Josephine (“Josey”) Mintel, Foreign Affairs Specialist, Musician, and Archivist
In January 2026, Josey moved from Washington, D.C. to Zurich, Switzerland.
Prior to 2026, Josey worked as a foreign affairs specialist in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. This area of DoD Policy focuses on special operations, irregular warfare, counterterrorism, and information operations policy. She was also the Country Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in DoD’s European and NATO Policy area. Before moving to Washington, she lived in Sarajevo and worked in the Cabinet of the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a staff member to the Principal Deputy High Representative. She also coordinated the Transatlantic Writers’ Group, the Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program, to promote young writers and thinkers on transatlantic issues. The United States National Security Education Program awarded Josey a Boren Fellowship in 2021. As part of this award, she traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina to improve her language skills and continue her academic research on the Western Balkans, particularly the divided education system.
Graduating with Honors from the University of Chicago in June of 2022, Josey obtained a master’s degree from the Committee on International Relations. Josey became interested in international relations while pursuing her first master’s degree in neuroscience at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany. In May 2018, she joined the United States Peace Corps in Kosovo, living with a host family for two years in the rural Serbian enclave village of Lapje selo in the Gračanica Municipality and teaching English in a public school and violin performance at Muzička škola “Stevan Mokranjac.” Here is a link to the concert featuring Josey and her violin students in the recital on December 27, 2019, at Muzička škola. This violin program was featured on several local TV programs—see the RTV KIM video link. As a violinist, Josey participated in several musical ensembles, including the Northwestern Medical Orchestra, the Johns Hopkins University Chamber Orchestra, the Midwest Young Artists (MYA) Symphony Orchestra, the Akademische Orchestervereinigung Göttingen, and I’Solisti. She held a leadership position on the MYA Orchestra Governing Committee. Josey has taught students to play the violin at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois; Lockerman Bundy Public School in Baltimore, Maryland; and Muzička škola “Stevan Mokranjac.”
Beginning in high school, Josey ran competitively for various teams and clubs. She is a mid-distance runner and has competed in races around the world. Sarajevo half marathon video link: https://youtu.be/mHX2XwuFscc?list=LL&t=177
Josey began attending rehearsals and concerts that her father recorded in places like Jackson, Wyoming; Chicago, Illinois; and Mystic, Connecticut, early in her life. She started playing the violin at age 4. Piano lessons commenced in the 5th grade; trumpet and guitar were later added. Midwest Young Artists provided her musical training from 2005 to 2009. As a part of MYA, she performed with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, in a side-by-side performance at Chicago’s Symphony Hall. She was part of the elite touring group of MYA musicians known as I’Solisti. Josey played in the MYA Orchestra during a tour of China and South Korea.
A semester abroad in Austria in 2010, studying music and violin performance at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, was part of her work toward earning a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University; she graduated with honors in 2013, with a major in neuroscience and a minor in music from The Peabody Institute.
Josey assisted in recording several concerts in the Mintel Archive. She also contributed to the archiving effort and this website presentation, including the music samples.
Madagascar – Avenue of the Baobabs