Adeline Rios

Adeline Ríos is from South Carolina, the United States. In 2025, she graduated from the College of Charleston as a triple major in Political Science, Spanish, and International Studies with a concentration in Latin American Studies. She also pursued Brazilian and Portuguese studies. Her undergraduate dissertation, titled Sombras de Poder: El papel del crimen organizado en el impacto sobre las percepciones de gobernabilidad en las democracias de Costa Rica y Brasil (Shadows of Power: The role of organized crime in impacting perceptions of governance in the democracies of Costa Rica and Brazil) investigated how public perceptions of organized crime and governmental responses shape tolerance for authoritarianism under the narrative of security.

Adeline’s experiences living, working, and studying in Costa Rica, Panama, and Brazil deepened her understanding of Latin America and sparked a continuing curiosity about its complexity. She is honored to continue exploring these questions in 2025–2026 at the Latin American Centre, University of Oxford, as a Rotary Global Grant Recipient focused on Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution.

Adeline is a Boren Scholar, a Rhodes Scholarship finalist, and a Marshall Scholarship finalist. She was honored with the College of Charleston Presidential Award for Scholarship, Leadership, and Service for the Class of 2025. At Oxford, she plans to study nonviolent strategies for addressing organized crime in Latin America. Outside of her studies, she looks forward to playing football for the Blues.