Wide and Deep

Junior year at Oxford University.

"Kiss Me Kate" alto saxophonist.

Named to the top one percent of Cornell's 2009 seniors as a Merrill Presidential Scholar.

Founding member of Cornell's Hellenic Dance Troupe.

An honors thesis entitled "Labour vs. Labor:  A Comparative Study of Working Class Pressure Groups in the Body Politic."

Economic issues columnist for The Cornell Daily Sun.

Policy researcher for congressional campaign.

There's more, but suffice it to say that wide and deep describe the college career of Dmitri Koustas '09, graduating from ILR May 24.

"All these things fit together," he said. "They're all part of my education and part of getting to where I want to go."

Ultimately, that place might be working in international labor markets, devising economic policy, said Koustas, 22.

In the fall, he plans to begin a master's program in economic and social history at Oxford.  Koustas intends to study the Great Depression.

Koustas, who has concentrations in economics and law and society from the College of Arts and Sciences, said he will go into his next educational phase with a strong social justice background from ILR.

"That has helped shape my world outlook in a powerful way," he said. "The ILR curriculum -- there is so much you can do with it."

One of his ILR internships was in his hometown – Lowell, Mass. – at the same unemployment office where his father sought work after a layoff.

Koustas spent four weeks at the Career Center of Lowell as a volunteer in ILR's Department of Labor/Alliance for the Prevention of Unemployment Student Internship Program.

His research there yielded a project called "Combating Unemployment through Social Marketing."

Following his internship, Koustas presented Career Center managers with a strategy for varying marketing approaches with different types of workers.

He has no regrets about giving up a full scholarship at a New England university to enroll at ILR.

"It's worked out for the best."