Profiles

Global Brandeis Profile: Sarah Van Buren ’13

October 13, 2011 By Ariana Leave a Comment

Sarah van Buren '13

Major/Minor: International and Global Studies and Biology major, Peace and Coexistence Studies and Women and Gender Studies minor

Year of Graduation: 2013

Hometown: Tokyo, Japan, but lived in eight countries including the United States

Previous Education: Hong Kong International School, Hong Kong and George Mason High School, Falls Church, VA

Clubs/Organizations: Students Crossing Boundaries, Community Advisor, Sorensen Fellow, Lerman-Neubauer Fellow

“I have three passports: Japan, America, and Diplomatic. And the passports are kind of a metaphor for me: every single place I go, every single person I meet, they put like a stamp on me, and it imprints and develops how I am. That’s how everybody is: the people you meet, the events that you encounter, the time that you spend in any place definitely influences you. Mine are just very obviously documented in my passports.”

Sarah Van Buren seems as comfortable traveling halfway around the world to live in a completely foreign country as sitting on a couch planning her next hall meeting. Her passions for women’s health and international and global studies combined this past summer in her Sorensen Fellowship at the Wildflower Home in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which provides safe shelter, health services, and education to mothers in crisis.

Most of the mothers at the home come from backgrounds of either the hill tribes or sex work. The primary hill tribes from which the women belong are Lahu, Hmong, and Akha, and due to the lack of rights of in Thailand many are not well educated and cannot get jobs. The high conservativeness of the hill tribes exacerbates the women’s situation, for if a girl gets pregnant for whatever reason – unprotected sex with her boyfriend, rape, or being pressured by her family to have sex with an important elder – she will be expelled from the tribe. In cases of sex workers, brothel owners find out the girls are pregnant, and because they are no longer of any use to them expel them, and they end up at places like the Wildflower Home. Most mothers were younger than 25 years of age, many in their early to mid-teens.

Sarah spent most of her time teaching the children: ages 2 through 15 were the same room since the lack of rights meant that hill tribe children do not have access to education. She taught them English, math, science, and art, as well as English to the mothers and working in the communal gardens.

She describes how the biggest culture shock was getting used to life on a farm, for the home focuses on being fairly self-sufficient by growing many of their own vegetables and raising some animals. Sarah relayed many stories of her adventures with animals in the area, particularly a cat named Agnes who set up residence in Sarah’s room, and the fact that, as she relayed proudly, “I ate a bug. I ate two bugs, a cockroach and a cricket. Nope [they weren’t cooked.] They were dead.” Although she was a fan of the cricket (except for its legs) she described the cockroach as more earthy, and not as good.

Wildlife adventures aside, she says that “one thing that I wasn’t expecting is that people assumed I was Thai, which was very weird. I was not expecting that, and when I say that to people here they are very skeptical, like ‘you wish’.” On the one hand she was extremely flattered, and thrilled to be getting the real Thai experience, but on the other hand she was unfortunately exposed to the other side of being a Thai woman. Although western men had implicitly indicated their interest in propositioning her occasionally throughout the summer, it was not until the last day that it was explicit.

As she was walking down the road in Chiang Mai, a man on a motorcycle stopped, “and he seemed very nervous, so I thought he needed to find the hospital or something. He asked me, ‘are you available?’ and I responded, ‘what?’, and he replied ‘can you come back to my hotel room with me?’ It took me a long time to piece all the things together, and he just got off his motorcycle and started to try to touch me. I remember this one moment when I said ‘no, I’m an American.’ And he just went ‘oh! You’re an American!’ and got on his motorcycle and sped away.”

It is a credit to the type of person Sarah is that she does not focus on the fact that this had to happen to her, as most would, but rather on her response and the notions of privilege and identity arising from it. She is frustrated that she only has “just to say I’m an American, and everything is resolved immediately, whereas I think back to some of the women at the Wildflower Home, and this is the instance where they got raped … This was the moment in their lives that defined them, whereas I could get out of it easily.”

Her reflexiveness, respect for others, and refusal to use her privilege to her own ends is reflected in her reaction to an American Hmong woman who visited the Wildflower Home. Because the woman spoke Hmong, she was in a better position to communicate with the women, and took the opportunity to ask them why they were at the home, which from the beginning volunteers were taught to not ask for reasons of privacy and healing.

From the beginning of her time at the Wildflower Home, in fact, it was clear that a great deal of sensitivity was necessary when approaching the topic, and knowing what not to say, “in an icebreaker situation [in the United States] you ask someone where they come from and where they grew up, but that’s definitely not something that’s okay to ask [here], because some of these women come from very difficult pasts and they’re here to rehabilitate from those pasts.” Sarah said that she could always get “little glimpses of where they were coming from,” but she “didn’t try to finagle a way to find out peoples’ stories,” again reflective of the respectful and caring person she is.

This difficulty approaching their pasts also affected her ability to research and create the type of sexual health education programs she hoped to start. Because of the nature of the women’s backgrounds involving either the sex trade or some sort of traumatic experience, she was unable to teach any classes about STDs or sexual health. She was able to teach a class on breast cancer awareness, and was particularly pleased to be the recipient of a Rapaporte grant to buy materials for the class, including a silicon breast modeling the different stages of breast cancer to help teach women how to do self exams. She describes the confusion of the women at the breast, culminating in them asking her “Whose breast is that? Is it yours?” but says that once the confusion cleared up all laughed about it, and that the class was overall a great success.

Coming back to Brandeis and reflecting on her experiences with the Sorensen class is different than most return trips, she says. She describes the experience as, overall, “very introspective on my self, my privilege, how I came to be. So that was definitely not something I was expecting.” All of her thoughts seem tinted with this introspection, even her short breaks from the home, when she was able to go to Chiang Mai on the weekends. She says these breaks were extremely helpful and necessary because “there were weeks that were just so trying, and I feel guilty saying it because I had the chance to escape. It was a day and a half, or a day, but I got a chance to escape, take a breather, and come back really refreshed, whereas the women who live there, that was their life.”

This introspection carries through to her thoughts about what many people asked her upon her return: was it life changing? Her response, quintessentially Sarah van Buren in realism and idealism: “everything I wanted to do with my life is still the same. Nothing has changed in terms of my goals, or who I am really, but it’s made me much more aware of how I impact my society rather than how my society impacts me.”

Filed Under: Ariana Hajmiragha, Authors, East Asia, Profiles, Regions, Students

Global Brandeis Profile: Jarnail Singh, MA ‘13

October 5, 2011 By Kayla Dinces Leave a Comment

Program: Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development at the Heller School of Social Policy and Management

Year of Graduation: 2013

Hometown: Bihar, India

Previous Education: Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of Delhi, M.A. in Environmental Studies from TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute)

Award: Feldman Fellowship

“I traveled across India [for the past] three years, learning about different people and environments and different situations people live in, because we say “conserve the environment” but the environment cannot be conserved without a cost. Trying to link those costs with benefits that environmental conservation brings to us is what I focus on.”

Jarnail Singh is passionate about the environment. His arrival at the Heller School this fall follows three years of post-graduate work he has done in his home country of India, focusing on biodiversity conservation and renewable energy technologies in rural areas. In the Sustainable International Development program he has found the macro level approach to issues that he has faced in the field for some time now. Yet Jarnail says that before he started his graduate work, he did not know much about the environment. At TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) in Delhi his mind was opened to new ways of thinking about the word. He says he learned that “the environment is not just trees and animals, it’s everything around you. In our religion also, we had been learning about the environment implicitly, but the university gave me more explicit information about it.” TERI is unique in India, working with in the environmental sector for thirty years, and is the only university that “is completely dedicated to environmental causes.” Jarnail spent two years completing his masters, and then continued to work for the institute.

