Silva Sevlian graduated from the Masters in Public Diplomacy program in May 2011. Her research interests included food diplomacy, nation branding and African relations. A recipient of the inaugural USC Africa Fund award, Sevlian studied in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during Summer 2010. She conducted an oral history project on the Ethiopian Armenian community and the diplomatic history of two of the first nations to adopt Christianity.

Sevlian researched faith diplomacy for the Center on Public Diplomacy's Spring 2011 conference. She also contributes to the Center's Public Diplomacy in News by posting news items that discuss religion as a tool for public diplomacy.

Sevlian received a B.A. in Print Journalism from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in 2010. She has continued to work in the field of journalism as a mentoring coordinator for hyper-local news site Intersections: South Los Angeles Report, where she connects USC journalism students with local high school journalism programs.