. What I have is relentless drive, a hard-won place in a global program, and the knowledge that the education I gain will not stay with me alone.
I am deeply grateful to The Fund For American Studies (TFAS), whose generous scholarship of $2,750 covers my tuition, accommodation, and most meals during the program. Their belief in my potential means the world to me. And yet, even with this extraordinary support, the cost of simply getting there — the flight, the visa, the insurance, and the remaining essentials — still stands between me and Prague.
Every concept I encounter — in institutional economics, in constitutional design, in the mechanics of conflict resolution — gets carried back to Bangladesh. To the young women I work with through LOLA. To the conversations I facilitate in classrooms, communities, and advocacy spaces.
“I don’t want to just attend this program. I want to contribute to it — to bring the perspective of a young woman from South Asia into rooms where those voices are rarely heard, and to carry home ideas that genuinely change things.”
— Sanjida Parvin, Jahangirnagar University
The TFAS committee recognized something in my application that I’ve tried to live every day: that the pursuit of liberty and knowledge is not a Western luxury — it is a universal human project. Being selected from a global applicant pool was the validation of years of work. What I need now is simply the means to show up.
The gap between where I stand and where this program begins is $4,000. That is the cost of a round-trip flight from Dhaka to Prague, a Schengen visa, travel insurance, three weeks of dinners and weekend meals, and the remaining balance of a tuition fee for which TFAS has already generously covered $2,750. For a self-supporting graduate student in Bangladesh, that amount is not a minor inconvenience — it is the entire barrier.
But I believe in the generosity of people who understand what education does. Who know that a woman with sharper ideas and a stronger network comes home and builds something.
How to Help
Two ways to make this happen
Donate
Any amount — $25, $50, $100 or $500 — closes the gap. Every contribution is a direct investment in a young woman’s future, her community’s future, and the ideas she will carry home from Prague.
Share Her Story
If donating isn’t possible right now, sharing this page with your network — colleagues, friends, family, anyone who believes in education and liberty — costs nothing and could change everything.
A Final Word
Attending Charles University this July is not the end of a journey — it’s a bridge. Help Sanjida cross it, and you help build something that lasts far longer than three weeks.
Whether you give $10 or $500, share this page or simply send a word of encouragement — every act of belief in someone else’s potential is an act of hope for all of us.
With gratitude and hope,
Sanjida Parvin