His graduate education exposed him to many field visits, and on his treks and hikes across India, he saw environments that changed at a rapid rate due to human interventions. Jarnail said that these experiences inspired him to “contribute more to the positive side, regaining the status quo.” This idea was especially important in rural areas, where Jarnail spent a lot of time working in the last several years, and where he says he loves to interact with the local people. He states that when he visits rural locations, people “will speak their hearts out; they don’t keep anything within themselves.” He says that some people would refrain from talking about their general feelings with others, but in many cases when he goes into a rural home“ they are ready to speak to you. They don’t [have the attitude of] ‘I don’t know this person so I should keep myself away.’” He appreciates this mindset, and says that working with rural peoples in India means a lot to him.

It is this mentality of connecting with people and reaching out that led Jarnail to Brandeis. He first heard about the university from a student who was in the SID program, who spent a year working for the same institute in Delhi where Jarnail was located. He said “I was not thinking of applying for the course in this year, but I met some of the representatives from the Heller school at the conferences in Delhi and they motivated me and encouraged me to apply—I applied on the last date actually—just making it.” Jarnail credits good luck to getting him to where he is today, where he has found a link between the two sides of an issue that is very important to him.

Jarnail states, “so far I have been working on just solar/clean energy, and biodiversity conservation,” but he would like to diversify, and also look at “policy level thinking.” He says that his experience in India has had him working with implementation projects. “But after this experience with Heller, I am sure I will know enough to analyze policy and also contribute at a higher level that actually makes a lot of difference.” Along with this macro-impact, he will continue to visit rural areas and interact with people and see how it benefits them.

The benefits that Jarnail is most looking forward to in his year at Brandeis are the discussions he has with colleagues and faculty. “That is the most enriching part of being at Heller: its not the grades that matter, it’s the discussions you have in the class with your own colleagues, from 35-40 different countries at the same time with your faculty members, who have such rich experience in terms of field realities as well as policy making. “ It is only his second month in the United States, but Jarnail is in awe of the beauty here, a place where he says, “trees and development exist collectively”. It is in exploring this interconnectedness within the environment that Jarnail finds his passion, and his will to continue to explore how these connections can make positive change.

Filed Under: Authors, India, Kayla Dinces, Profiles, Regions, South Asia, Students

Meet the new OGA Office Assistants!

October 4, 2011 By globalaffairs Leave a Comment

Nahum Gilliat '14

Major(s): Political Science, English

Minor(s): Legal Studies, International and Global Studies

Year of Graduation: 2013

Previous Education: Salanter Akiba of Riverdale

Clubs/Organizations: Brandeis Billiards Club, Brandeis Football Club, AIPAC, BZA

“As free citizens in a political democracy, we have a responsibility to be interested and involved in the affairs of the human community, be it at the local or the global level.” ~Paul Wellstone

Nahum Gilliat was born with a global perspective: though he currently resides in Bronx, New York, he originally hails from London, England. In addition to his inherent talents for “soccer,” his bi-cultural perspective instilled in him a sense of passion and consciousness towards global affairs. In fact, it was Nahum’s interest in international relations that steered him to want to work at the Office of Global Affairs.

At Brandeis, Nahum hopes to major in Political Science and minor in both IGS and Legal Studies. His passion for law is a new-found interest: last summer, Nahum worked on the Hill for his Representative, Eliot L. Engel (D-NY-17). During his internship, he shadowed the foreign affairs adviser; learning about heated foreign affairs issues as well as the complexities of the legislative process.

Nahum hopes to explore his recent law interest and enrich his global interests by studying abroad in he Hague in Spring 2013. The program is perfectly tailored to him: he expects to learn about the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as take classes on international law.

Alia Goldfarb '13

Major: Theatre Arts (Musical Theatre)

Minor: Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies

Year of Graduation: 2013

Home region/country: Basel, Switzerland

Previous Education: Gymnasium Leonhard, Basel, Switzerland

Clubs/Organizations on Campus: B-Deis Records, Undergraduate Theatre Collective, Building Attendant at Spingold Theatre

“I think of myself as a ‘global citizen’ not because I have traveled a lot and seen quite a few things, but because I am sincerely interested and personally invested in global issues and I am constantly working on contributing in positive ways. In my eyes it’s about keeping an open mind and heart, to really hear other people’s opinions, and find a way to communicate across all boundaries.”

Growing up in the Swiss-German part of Switzerland, Alia Goldfarb was exposed to an extremely multicultural and multilingual lifestyle from early on. Firstly, Switzerland has four national languages and being a ‘land of refuge,’ harbors a substantial minority of people with diverse cultural heritage from all over the world seeking asylum. Further, she is a dual citizen (American/Swiss), comes from mixed religious heritage (Jewish/Christian) and has a Half-Brazilian stepsister. For the first ten years of her life, Alia lived in a largely Muslim neighborhood of her city. After elementary school, her family moved to the only Jewish and slightly more upper class area of Basel, giving her a completely new perspective on her lifestyle and surroundings.

Besides these complex circumstances Alia grew up in, her family always enjoyed traveling a lot. Thus she has seen a vast number of countries and cultures throughout the years of summers and short vacations abroad. To top it off, her love of languages has allowed her to study six languages in school and is working on learning a seventh. Being so immersed in this diverse setting, her fascination for cultural complexities, languages and the lives of people from different countries sparked at a young age.

In high school, Alia was always highly interested in humanitarian issues and sought ways to be actively engaged in finding solutions to global concerns. During her third year, she found her passion for women’s rights, specifically women living in third world countries, and immediately begun research in the field. Her work led to an 80 page senior thesis on cultural violence against women and a benefit concert to support educational programs on female genital mutilation, which raised over $10,000. As she moved to the U.S. for college, her passion for women’s rights has remained a part of her life, however her education at Brandeis has expanded her interest global and humanitarian affairs vastly. While it has taught her about many individual problems within the bigger global picture, the biggest lesson she has learned is how many different social and cultural aspects are all linked together inseparably.

Today, Alia studies religious issues, political matters and political/social power abuse, human rights, women’s and gender issues, conflict resolution, education and performing arts. Her goal is to find a way to combine her artistic endeavors with her knowledge of education and conflict resolution to find ways to communicate across boundaries and help individuals and/or communities to build a healthy, independent and fulfilling lifestyle for as many people as possible.

Filed Under: Authors, Blogs, Europe, Nahum Gilliat, Profiles, Regions

IBS Alumni Spotlight: Yuki Hasegawa MA ’10

September 28, 2011 By globalaffairs Leave a Comment

This profile is reposted, by permission, from the International Business School. Click here to read the original profile.

Going Global with Goldman Sachs: Investing in Human Resources

Degree/Year of Graduation: Master of Arts in International Economics and Finance, 2010

Current employment: Human Capital Management Analyst, Goldman Sachs

Previous experience: Barclays Capital, McLagan Partners, Clean Water Action

Yuki Hasegawa MA ’10, a human resources analyst at Goldman Sachs, helps manage training and development programs for the investment bank’s most important asset: its talent. “I’m someone who really believes in finding an individual’s potential,” said Hasegawa, who is originally from Yokohama, Japan, but also spent his childhood in Zurich, Switzerland. “My team plays a big role in the future success of Goldman Sachs because we have an impact on the talent that’s already here and the talent that we hire.”

