Sigma Iota Rho (SIR)

Sigma Iota Rho (SIR)

Who we are

Sigma Iota Rho (SIR) is the premiere honor society for international affairs and it is open to all Hamilton Lugar School undergraduate students. SIR promotes and rewards scholarship and service among students and practitioners of international studies, international affairs, and global studies and fosters integrity and creative performance in the conduct of world affairs. SIR supports HLS activities, hosts events to develop professional skills and networking, and wider global cultural engagement on campus and within the Bloomington area.

Interested in joining Sigma Iota Rho? Applications for the 2024-25 academic year will open in the spring 2024 semester. To stay up-to-date with Sigma Iota Rho and application deadlines, follow them on Instagram @sigma_iota_rho_iu.

Joe Eduardo Peres Berti - President

International Studies, Economics and Political Science

João Eduardo Peres Berti - or Joe - is a senior from São Paulo, Brazil. Joe has interned in the Political/Economic and Public Affairs Sections of the United States Embassy in Banjul, The Gambia, and the International Relocations Department of the International Center in Indianapolis. He has also been contracted by the State Department to conduct a regional public opinion research in West Africa from 2022 to 2023. At HLS, Joe has served as a student guide in the America's Role in the World Conference, is president of Sigma Iota Rho - HLS's honors society -, and is the Department of State Diplomat in Residence's IU campus rep and intern. Outside HLS, Joe participated in two Naturalization Ceremonies on behalf of the International Center; attended the Women in Economics Symposium at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis through the Economics Department; and has been a member of the ACLU since 2021. Joe is looking forward to a great year with Sigma Iota Rho and the rest of the HLS Community.

Ashley Morford - Vice President

International Studies, Political Science, Eastern European Languages and Cultures

Ashley Morford is a senior from Greensburg, Indiana majoring in International Studies, Political Science, and Eastern European Languages and Cultures and minoring in Spanish. She is a Shreve Scholar, a student in the Hutton Honors College, and member of Phi Beta Kappa. On campus, she is the Director of Operations of the Alexander Hamilton Society and Director of Volunteer Coordination for Volunteer Corps. Ashley has interned with the Hudson Institute, the Center for European Policy Analysis, the U.S. Senate, and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. She has served as a Research and Development intern for an anti-corruption, anti-mafia nonprofit called Libera, based out of Rome, Italy. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in the field of WMD nonproliferation.