Disarming Propaganda
Graduate student Berkeley Teate’s work with The Carter Center aims to stem ISIS messaging and the rise of Islamophobia.
By Jennifer Giarratano
Berkeley Teate does not come across as someone playing a pivotal role in combating terror. In her graduate assistant position, however, she conducts research that helps Muslim religious leaders and scholars identify the flaws in ISIS propaganda and develop counter-messaging strategies to discredit the rhetoric and address the rise of Islamophobia.
Teate was a graduate assistant in Gov. Nathan Deal’s Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs in September 2015 when The Carter Center called.
“My master’s studies have helped me build my research and policy writing. That’s what they were most interested in,” she said.
Teate works with The Carter Center’s Conflict Resolution Program where she writes research papers, takes notes at meetings and formulates briefs that are shared with governments, civil society and clerics. The project’s goal to is to have an impact on the dangerous tide of Islamophobia that countries have been experiencing because of government policies that narrowly address the issue of violent extremism.
Politics and international affairs have always interested Teate. It took her a while, though, to transition from her interest in economics to her passion for social issues and human rights.
After graduating from Georgia Southern University with a degree in political science and international studies, Teate landed an administrative internship in fall 2012 with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus during the general election.
“Reince … put me to work on the Tampa Convention, had me organize all the contact information. I’d write briefs on what was going on each week — national and state elections — and I traveled a great bit,” she said. “It was a great experience, but it helped me realize I wasn’t interested in campaign work or elections. I was more interested in research and writing.
“I also learned you either have to work at local or state levels or abroad to get things done. At the national level, it’s difficult.”
Her experience in the Governor’s Office confirmed her thoughts.
“State and local politics work,” she said. “They get things done.”
Teate returned to Atlanta and began work as a policy studies undergraduate adviser at Georgia State. “As an adviser for two-and-a-half years, I got to know the Andrew Young School well. Its public policy graduate programs offer a lot of skill sets I had developed, like evaluation, policy analysis and statistics methods.”
She decided to pursue a master of public policy degree with a concentration in planning and economic development.
Two semesters into her program, while still an adviser, Teate decided she’d better get back into the political realm. She landed in the Governor’s Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs.
“It was a great experience,” she said. “I sat in on Education Reform Commission meetings with senators, the chancellor and commissioners, taking notes I formulated into briefs for [the governor’s] policy adviser.”
She also accepted an internship in the trade office of the British Embassy in Atlanta.
“It was a good opportunity to do research on the mobility industry in Atlanta, the Southeast and the United Kingdom. I study our strengths and I’m putting together a long-term report.”
Teate will work at The Carter Center until her graduation in December.
“Once I graduate, I’d like to do something similar to what I do at The Carter Center: research and policy-based writing for areas of conflict,” she said.
To that end, she is studying Arabic, and she and her husband plan to relocate to Washington, D.C.
“I’d eventually like to be a policy adviser,” Teate said. “I like that side, the policy advising. I don’t have to be in the spotlight to make my mark in the world. In the policy world, it’s more about getting your writing out there than your voice.”
This story originally appeared in the fall 2016 issue of the Andrew Young School Magazine. Photo by Steven Thackston