His group provides training for a range of the firm’s employees, from entry-level analysts to senior vice presidents. Hasegawa’s team is dedicated to the firm’s legal and internal audit, compliance and human resources divisions. “What I do involves strategic thinking: looking at our budget and our resources, and then coming up with solutions to best develop people’s skills and abilities, and figure out ways to mentor them and give them greater job opportunities,” he said. “It’s a big responsibility because, as Lloyd [CEO of Goldman Sachs] says, ‘our talent is our number one asset.’”

Hasegawa got his first taste of leadership development at Brandeis International Business School. “Just about every class I took entailed group project work of some kind,” he said. “I learned to be nimble and how to interact with, and lead, a team of people who come from very different cultures, backgrounds and perspectives. I learned to identify people’s competencies and determine what leadership style would work best to motivate them. These details are critical to a team’s dynamic.”

“Now that I work for a global company where every day I’m expected to work with people from the U.K., Hong Kong, Japan or India, I really appreciate that I had this experience as a business school student.”

His degree has helped him in other ways, too. For starters, it gave him a shot of confidence and some much-needed exposure to the professional world. Hasegawa, who did his undergraduate studies at Brandeis, entered the Master’s program straight from college. “My first year of business school was really my senior year in college,” he said. “I was taking classes alongside people who have spent a lot of time in the working world, and already had great careers. At first it was intimidating, but the second-year students mentored and challenged me, and then when it was time to graduate, they helped me find a good job.”

The degree also made him conversant in the language of finance. “I have a firm understanding of business, capital markets and macro-economic drivers because of what I learned at Brandeis,” he said.

For now, Hasegawa plans to stay put in New York, but his job may soon involve an overseas posting. “I love my job and I’ve been given a lot of opportunities: I get to work with managing directors and be part of teams that are executing large projects for our firm,” he said. “I was recently asked to go to Hong Kong and Tokyo to manage a program there. I really feel I’m progressing.”

Filed Under: East Asia, Europe, Profiles

Global Brandeis Profile: Tawanna Johnson ’16

September 19, 2011 By Ariana 1 Comment

Tawanna Johnson, B.A. '16

Possible Major/Minor: International and Global Studies major, French minor

Year of Graduation: 2016

Hometown: Providence, Rhode Island

Previous Education: E-Cubed Academy

Clubs/Organizations: Transitional Year Program, University Chorus, works at the Library

“My history teacher had asked me who I was. I thought, Who am I really? Who had I become? What is my legacy? About 300 years ago, my ancestors were uprooted from Africa and forced into slavery in Providence, Rhode Island. After years of slavery, my ancestors were finally freed and left Providence in search of a better life in Liberia. Shortly after their return, civil war broke loose in the country. My ancestors had to make a decision whether to stay in Liberia or return to Providence: a place where they were enslaved by their memories, but where opportunity awaited. The discovery of my family’s past made me recognize the traces of my ancestors in the person I am today.”
-excerpt from Tawanna’s college admissions essay

Our past defines who we are, but few people face theirs so unflinchingly and proactively as Tawanna Johnson. Born in New York only a year after her mother’s immigration to the United States as a result of the first Liberian Civil War, Tawanna spent most of her life in Providence, Rhode Island. Currently a Transitional Year Program student, she is proud of being at Brandeis, particularly since “when I was in pre-school there was a point where we didn’t have a house. Education-wise, I guess I was lucky, or at least [my mom] always said I had a good head.”

Liberia plays a part in her life larger than most Liberian-Americans, with her uncle having run for President of Liberia in 2009, and planning on running again in November of 2011. For her politics are more than abstract ideas, they intimately affect her life: “since the civil war, my life’s just been a bunch of like political stuff, like who’s doing what, and who’s not supposed to do this, who’s better, who’s not, and who’s not listening.”

She continually emphasizes the importance of security and safety to her, describing how “I can’t say certain things, and people will write stuff on the internet, and it’s just scary.” Describing her position of being torn between wanting to go back to Liberia and visit with family and being intimidated by stories of unrest and corruption, she finds comfort in the current stability of Brandeis.

Although she is no longer interested in pursuing politics as a future line of work, she does “really want to work for the UN, or something in that area. I want to invest in building schools, and just be a person that would go in and not direct things (like a political analyst) to help the country progress.” Her hope is to build the confidence to face the factors that scare her, and that “through Brandeis, once I know more, and once I go through all these classes and learn about human rights and know what to do, I can build that confidence to walk right in there and say ‘hey, we’re gonna do it this way!’.”

Her dreams are more than admirable, and certainly what the world needs in its rising leaders. She notes that she is not the only one with these types of ambitions, saying “I know a lot of people my age in the Liberian community are trying to do the same thing: everyone wants to go back and change everything, trying to make it better than what it is now. That’s what everyone wants to do, and I’m really, really happy about that, because now I feel like I’m not the only person to go in there.”

“What will be my legacy? What will my future generations discover about me? 300 years from now my family will see that I graduated from college and became a policy analyst. They will see that I went back to Liberia to help mend the laws of education. They will see my devotion to my people who will no longer have to move because knowledge and opportunity will be at their doorstep. Providing opportunity for others is rooted in my culture and will always be a part of me. I know who I am. I am the first step for the next generation.”
-excerpt from Tawanna’s college admissions essay

Filed Under: Africa, Ariana Hajmiragha, Authors, Profiles, Regions, Students

Global Brandeis Profile: Celeste Radosevich, M.A. ’11

May 4, 2011 By Ariana Leave a Comment

Celeste Radosevich, M.A. '11

Program: Master of Arts in Cultural Production

Year of Graduation: 2011

Hometown: Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

Previous Education: B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology and M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Clubs/Organizations: Intern at Jose Mateo Ballet Theater in Cambridge, MA; Salsa y Control Dance Studio in Allston, MA

Awards: Jane’s Travel Grant

“We’re all positioned in different ways, and race, gender, sexuality, ability, and all of those things are very real things that we deal with on a day to day basis.”

Constantly following her passions – be it biology, dance, or Latin American studies – Celeste Radosevich seems to be living the interdisciplinary life that she loves. In addition to minoring in Latin American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she also majored in Molecular and Cellular Biology, and started a flourishing biological society at the school while working in a lab for several years. When asked how she ended up at Brandeis studying Cultural Production, she laughs and says, “that’s everyone’s favorite question.” Her explanation was that while she certainly loves the subject, biology was not quite what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She made it clear that she has diverse interests, and that the Cultural Production program has enabled her to explore her multiple passions. Describing the Cultural Production program as being at the nexus of the arts, humanities, the social sciences, and other disciplines , she commented “I really like interdisciplinary studies: you’re allowed to ask all sorts of questions that you can’t really explore in more traditional academic disciplines.”

Celeste has a strong background in Latin American Studies as well as previous travel experience to the region: she has visited Peru twice, once as a general visit and later on a Foreign Language and Area Studies scholarship from the University of Illinois to study Quechua (a language spoken by nearly ten million people in the Andes). She also maintains a fervent interest in dance. Her receipt of the Jane’s Travel Grant for Latin American Studies fit extremely well with her studies in the social sciences and performing arts, allowing her to combine these two passions.

