Spring 2007
Hart Fellows and SOL Participants Selected
As the University launches the innovative DukeEngage program and a campus-wide push for students to put their knowledge in the service of society, the Hart Leadership Program (HLP) is sending 16 students into numerous countries and fields to do just that. From the United States to Costa Rica , China to Tanzania , participants in the Hart Fellows Program (HFP) and Service Opportunities in Leadership (SOL) will be engaging in local communities around the world with research, service, and reflection as their primary goals.
“These are both intensive leadership development programs in which the vehicles for that development are community-based research and critical reflection,” says Professor Alma Blount, director of HLP. “The process of this leadership development is an encounter with complexity. Students and fellows will be working with organizations around the world that are confronting a variety of difficult social and political problems.”
Three seniors were recently named HFP's 2007-2008 fellows. The fellowship program places recent graduates with organizations throughout the developing world to conduct research and fieldwork on pressing policy issues. This year's fellowship recipients are:
Seyward Darby, of Greenville, North Carolina, a Benjamin N. Duke Scholar who will graduate in May with a major in English, a minor in political science and a certificate in policy journalism and mass media studies. Darby is heavily involved with The Chronicle , Duke's independent daily student newspaper. As a junior, she served as the paper's editor, overseeing as staff of more than 100 volunteers and acting as a public representative for the organization. She has also tutored at two Durham community centers and sat on the executive board of the tutoring program Project Child. In 2004, Darby interned at the Center for Community Safety in Winston-Salem , where she helped manage a Community Outreach Partnership Center project, funded by a neighborhood revitalization grant from the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development. During the summer of 2006, Darby traveled to Trang , Thailand , where she taught English to children at a local public school, and then backpacked across Vietnam , Cambodia , and Laos .
Cassandra Phillips, a native of Denver , Colorado , who will graduate in May with a major in public policy studies and a minor in economics. Phillips participated in the Duke in Spain summer program and studied and traveled in Argentina , Brazil , Paraguay , and Uruguay during the spring of 2006. In the summer of 2005, Phillips volunteered at the Leave a Little Room Foundation in Gulu , Uganda , where she implemented a malnutrition food project in coordination with four area NGOs. At Duke, Phillips is active in the Center for Race Relations, serving as an assistant director for Common Ground, a diversity retreat, and as co-director of the Peer Facilitation Training Program, which seeks to sustain dialogue on campus regarding race relations and diversity. She also volunteers with Gente Aprendiendo por Nuevas Oportunidades, a Durham organization that teaches Spanish-speaking adults English and practical daily living skills.
Brian Wright, a Benjamin N. Duke Scholar who will graduate in May with a major in environmental sciences and policy and a certificate in documentary studies. A native of High Point , North Carolina , Wright is currently writing a distinction thesis entitled “Green Democracy: A Case Study of the Center for Environmental Legal Defense Fund”. During the summer of 2005, Wright conducted documentary research on a nomadic family with whom he lived in Bayankhangor , Mongolia . He has also worked at the Conservation Council of North Carolina and at Communities Helping All Neighbors Gain Empowerment, a Winston-Salem based community activism organization. At Duke, Wright has been active with Project W.I.L.D., serving first as a crew leader and subsequently becoming program director. He is the co-founder of Step into the WILD, a program for local, disadvantaged high school youth led by Duke undergraduate students; the program features team-building activities, rock climbing, and a three-day “outward bound”-style excursion.
The fellows' international placements will be determined in the coming weeks. In the past, fellows have worked in countries ranging from Azerbaijan to India to Guatemala . The 2006-2007 fellows are currently in Cambodia and Ethiopia .
Along with the Hart Fellows, 13 undergraduate students will take part in the Service Opportunities in Leadership (SOL) summer internship experience. The participants will work with host organizations in the United States and abroad on research service-learning projects.
“Together, the fellows and students are a talented group of young people from very diverse backgrounds and intellectual interests,” Blount says. “What they all have in common is that they understand that this work is going to be challenging—and they are ready for it.”
The 2007 SOL interns are:
Freshman Frances Aunon and junior Dana Freedman, who will be working with Fundacion Humanitaria in La Carpio, Costa Rica. Under the mentorship of Professed Diane Nelson, they will explore the relationship between child health care and social dynamics in Costa Rica .
Sophomore Lindsay Bayham, who will be working
with the International Organization for Migration in Accra, Ghana.
She will explore ways in which her host organization can better
prepare its clients to use health care services in the United States
. Her faculty mentor is Professor Kate Whetten.
Junior Mingyang Liu, who will be working with
Dream Corps in Beijing, China. She will investigate the differences
between privately funded elementary schools for migrant workers'
children that have caused some to succeed and others to shut down.
Her faculty mentor is Professor Kristin Goss.
Sophomore Emily Long, who will be working with
MEND Central, Ltd., in London. Under the mentorship of Professor
Sherryl Broverman, Long will research her host organization's most
effective methods, considering how they could be implemented successfully
in the United States and Canada.
Sophomore Channing Mathews, who will be working
with Helping Empower Local People (HELP) in Charlotte, N.C. She
will investigate what sorts of tensions have developed between the
burgeoning Latino population and the African-American population
of the Charlotte area and how best to improve the relationship between
the two communities. Her faculty mentor is Professor Alma Blount.
Freshman Adam Nathan, who will be working with the South African Education and Environment Project (SAEP) in Cape Town, South Africa. He will research how and in what ways SAEP has affected the communities it assists. His faculty mentor is Professor Ana Barros.
Junior Christian Sotomayor, who will work with
the Amani Children's Home in Moshi, Tanzania. Under the mentorship
of Professor Whetten, he will research how the children's home can
best build a sustainable microfinance program.
Junior Christen Tingley, who will work with Focus
Tours in Turrialba, Costa Rica. She will investigate the best practices
involved in developing community-based eco-tours that connect the
demand for tours with rural women entrepreneurs. Her faculty mentor
is Professor Marc Bellemare.
Sophomore Varsha Vijay, who will be working with
Earthwatch in Ankarafantsika National Park in Madagascar. Under
the guidance of Professor Stuart Pimm, Vijay will research ways
in which to communicate with local villagers about the detrimental
effects of feral dog populations on endemic predators and their
prey, lemurs.
Sophomore Karmel Wong, who will work with the
International Children's Art Foundation in Washington, D.C. Under
the mentorship of Dr. Katie Hyde, Wong will research how her host
organization can make the 2007 World Children's festival an unifying
experience for the children involved.
Junior Matt Zafirovski, who will be working with
the Golden Apple Foundation in Chicago, Illinois. He will research
what makes a successful scholar in the organization's teacher preparatory
scholarship program. His faculty mentor is Professor Robert Korstad.
|
