| 
Laura Thornhill was a 2003-04 Fellow working with Seva Mandir
in Udaipur, India, on issues related to gender, domestic violence,
and political participation in rural communities in India's Rajasthan
province. During her Fellowship, she developed and conducted a study
on the magnitude and perceptions of domestic violence in 400 rural
households in Seva Mandir’s work area. Upon completion of
her research, Laura presented her findings to Seva Mandir and prepared
a report of recommendations for the organization’s future
work on gender-related violence. In addition to her research, Laura
worked in conjunction with Seva Mandir's staff to revise its gender
policy and pilot a domestic violence intervention program.
Laura graduated from Duke in May 2003 with a major in public policy
studies and minors in Spanish and English. Laura's international
experiences include study abroad at the Universidad Mayor de San
Andrés in La Paz, Bolivia, the University of Oxford's New
College in England, and an Outward Bound school in the Costa Rican
rainforest. At Duke, Laura was a participant in the Hart Leadership
Program's Service Opportunities in Leadership (SOL) program. During
her SOL internship in Chicago, Laura conducted a child-care needs
assessment for residents of a transitional housing shelter for battered
Latina immigrants and their children. She served as co-director
of Project WILD's (Wilderness Initiatives for Learning at Duke)
house course on experiential education and as a crew leader for
the group's backpacking trips for incoming freshmen. During her
time at Duke, Laura also served regularly as a tutor and mentor
to Durham youth and as an ESL instructor for Latina immigrant women.
|