Focusing on themes of indigenous peoples, tourism, and customs, she describes that salsa is happening as “kind of battling on the dance floor for embodiments of ethnicity and gender, among other things.” She spent three weeks in the city, and describes it as being very diverse, and “a really interesting site, because the industry of Cuzco is tourism and that’s really what everybody does. But if you know the history of the city it’s also known as the capital of the Incan world, and so is also embedded with meanings from centuries of traditions and practices that go beyond the economic value of tourist attractions.”

Celeste describes the project as being interested in “the salsa scene in Cusco, a dance phenomenon that promotes a completely different understanding of so-called ‘Latin’ ethnicities while sort of rejecting what is going on locally in Peru. Popular media often shows Latin dancing in a way that portrays a monolithic, sort of pan-Latin American sense of identity and ethnicity. Because salsa and most so-called ‘Latin’ dances are from the Caribbean, they don’t always echo with the embodiments that are going on in Cuzco around dance.”

Her love for Latin American culture is apparent, and she says she would love to travel more around the region, there being so much more to see and do. While she has not chosen yet from several exciting opportunities for the future, each will be rich in cultural exploration and experience.

Celeste recently performed at the 2011 Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts. Through her piece, “Me(ee)ting on the Dance Floor”, she “employ[ed] salsa dancing to explore the tension encountered by salsa musicians between their own dynamic identity and the identity projected onto them by others.”

You can find more information about her research and work experiences on her website: http://web.me.com/cradosevich/celeste/

Filed Under: Ariana Hajmiragha, Authors, Latin America & the Caribbean, Profiles, Regions, Students

Global Brandeis Profile: Shay Rabineau, PhD. ’15

April 13, 2011 By Marie Zazueta 1 Comment

Shay Rabineau, PhD. ’15

Program: Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Graduation: May 2015
Hometown: Butler, Indiana
Previous Education: University of Oklahoma ’03 (B.A. in Creative Writing, B.M. in Middle East History)
Awards: Schusterman Scholar, National Merit Scholar, Student Press Association Gold Circle Winner, Honorable Mention from the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists

“Maybe I could learn about myself in some way from this country even though I didn’t profess to be Jewish. I think everyone is interested in their roots in some way.”

From Indiana, to Oklahoma, to Israel and now Boston, Shay Rabineau’s life has taken an unconventional path to say the least. As a Ph.D. candidate in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, Shay’s expertise in Israel goes far deeper than what one can read in a textbook. Shay has experienced Israel, not only from what he has studied as a graduate student at Brandeis, but from his many hikes throughout Israel on the Israel National Trail.

Shay grew up in a small town in Indiana. His father is a Protestant minister. He grew up reading the Bible, and he says that that indirectly led to his becoming interested in Israel and the Middle East.

Shay’s attachment to Israel rests on many levels. However, he was not always interested in the region. As an undergraduate, his interests lay in the Arab world and not in Israel. He studied Arabic and aspired to be a news correspondent and travel in the Middle East. As he explains, “the only background I had of Israel specifically was what I knew from Israel’s ancient history, what I knew from the Bible.” While he was in Israel during college, he traveled with a friend who was operating tours and became interested in the country. It was on this trip that he found out his last name was Jewish. He says, “that seems obvious to people here at Brandeis but coming from where I was in Indiana it was kind of a revelation to me. My dad had basically converted from a non-religious background to Christianity when he was a young man, so our family had no religious heritage that we knew of. I thought, maybe I could learn something about myself in some way from this country even though I didn’t profess to be Jewish. I think everyone is interested in their roots in some way.”

After this trip, Israel gradually became the main focus of his interests. “As an academic, it’s hard to be connected to Israel and not think about what Israel represents to different people. We talk so much about the significance of Jerusalem to the three major religions, it’s almost a cliché. And the problems that arise out of this, that’s almost a cliché too. I get so tired of hearing story after story on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But having said that, those are such relevant issues. And people can debate whether these are issues that involve all humankind, or should involve humankind. Maybe we’re putting way too much significance on one little place on the globe. But the fact is, it does have significance in the hearts and minds of people of all different backgrounds.”

After doing some research, Shay discovered the existence of hiking trails throughout Israel. These trails are largely unknown to non-Israelis and there is essentially no English-language information on the trails. It was after a series of life-altering personal and work-related events, including a very difficult decision to decline a position with the CIA, that led Shay to hike a long section of the Israel National Trail for the first time in 2006.

Shay decided to undertake this endeavor with his best friend and his younger brother. The hike took six weeks to complete. Shay noted the vast differences between hiking in Israel and hiking in the U.S.: “as Americans we think of backpacking as going out west, or going on the Appalachian Trail when you’re in the forest most of the time. Backpacking is very different in Israel. There are these long encounters with nature, but there are also these encounters with small town life, with urban life. So it’s a much more social experience than you could get in other places.” Shay goes on to describe that he and his travel companions “would sleep in public parks, basketball courts, and people’s backyards. One night we were at this town, we walked in and there was a public pool. We made friends with the lifeguard and he showed us where there was a hole in the fence and we could go in and swim after hours if we wanted. He showed us the grassy park next door where we could sleep. There was one night where we slept on the soccer field of a Moshav, a communal settlement in the northern Galilee”.

As Shay explains, “This experience I had in 2006 walking the trail, was for me kind of like a nexus of all these dimensions and aspects of Israel that I’d never encountered. You’re walking through fields, the fields you go through with drainage ditches and tunnels; it’s not the holy land you see from a bus. You’re meeting the people, you’re going through towns, you’re seeing the good sides and the bad sides and you get a glimpse of what it’s really about. I walked away from that experience loving the country even more, feeling like this isn’t the idealized, golden, shining vision that you’re sold on a tour. It’s the real thing. But in a way, you can fall in love with a place all the more when you get to know it on that level.”

After this trip, Shay created the Israel National Trail Data Project to raise awareness to English speakers interested in hiking the trail. The website he created has extended information on the trail as well as a forum for people to post questions, and an English-language guidebook on the trail is in the works.

In 2009, Shay began his post-doctorate studies at Brandeis. Shay is very passionate about the focus of his studies, which is on “the history of the development of Israel’s hiking trails. This network of hiking trails is unique because Israel is the only country in the world where everything has been marked in this uniform way. Every other country does it in a less uniform way, but Israel has a single set of maps that covers all the trails and stretches across the whole country. So to study the history of that touches on all kinds of other things: it touches on the political history of the country, how the trails were affected by the wars that Israel has fought, by the peace agreements that Israel has made by the continuing conflicts that it’s embroiled in. It also touches on architecture, monuments, commemoration, and collective memory. You’re dealing with something that is close to the land, and the land means so much to so many people. The trails are going through forests that were planted in memory of holocaust victims. They’re going close to the green line of the Palestinian territories, so you come close to Jewish settlements, you go through Arab villages.”

As Shay’s studies in Israel have progressed, he has discovered contradictions about this place that he cares so much about. “I realize that I care about it on different levels or in different ways than someone from Israel cares about it, or how a Jewish person feels about it as a close connection to their homeland, or how a Palestinian person feels about it. I can’t connect on those levels. But Israel does resonate with me on my own symbolic and religious levels.”

