News and Events
Hannah Caruso (IDSC/BA ’09) spent her summer interning at the Worcester-based nonprofit Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement, an organization that provides resources and opportunities for ex-prisoners to become involved in constructive, productive community activities. Caruso has worked on developing educational programs and lobbying efforts on issues such as reforming the Criminal Offenders Records Information (CORI) law.
Sasha Chait (IDSC/BA ’10) spent three weeks in Ghana assisting WomensTrust and the Against Malaria Foundation by distributing long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets (which offer protection from malaria) to families with young children. She also worked with a community nurse in the Greater Accra region to help instruct people on how to use the nets correctly and increase awareness about the benefit of using mosquito nets.
Elizabeth Bullock (IDSC/BA ‘07) was the outdoor education director at the Clara Barton Summer camp. Bullock designed and implemented lesson plans for children aged 6-16 at the camp where four classes were taught daily. Various themes were explored with the children such as sustainable gardening and composting, waste management, water and nitrogen cycling, hiking trail maintenance, and orienteering.
Alexis Close (IDSC/BA ‘07) “Thanks to a connection I made here at Clark, I was able to travel to Tanzania last summer to work as an intern with CARE International.” Close was stationed at CARE’s head country office in Dar es Salaam, and her work included researching and writing a manual on good governance. CARE has three main programs which promote: women and girls equality, environmental sustainability, and health. The organization wants to make sure that the staff in each of these programs is sensitive to governance issues and how to promote good governance in all their projects. CARE had previously conducted a survey on its staff and found that while most of them thought they were promoting good governance, most couldn’t articulate exactly what the concept meant. She worked on researching and writing in Dar, as well as, traveling to conduct workshops for CARE staff around the country. Of the experience, Close offered, “The workshops were my favorite part of the summer. I enjoyed meeting with local CARE staff and learning about the projects they were working on.” Close continued, “As someone who went straight from an undergraduate program into the IDSC/M.A. program, this internship offered me a valuable chance to experience working with a large international nongovernmental organization dedicated to development and social justice.”
Margaret Kettles (IDSC/BA ’11) spent eight weeks in Bosnia this past summer, interning at Bosnia IST and Training Workshops International. There she conducted workshops at orphanages and schools in Mostar, Bosnia, teaching English and diversity acceptance skills to Bosnian, Serb, and Croat children. Kettles’ stay was made possible by a summer internship stipend from Clark’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies program.
Karyn Miller (IDSC/BA ‘08/) was an outreach and presentation assistant for HERvoices, where she connected to Massachusetts universities, secondary schools, religious organizations, and civil society groups through emails, phone calls, and personal visits in order to build coalition and access venues. She also conducted and transcribed interviews, and assisted with grant writing, editing, and presentation coordination.
Sharon Olander (IDSC/BA ‘08) interned as an administrative assistant at The International Center of Worcester where she assisted the executive director, and put professional and cultural programs together for international visitors.
The deadline for the 2009 Compton Mentor Fellowship is February 6, 2009. Download the Compton Mentor Fellowship Overview and the Compton Mentor Application. Started in 2002, the program's purpose is to promote the creativity, commitment, and service of five graduating seniors each year, who are nominated by six selected colleges and universities in the United States, and chosen by an independent committee. The Mentor Fellowship Program is based on the belief that life-changing experiences can occur when formal learning is transformed by action. Each Mentor Fellow designs a project of social merit that focuses on the environment, peace and conflict resolution, reproductive health, and/or equal opportunity.
IDCE Research Professor Richard Ford introduced two IDSC Clark undergraduates, Chelsea Ellingsen and Samantha Bainbridge, to local research organizations in Odumase (Eastern Region) where they spent six weeks interviewing youth about their perceptions of the causes of AIDS expansion and what they think might be done to curb the spread of the virus.
Chelsea and Samantha spent nine weeks in the Manya Krobo region. According to Samantha, “We were based near the upper Manya capitol of Asesawe in Korlewa Dawa. We conducted interviews with all age groups, but will be using information given by 15 to 30 year olds to analyze the youth perspective on the AIDS crisis. Much of what we heard had to do with the pressures of poverty and hopelessness that may encourage some youth to engage in behavior that leads to getting the virus. We are hoping to write a paper, with guidance from Dick Ford, for publication.”
Rachel Gerber (IDSC/BA ’11) has a long history of volunteerism. Among her many pursuits, she has assisted with voting rights for the homeless, food drives in her home community of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Mississippi’s Habitat for Humanity. Her insistence on making the world a better place has earned her title as a “Making a Difference Scholar” for her four years at Clark.
Erica Richmond (IDSC/BA ’08) participated in an internship at Friendly Haven in Windhoek, Namibia. She was there for four months, assisting the women at the shelter with issues related to their having sustained domestic violence and rape. In light of her dedication to women’s empowerment, she received the Cynthia Enloe Award in 2005, in part for helping to form the women studies major here at Clark.
IDSC undergraduate students Miranda Gerzon (IDSC/BA ‘11) and Jeff Desmarais (IDSC/BA ‘09) met Zo Tobi (IDSC/BA ‘07) in N.H. as part of the Carbon Coalition and the League of Conservation Voters, two New Hampshire global warming prevention organizations. Both organizations aim to educate voters about each presidential candidate’s environmental policy positions. While in N.H., the students worked to engage candidates in addressing important issues surrounding global warming, and their hope is for candidates to engage in discussing ways they can potentially shape environmental policy in the coming years.
Elizabeth Fox (IDSC/BA ’08) was awarded the Theodore Von Laue Undergraduate Prize in International Development.
Kasia Kedzia (IDSC/BA '05) recently returned from Sudan, where she managed a project to introduce new technologies to improve local economy and reduce vulnerability of internally displaced women and girls in conflict-affected areas with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in partnership with UNICEF, IOM and other UN agencies. The work, much of which was carried out in Internally Displaced People (IDP) Camps in South Darfur, entailed the development of overall strategy as well as the monitoring and evaluation framework. She managed a multi-cultural team to conduct participatory market and social assessments of acceptability, ensured ongoing data collection by partners through training and technical support, as well as conducted the final evaluation of this phase of the project.
Giovannina “Janie” Crocco, IDSC/BA/M.A. (Italy) is a 2007 recipient of a Compton Mentor Fellowship.
IDSC Student Wins Compton Mentor Fellowship
Janie Crocco, 2007 recipient of a Compton Mentor Fellowship
For her winning project, she aims to address and reduce the sex-trafficking of Nigerian women to Italy through collaborative projects with NGOs based in Nigeria. Her Mentor is Alison Data Phido, Program Director of African Radio Drama Association, Nigeria.
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