Dr. Burgess is associate professor of international political economy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. After graduating from Swarthmore College with high honors in political science, she earned an MA in international relations at the University of Southern California and a PhD in politics at Princeton University. She began studying the violin at age 10 with Asya Meshberg and received a music scholarship to the Putney School. Although her academic interests took her in another direction in college, she continued to play orchestral and chamber music at Swarthmore, where she won the 1984 Concerto Competition and performed the Bruch Violin Concerto with the Swarthmore College Orchestra. After a long hiatus away from the violin, she has returned to playing regularly. She is a member of the Newport County Orchestra and joined Musica Dolce in the Fall of 2006.