What is the next step in Shay’s life? This coming year, he along with his wife and children will move to Jerusalem so he can start researching and writing his dissertation. “I hope that my scholarship can contribute towards doing something good in the world. I’m also a religious person. My background growing up with my dad being a religious person, a believing Christian – it’s hard to not get really jaded to things the longer you study a place and the big issues that are a part of it. But there’s also a part of me that hasn’t given up on the hope of what Jerusalem and Israel represent to people. Maybe one day, Jerusalem will be a city of peace and all the hopes and dreams that people have of that place will one day become real. I think that as an academic you’re encouraged to approach things from a detached, secular viewpoint, which I think you have to do. But I think I have to remind myself that maybe there are higher goals we can aim for.”

Upon graduating, Shay hopes to find a job in the academic world. As he explains, “I want to stay connected to Israel, I’d like to keep traveling and use this dissertation as an opportunity to keep hiking, keep trekking through Israel. Because I think that’s the kind of thing that a person could spend their life doing.”

To learn more about the Israel National Trail Data Project, go to http://www.israelnationaltrail.com/.

Filed Under: Authors, Israel, Marie Zazueta, Middle East, Profiles, Regions, Students

Global Brandeis Profile: Holly Devon ’11

April 6, 2011 By Ariana 1 Comment

Holly Devon '11

Year of Graduation: 2011
Major: Comparative Literature
Minor: French
Home region/country: Los Angeles, California
Previous Education: Santa Monica High School
Clubs/Organizations on Campus: Brandeis Al-Quds Partnership Fellow, Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, WOW Fellow

“I’d just like to continue being in places that make me feel alive, and continue having conversations and contributing however I can.”

While traveling, learning, and working over the course of her Brandeis career, Holly Devon has certainly pursued her passions successfully. Beginning her freshman year, her application and subsequent acceptance to the Brandeis Al-Quds University Partnership program triggered a series of travel experiences both powerful and exciting. She describes how “I just kind of like to get in there, mix it up with whatever opportunities I have. Literature is my passion, intellectually, amongst a lot of others – I’m a very typical Brandeis liberal arts student, I take a little of everything each semester – but I’d just like to continue being in places that make me feel alive, and continue having conversations and contribute however I can.”

Her adventures are certainly reflective of this, having traveled to Istanbul and Jerusalem with the Al-Quds University Partnership, to Kenya with an Oxford volunteer program, to France for study abroad, and to Argentina with a WOW fellowship. The Al-Quds University trip started her involvement with Brandeis and the opportunities therein, and she described it as “just a really humbling experience, really powerful, really hard, scary, but I felt really glad that I did that.”

From there, her summer expeditions became more non-governmental organization focused: she worked with NGOs in both Africa and Latin America, about which she says “comparing the [the two] was also really interesting.” Possessing strong convictions of the necessity for respect on the part of the volunteers for the people being helped as well as on the part of the people for themselves, she describes how she “felt sickened a lot of the time [in Africa] because there was this sort of expectation, in a way, that we were supposed to impart our cultural knowledge on to them. It was kind of paternalistic … there are a lot of problems in Africa that don’t have to do with the obvious – AIDS, poverty, war – I think there’s a lot of it also going on that we neglect to see how important it is that people feel like they have something to offer.”

She emphasizes the importance of respect; saying that what makes the difference is “how you think of it, and how respectful you are.” This emphasis on respect is reflected in her experiences with Confluir, a local NGO in Argentina devoted to acting as a legal and local intermediary between the people of the communities and the NGOs in the region. She describes how it was “also engaged in a larger conversation about poverty and education,” with a markedly greater sense of self-sufficiency and self-respect.

At the same time, it proved to be a challenge to her greater level of immersion into the community and culture. “I’ve never been in a position like that before, where I really felt I had to just trust people around me,” she says. “I didn’t really know anything about my surroundings, I was just trying to kind of plug in and work with them and do anything I could.”

She describes these opportunities as some of the most powerful in her life, and hopes to continue this encountering of new cultures and places this summer, potentially returning to Al-Quds University to foster more inter-student relationships between that university and ours. Whatever her future holds, it will surely be filled with more powerful experiences and conversations, helping and making her feel alive.

For more information about the Al Quds University/Brandeis University Partnership, please click here.

Filed Under: Africa, Ariana Hajmiragha, Authors, Europe, Israel, Latin America & the Caribbean, Middle East, Profiles, Regions, Students

Global Brandeis Profile: Noam Shuster ’11

March 30, 2011 By Ariana Leave a Comment

Noam Shuster '11

Majors: International and Global Studies; African American and African Studies

Minors: Theater; Peace and Coexistence Studies

Year of Graduation: 2011

Home region/country: Neve Shalom~Wahat Al Salam (Oasis of Peace), Israel

Previous Education: Primary school in Neveshalom, High school in Israel; New York Film Academy program in filmmaking

Clubs/Organizations on Campus: Slifka Coexistence Scholar, Sorensen Fellow, Social Justice WOW Fellow, Davis Project for Peace Fellow

“I really believe that we still have the power to change things, and really do things differently, and I’m really happy that Rwanda has been one of the teachers to help me go back and do things better.”

As a Slifka Coexistence Scholar hailing from an Israeli-Palestinian peace community in Israel, Noam Shuster has certainly taken advantage of the opportunities presented at Brandeis. For two summers, as a Sorensen Fellow and then a World-of-Work recipient, Noam has been involved with youth groups in Rwanda, particularly developing strong ties with Women’s Equity in Access to Care & Treatment, an organization that works to both empower and help treat women with HIV. Noam has worked to bolster summer youth programs, and with the Davis Peace funds she has received she plans on continuing that work in the summer to come, and possibly for even longer.

She eloquently explains, “HIV in Rwanda plays as this kind of legacy of genocide, because it was used against women, and with the stigma around it it’s very sensitive. In our program, we don’t only have children of women who were raped, we have children of perpetrators, and we have children who were born out of the rapes. It’s really healing on different dimensions. On the one hand we have this platform for them, so they have a place to express themselves, a place to play, a place to know that they are not alone, and have a place to know what their abilities are, and on the other hand there’s the post-genocide issue of kids of perpetrators, survivors, and this really reminds me of my work in Israel trying to bring the children of those that were hurt in a very real way.”

Having visited Brandeis in her sophomore year of high school with an Israeli-Palestinian peace delegation, she describes her experience both at Brandeis and in Rwanda as a voyage, saying that “this experience was really a journey for me, coming here as a sophomore with the Israeli-Palestinian delegation and hearing about the scholarship, and then becoming a scholar myself, and then through Brandeis resources like Sorensen and Davis to do this [work] in Rwanda. Sometimes its hard for me to digest, because it has been a journey in so many narratives.”

Healing from conflict is her passion, beginning with her work with youth in her home of Neveshalom. This ardor is what prompted her involvement in Rwanda: in fact, “Rwanda’s healing narrative from the genocide was something that I was very interested in, because I come from the Israeli narrative where we remember the Holocaust very, very differently from what I’ve seen in Kigali, Rwanda in general. Rwanda really opened a door to me to my home, and the way we deal with trauma back at home.”

Taking a very strong stance of mutual reciprocity in work, Noam describes how “it is a process, it is a long-term commitment I’ve made to Rwanda,” at the same time as “this work is only teaching me more and more what can be done in my home and in Rwanda.”

She believes strongly in her work towards future change for the better, saying “I am an example of a young generation that was educated differently, and was able to see that your homeland can actually have a different future with the other side that is called your enemy where we both can live in as two people.” She says, “I really believe that we still have the power to change things, and really do things differently, and I’m really happy that Rwanda has been one of the teachers to help me go back and do things better.”

This passion is part of who she is, and her plans for the future are to simply “keep on doing this advocacy work that will bridge between people, and really never stop doing that.” She emphasized the possibilities for students, both at Brandeis and in the world, saying “if students read this and are at the beginning of their Brandeis career, know that there is so much you can do … once you go out there you find out so many things about yourself, and what your abilities are.”

Update 10/18/2011: Read the Justice article about Noam’s presentation on 10/11/2011.

Filed Under: Africa, Ariana Hajmiragha, Authors, Israel, Middle East, Profiles, Regions, Students

Global Brandeis Profile: Katherine Wong ’13

March 23, 2011 By Marie Zazueta 6 Comments

Katherine Wong '13 with two kids whom she taught English to in Vietnam during Summer 2010

Major: B.A. in Psychology and East Asian Studies, minor in Business

Year of Graduation: 2013

Hometown: Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

Previous School: Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong

Clubs and Activities: Davis Scholar, Voices of Praise, ICC representative of the Mixed-Heritage Club, member of South East Asian Club, works at the Box Office and at Chum’s, Mentor in Boston with the organization Partner With Disabilities (since spring 2010), Research Assistant at University of Hong Kong, Associate at Children’s Hospital Boston (Communication Enhancement Center)

“I think being a global citizen means to be a friend of the world, to be open to all cultures and different cultural practices. You have to have perceptive. You should think independently, have your own voice and speak up when it’s necessary for justice and for bettering the world.”

From a very young age, Katherine Wong ’13 has had an interest in exploring many different cultures. Originally from Hong Kong, Katherine had the chance to travel abroad early in life, such as on family trips to Japan and language immersion summer programs in Beijing. A mix of cultures characterized her childhood. As she explains, “My upbringing was pretty westernized, but at the same time we preserved Chinese traditions.”

Additionally, Katherine spoke about the many, stark differences between Hong Kong and the rest of China, and how she has always been interested in exploring these disparities. Also, she has had a growing interest in Japan, especially since starting college at Brandeis. She explained how “by learning about Japanese, I can learn about my own culture indirectly.” As another powerful East Asian country, there are definitely similarities, but there are also many distinctions.

Although Katherine is already abroad for college as an international student, she wishes to study abroad in another country for the academic year 2011-2012. She plans on spending the first semester in London and the second in Tokyo. As she explains, “How I will truly learn about the culture is to go [abroad]. What we learn in school is to give us a heads up, but when you go abroad, you can truly experience the culture.”

Katherine chose to go to Brandeis because she wanted a liberal arts education that would allow her to explore many different fields of interest before deciding on one major. Since coming to Brandeis in the fall of 2009, Katherine has had the chance to discover her identity, taking aspects of U.S. culture that she likes and applying it to her everyday life. One example? The individualistic attitude many Americans have.

Katherine loves the passion that Brandeis students have for exploring other cultures. As she explained, “During Chinese festivals, I’ll bring traditional Chinese food and they’ll be so excited! Brandeis students are open to new cultures and that’s really exciting.”

When she started college, Katherine decided to combine her love of traveling with her wish to help out in places of need. She has done volunteer projects in Vietnam and Iceland with Volunteer for Peace. While in Vietnam, Katherine taught English to school-age children and in Iceland, she volunteered at a homeless shelter. Katherine hopes to do more volunteer work abroad and expressed interest in doing so in India.

At Brandeis, Katherine has been able to explore her interest in psychology. Her passion lies in speech acquisition and development in children. Her interest in foreign languages (she is studying Japanese now) has led to this discovery, as did her internship at Hong Kong University last summer, where she learned about speech development. Her dream is to one day become a speech-language pathologist.

Whether she’s at Brandeis, at home in Hong Kong, teaching English in Vietnam, or interning at a hospital in Boston, Katherine has certainly had the opportunity to explore her interests around the globe. No matter where her life takes her, Katherine will surely make an impact.

For more information about Volunteer for Peace’s international programs, please go to http://www.volunteerforpeace.org.

Filed Under: Authors, East Asia, Marie Zazueta, Profiles, Regions, Students

Global Brandeis Profile: Eve Markvardt ’13

March 17, 2011 By Ariana Leave a Comment

Eve Markvardt '13

Major/Year of Graduation: Anthropology, 2013

Home region/country: Born in Kaluga, Russia, and raised in Finland (high school in Helsinki)

Previous Education: United World College (2007-2009)

Clubs/Organizations on Campus: Davis Scholar, Community Advisor of Deroy in Massell Quad

“I think it’s very important to be self aware, and understand why you act the way you act. I think if people would stop often and think, they would continue with a different vision.”

From Russia, to Finland, to Canada, and finally to the USA, Eve Markvardt has found the freedom to be who she wants to be and her passion in the field of anthropology. Exposed to the subject in high school, she says “I took anthropology as an IB subject, and I just fell in love with it, because I think it reflects so many questions I have about the world, and just trying to understand different people, how they interact, and how they don’t understand each other and why they will never understand each other.”

Anthropology seems to have been a part of her life from a very early on, having moved from Russia to Finland at the age of ten, bringing an exposure to very different cultures and the difficulties that lie in navigating between them. She embraces this identity, saying “myself, I think I identify almost as both,” explaining, “my family’s very Russian…but at the same time, my schooling was mostly in Finland, over the conscious years of my life after I was ten.”

Continuing from this multicultural beginning, during high school Eve applied to the United World College, and in 2007 moved to Vancouver Island, Canada. “I think it’s great to be exposed to different communities. That’s something I experienced at the UWC,” she says. “In my first year my roommates were from Malaysia, Argentina, Canada, and Aruba, and then I roomed with someone from Brazil, so you get exposed to so many different viewpoints.”

Eve in Helsinki Senate Square in 2009

Describing herself as “a very reflective person,” she depicts living in Canada and the US as being marked by a sense of liberation. She explains, “when I arrived in Canada I got this huge feeling of freedom, and it still continues when I am here. It’s freedom to be whoever you want to be; because when I was in Finland I was always the Russian, and when I go to Russia I am always the Finnish girl, so I never really am the thing in the place I am.” She thinks about her identity, and actions, a great deal; as she explains, “I think it’s very important to be self aware, and understand why you act the way you act. I think if people would stop often and think, they would continue with a different vision.”

What really comes through about Eve is her incredible open-mindedness and optimism. Seeing the best in everything, she describes first coming to Brandeis: “being at Brandeis felt very not diverse at first. It was like, whoa, everyone is American; and even though Brandeis says it has such a big percentage of international students, it felt like nothing to me. But you do find a different kind of diversity, the more you stay here and the more you interact with people, and I think I really enjoy that.” Smiling and open, she looks forward to the future with hope and excitement, bringing an anthropological perspective with her.

Filed Under: Ariana Hajmiragha, Authors, Blogs, Europe, Profiles, Regions, Students

IBS Alumni Spotlight: Boris Vilidnitsky MSF ’09

March 7, 2011 By globalaffairs Leave a Comment

This profile is reposted, by permission, from the International Business School. Click here to read the original profile.

Boris Vilidnitsky MSF '09

Investing in the future

Degree/Year of Graduation: Master of Science in Finance 2009

Current employment: Investment Associate – Emerging Markets Equity, Putnam Investments

Previous experience: Goldman Sachs, Boston Digital Ventures

“I felt prepared coming into this job but the learning curve is still steep… I’m open to any opportunities that arise, and I am excited to see what happens next.”

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March 1, 2011 WALTHAM, Mass. - When Boris Vilidnitsky MSF ‘09 thinks back on his student days at Brandeis International Business School, his most vivid memories are of a class he took on credit risk with Professor Ed Bayone.

“My classmates and I used to spend hours debating his assignments: parsing his words, analyzing every little detail,” says Vilidnitsky, who was born in Kazakhstan and grew up in Israel. “And when we’d dissect a case study in his class, you really had to be on top of your game. He would cold-call on us; you couldn’t mumble or hesitate, you had to be a sharpshooter. He really pushed us to think creatively, and to defend our position with facts and confidence.”

At the time, those cold call exercises were excruciating, but they have come in handy for Vilidnitsky, who is now a first year associate at Putnam Investments in Boston. His job involves evaluating stocks in emerging markets such as China, Russia, Indonesia, and Brazil, and then making buy and sell recommendations to demanding, time-crunched portfolio managers. “All day long I talk to company management teams and busy fund managers,” he says. “My job requires me to get straight to the point, and to make that point succinctly. I learned how to do that in Professor Bayone’s class.”

Having previously worked at Goldman Sachs, the New York investment bank, he says he appreciated that many of his Brandeis professors had decades of real world working experience. “As much as I value learning about theory, I also really want to know the practical side,” he says, making special mention of a class on financial modeling taught by Alfonso Canella, a Senior Lecturer at the school. “His industry experience shined throughout the class. He taught us how to value a company when numbers don’t tell you the whole story. He forced us to push aside our assumptions, and ask: what are the numbers not telling us?”

Vilidnitsky says he uses strategies he learned in that class every day on the job. “Financial reporting in emerging markets countries is not very comprehensive, and many times, companies include numbers you can’t trust. Professor Canella taught me the ability to analyze companies with very limited information when numbers don’t tell the whole story. I still consult him to this day.”

Vilidnitsky has already experienced success at Putnam: Since September of 2010, he independently evaluated more than 30 initial public offerings in developing markets resulting in several million dollars of profit for the company. In addition, the portfolio manager he supports was in the top 30% performance in Asia ex-Japan funds last year.

At this point in his career, Vilidnitsky says he plans to stay in asset management, and perhaps do an overseas posting. “I felt prepared coming into this job but the learning curve is still steep: I’m trying to uncover the next Amazon.com and Google – that’s not easy to do,” he says. “I’m open to any opportunities that arise, and I am excited to see what happens next.”

Filed Under: Middle East, Profiles

Global Brandeis Profile: Irene Cocovi-Mensah, M.A. ’11

February 28, 2011 By shelbyb 5 Comments

Program: Sustainable International Development, Heller School for Social Policy and Management

Graduation: May 2011

Hometown: Cotonou, Benin Republic (West Africa)

Previous Education: Come District High School, Benin
University of Abomey Calavi, Benin (degree in Agronomic Science)

Brandeis Clubs and Organizations: African Forum, Fitness Club

“I am sure that my experiences at Brandeis have shaped my leadership skills and will undoubtedly help me to achieve my goal: inspiring other young people to work together and lead in the development of Africa.”

What was it like growing up for you?

I grew up in a middle class polygamous family, and was taught to uphold values inculcated by my father. Discipline, hard work and faith in achievement are the values that my dad gave to me. The foremost among the values was his constant claim that nothing is for free in life and there is no easy way that is effective – so he deeply inculcated in us the importance of hard work, perseverance, use of failure as a new energy and the guiding light of prayer. I believe that it is these values ingrained in me since childhood that shapes my life and defines my goals. Hence, all the successes I’ve achieved to date and all aspirations I will meet in the future will be fueled by these core values that I take with me wherever I go.

Irene at the Africa Business Initiative, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Why did you decide to attend school in the US?

Subsequent to my bachelors degree I joined a research organization that conducted evaluations and research on macro-economic policies and poverty reduction programs implemented by the Government of Benin. This was a research network branching out all over the continent of Africa, reaching to Latin America, Canada and Asia. Annual conferences are held in different locations and during my tenure I had the opportunity of attending such a conference in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2005. Despite my expertise in research and the knowledge I wanted to share at the conference, an unexpected constraint I faced was my ineptitude of English language. While I had always wanted to pursue graduate studies in a western academic setting, I had looked at countries where French was either the national language or there were dual language policies. However, because of my encounter at the Hanoi conference, I was determined to go to a country where the medium of learning and communicating would be English.

Why did you decide to attend Brandeis?

My decision to select Brandeis was shaped by two individuals that visited The Hunger Project I was working with in 2007. Their visits were at two different points in time, however I had the occasion to work closely with them to design a monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the project. I was impressed and in awe of the knowledge and skills they brought into the discussion and on further inquiry wad told that they’ve followed the Sustainable International Development program at the Heller School of Brandeis University. I was granted admission in 2008, however due to funding requirement I deferred till I received a Fulbright Scholarship in 2009.

President Barack Obama listens to a question during a town hall-style meeting with young African leaders, Aug. 3, 2010.

Tell me about the President’s Forum with Young African Leaders. Why were you chosen to participate, and what was your experience like?

I was selected for the Forum because of leadership role I have played in my country by creating the African Girls and Women Empowerment Program (AGWEP). The role of the AGWEP is to empower rural women through training and micro-finance and to ensure that girls in rural areas remain in school. The uniqueness of the program is that it uses a social entrepreneurship approach.

Words cannot describe the experience I went through and the overwhelming emotions I felt to be before President Obama. To a majority of Africans like me he is more than the American President: he is a legend in the eyes of Africa. My belief is that if Obama has been elected President of the USA, everything is possible in life. Africa could be developed, but Africans have to be conscious that they are the key actors of this development. I never anticipated that I would have the privilege of meeting political figures and leaders that I’ve only read of in books, magazines and seen on television. The opportunity to see, meet and listen to figures like Hillary Clinton, Johnnie Carson, and President Obama will remain a lifetime experience with me. We met several chiefs of multi-national companies, funders of development in Africa and representatives from IFIs like the World Bank and the IMF. There were 120 participants who represented all 53 countries in the African continent.

What global issues are of the greatest importance/value to you?

Irene and a colleague at the Peace Corps Headquaters

Conflict and food security. Since the end of the cold war there has been a rise of internal conflicts within national boundaries which are primarily taking place in developing countries. This factor perpetuates already existing socio-economic setbacks within these societies. Without eradicating the causes of social unrest and economic manipulations that create most of these conflicts it is futile to attempt sustainable change.

Food security is a pertinent issue in all developing countries. Existing economic and market inequalities are primarily contributing factors to this growing issue. In the meantime, present day predictions and discourse on climate change is an imminent contributor to this issue. While the issue of food security in developing countries is complex, it is one that should be given prominent and committed attention by designated stakeholders.

How does your classwork reinforce what you learned at the conference and out in the world?

I have found the SID program to be fantastic. It opens my eyes and increases my understanding of development issues. It reinforces my knowledge and perceptions that development should be community owned and community driven in order to be durable, possible and sustained. Economic growth is important sure, but it is not sufficient. A holistic approach to development should encompass the discovery of personal capabilities and the realization of capabilities of a community as a whole to identify their version/idea of development. Ideally national goals should align with those aspirations of communities within the boundaries of a country. Where national goals reach out to meet a wider global paradigm, the communities of a country gets ignored and lost within the system.

Which one specific memory/moment sticks out in your mind the most (in regards to your global experiences), and why?

There was one incident that I will carry with me throughout life. I had the opportunity of facilitating a training and grant opportunity to a woman from back home in my country. While almost ten thousand received the same training and grant through our program, this particular woman stood out because of her commitment, perseverance and die-hard belief in herself. She succeeded in changing her life, those of her family and her whole community. I realized that this individual represented values that could be found and is evidently present anywhere in the world – what people need are opportunities and a strong sense of confidence in themselves.

Irene at the US State Department Headquarters

What are your plans for the future?

Since the Obama Forum we (the participants) have been maintaining communication and took our inspirations further by establishing a Young African Leaders Association of which I am on the Executive Committee. As part of my commitment to the development of Africa and the development of my own country, I created the Young Beninise Leaders Association. I have been invited by the government of Benin to participate in the design of the next five year strategic plan for the republic in November 2011.

Is there anything else that you would like to mention that we didn’t cover yet?

I would like to state that Brandeis gives me the opportunity and drive to reach my goals. I have learned a lot about international development at Brandeis, but more importantly, I have learned that there is not a one straight answer. There is what the best is for each community and what people really want to do. In this way, change will start from a community and will be durable.

I would like to take this occasion to say a special thank to all those exceptional people I have meet on my path and whose generosity has allowed me to reach my goal and to keep dreaming.

Filed Under: Africa, Authors, Profiles, Regions, Shelby Bleiweis, Staff

IBS Alumni Spotlight: Ari Alushaj MSF ’10

February 4, 2011 By globalaffairs Leave a Comment

This article was re-posted by permission of the International Business School. You may view the original profile here.

Ari Alushaj MSF ’10

Global education, global career

Masters of Science in Finance 2010

Current employment: Bank of New York Mellon, Corporate Action Global Custody Specialist

Previous work experience: Investors Bank and Trust

“I always looked forward to class – spending time with my fellow students and hearing lectures from amazing Brandeis professors. It was such a stimulating environment.”

February 1, 2011 WALTHAM, Mass. - As a Global Custody Specialist at Bank of New York Mellon, Ari Alushaj MSF ’10 is responsible for managing and controlling high levels of risk and liability for the bank’s clients in over 65 markets around the world. Every day, she helps oversee cash and security transactions worth millions of dollars in foreign currency.

“It’s a challenging job, but two years ago I decided I wanted to give my career a boost, so I started to look into graduate school,” she says. “I wanted a program that was globally focused, had a rigorous curriculum, and would enable me to go to school but still work fulltime.”

The Master of Science in Finance degree at Brandeis International Business School was an ideal match. Alushaj admits that balancing graduate studies with her grueling work schedule wasn’t always easy. “But it was well worth it,” she says. “I always looked forward to class – spending time with my fellow students and hearing lectures from amazing Brandeis professors. It was such a stimulating environment.”

For Alushaj, who was born in Albania and moved to the U.S. as a teenager, the highlight of the program was the diverse and international student body. “We’d dissect a case and there was always someone in the class who had done the kind of work we were discussing who could give the rest of the class a first-hand account of how things happen in reality,” she says. “One day in a class on corporate governance, we talked about the financial fraud case at Parmalat, the Italian food and dairy company. There were students in the class from Italy who had grown up with the company. They understood why it collapsed – they lived it – and they helped give the rest of us context. It made business and finance come alive.”

The program’s emphasis on teamwork has also served her well. “A lot of your professional success is determined by how well you work with others,” she says. “At IBS, we did many group projects where we had to learn how to merge different work styles to get the job done. We had to learn to work as a team, and take advantage of the fact that we all bring different strengths and perspectives to the table. That’s exactly the way it is in the real world.”

She is confident the network she created at IBS will be of great benefit to her career. “The contacts I made at IBS – both students and professors – have been so supportive in helping me plot my next big career move,” she says. “Since I graduated, a number of exciting professional opportunities have cropped up. My plan is to stay with my current company for a while longer, but eventually I’d like to work abroad at a global financial services or legal company.”

Filed Under: Europe, Profiles, Regions

Global Brandeis Profile: Brenda Gael McSweeney

January 7, 2011 By globalaffairs Leave a Comment

Brenda Gael McSweeney

Nationalities: United States, Ireland

Education: Ph.D., Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy; M.A., Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy; B.A., Smith College

Areas of Expertise: Gender and International Development; Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Issues in West Africa and India; Poverty Eradication

Course Taught: HS 283f: Gender and Development

Website: www.gaels.net

Brenda Gael McSweeney served with the United Nations for thirty years in leadership positions. In Burkina Faso she oversaw UN Development Programme (UNDP) activities and carried out action research on women and development. After three years in policy at UNDP’s New York Headquarters, Dr. McSweeney headed the United Nations in Jamaica and The Bahamas, and UNDP cooperation with the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman and Bermuda. She led the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program as Executive Coordinator with oversight of 4,000 UNV specialists from over 130 countries engaged in grassroots development, humanitarian activities and peace-building worldwide. She served as UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative until mid-2003 in India, where the Government designated gender equality as the UN focal theme.

McSweeney at Boston University

Brenda was a Fulbright Scholar in Paris, and the recipient of prestigious awards from the Governments of Jamaica, Burkina, and Germany, also from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She teaches gender and international development at Boston University’s Women’s Studies Program. She serves on the Advisory Board of UNDP’s Regional Programme for Africa, leads a UNESCO/UNITWIN (University Twinning) on Gender, Culture and Development with Indian universities and NGOs, and launched a Women’s History Group in her Boston community.

Brenda currently manages Women’s History Initiatives in Boston, Burkina Faso and India. She is analyzing the impact of technology on workloads and female education in Burkina, and livelihoods programs in India. She is a “gender mainstreaming activist,” teaching Gender and Development. She is affiliated with the Sustainable International Development program at Brandeis’ Heller School for Social Policy and Management.

Update (January 2011): Brenda traveled to India and was the Chief Guest at an International Seminar on Gender Equality in Patiala, Punjab. While there, she updated her gender case study in Shantiniketan, West Bengal with Krishno Dey and Chandana Dey. This has just been e-published on UNESCO’s UNITWIN website. Her next adventure will be a WSRC research initiative in Ireland.

Update (May 2011): Brenda, in her capacity as initiator and  Co-Coordinator of the UNESCO/UNITWIN Network on  Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development, has  been invited to become a member of the Advisory Board of the  newly-created Global Network of UNESCO Chairs  on Gender!

Representative Publications

McSweeney, Brenda Gael, ed. “Another Side of India: Gender, Culture, and Development.” Paris: UNESCO, 2008.

McSweeney, Brenda Gael, ed. “Women’s History Initiatives.” Paris: UNESCO, 2010.

For More Information

Curriculum Vitae

Boston University Faculty Web Page

UNESCO/UNITWIN on Gender, Culture and Development

Burkina Faso: Gender Equality

This information was re-posted by permission from the Women’s Studies Research Center. The original profile can be viewed here.

Filed Under: Africa, India, Profiles, Regions, South Asia