Decision Time!

Hello, readers -

While I think my time management skills have improved since fall quarter, my blogging appearances have been pretty woeful. I’ll try to make up for that as you’re all embarking upon an important decision! Let me offer my congratulations to those of you who have been offered a place at the Josef Korbel School.

It’s the beginning of spring quarter and I’m feeling reinvigorated, if a little shell shocked from what proved to be a VERY short spring break! I spent my week of freedom working and finishing up a final paper. I did manage to hit the slopes for some sunny spring skiing a few times, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

The end of last quarter was a little rough. I had to make an unexpected trip home and ended up missing most of DU and the Denver Peace Corps Community’s Anniversary Week events. From all reports, though, it sounds like everything went off well – a brunch for returned volunteers, panel discussions, a photo exhibition. It’s really amazing to be among such a vibrant community of returned and future volunteers!

Previously, I promised to discuss my choice to become a Peace Corps Fellow at the Josef Korbel School, so here’s a quick take on my decision and subsequent impression of the Peace Corps Fellows Program. I decided on the Josef Korbel School for the following reasons:

• A specific human rights degree and renowned human rights professors
• Reputation (I worked in the human rights field in DC and the school’s name carries weight there – enough said!)
• The Peace Corps Fellows Program (the PC community, 18 credits off the degree requirement, language requirement waived, and the knowledge that my classes would include like-minded folks with similar professional/practical experiences)
• Location (I grew up on the east coast and spent 3+ years in DC, but I was ready for a change of pace in an environment where I could focus specifically on my studies, while still taking advantage of amazing internship and networking experiences. And, to be totally honest, the proximity to the mountains and tons of opportunities to get outdoors weighed significantly, as well!)

So that’s my decision in a nutshell. The Peace Corps Fellows Program and PC Community have not disappointed. Some of my closest friends at Josef Korbel are RPCVs – we possess that peculiar, particular bond that only another RPCV can understand. Many of us share not only the PC experience, but similar post-Peace Corps professional experiences – the fodder for fruitful discussions and for framing our education in a very practical, experience-oriented context, which I contend is so very important at the graduate level.

So that’s my decision in brief summary. I’ll be a student volunteer at Discover Korbel in two weeks, so for those of you who will be there, come with questions and seek me out!

Best of luck with your decision!

‘Til next time,

Chrissy (PC Fellow, MA Int’l Human Rights)

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Democracy and Africa

Greetings, Readers -

I know I said that I’d talk about my take on the Peace Corps Fellows program in my next post, but Egypt and Africa are heavy on my mind as I sit in my favorite neighborhood coffee shop working on a paper for my “Democratization in Africa” course with Professor Tim Sisk. Watching the people’s revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt unfold has been an incredible experience, particularly in my current academic context. Professor Sisk has done a phenomenal job of shedding light on the complexities of democratic transition and democratization processes, which has been invaluable in assessing contemporary African history as it unfolds. The course  combines the study of democratic theory with the investigation of case studies and democratic assessment tools employed by institutions like the United Nations Development Program and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Our course assignments are practical in nature, including a topic analysis investigating a particular element of democracy assessment (in my case, looking at human rights indicators), a current event analysis, and a capstone project on the application of topic-specific democracy assessment tools to the current event/case study that we’ve chosen.

I’m currently working on the current event analysis, having chosen the fall 2010 elections in Côte d’Ivoire and resulting human rights abuses as my case study. I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire’s neighbor to the northeast, and traveled to Côte d’Ivoire during my time in West Africa, so this case study is of particular interest and meaning. Considered the model of stability and economic growth in post-independence W. Africa, Côte d’Ivoire has been mired in conflict since 2002, largely hinging on ethnic and religious divisions instigated by political elites and inequality of economic opportunity. It’s pretty amazing to consider how my ability to critically analyze current events has evolved and deepened since my time in Peace Corps, when the realities and political histories of African countries seemed overwhelming in their complexity.

Regarding Egypt and Tunisia, it’s been interesting to contrast Western reporting with robust non-Western news sources like Al Jazeera, that often have a very different take on events as they unfold. An increasing familiarity with African democratization case studies like South Africa and Nigeria allows for a more nuanced analysis of issues like Egypt’s transition to military rule, the role of Western powers and the United Nations, and the nature of respective social movements.

I can’t help but reflect often on what a privilege it is to learn from such talented faculty (who are applying academia practically in such interesting and important ways). Grad school has thus far proven to both make the world seem more comprehensible and more complex. Happily, coming to the end of quarter two of my first year, the connections between disciplines ideas are gradually becoming elucidated.

Now that I’ve rambled sufficiently, thanks for reading!

‘Til next time,

Chrissy (Peace Corps Fellow/MA Int’l Human Rights)

A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough — But a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect its character; we cannot alter its inevitability.

Robert F. Kennedy, Speech in the United States Senate (9 May 1966)

Peace Corps Fellows at the Josef Korbel School: The Dirt

Hello, Readers!

Apologies again for the absence – too much studying and skiing! I promise to update more regularly now that decision time is right around the corner.

I guess it’s about time to get into the nitty gritty of the Peace Corps Fellows Program at the Josef Korbel School. As I mentioned before, the PC Fellows Program helped tip the scale for me when it came time to choose a graduate program. The benefits, in a nutshell:

• 18 credits waived for any of the M.A. programs, so PC Fellows are required to complete 72 credit hours, which can be done in 5 quarters, 4 if you’re super motivated and prepared to take on a heavy course load.
• Language proficiency requirement is waived.
• Internship requirement is waived.
• Field practicum – PC Fellows spend 150 hours bringing their Peace Corps skills to bear in the local/U.S. community. The fantastic folks at Korbel’s Office of Career Services help PC Fellows to identify the perfect opportunity.
• Membership in DU’s robust and generally awesome Peace Corps. Community (check out the calendar for details on upcoming Peace Corps 50th Anniversary activities).
• A cohort that includes a ton of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) – it’s pretty great to know that you’ll likely have at least a few other RPCVs in any given class. We all know the profoundly formative, perspective-shaping experience that Peace Corps constitutes, and it’s great to see that demonstrated by the contribution of RPCVs in the classroom.

That, in brief, is what’s so great about being a part of Peace Corps Fellows. Look for a more personal take on the PC Fellows experience in my next entry.

‘Til then,

Chrissy (PC Fellow/1st Year MA Int’l Human Rights/Associate, Human Trafficking Clinic)

“Fixing and helping create a distance between people but we cannot serve at a distance. We can only serve that to which we are profoundly connected.”

Rachel Naomi Remen

A New Year and a New Quarter!

Hello, readers!

First, my apologies for the long absence. 5 weeks of winter break have come and gone and we’ve begun the first week of winter quarter. It was great to have some time to breath, enjoy Denver, spend some time at home back east with family and friends, and return to Korbel reenergized!

The end of the fall quarter went by in a haze of final papers and exams. Having taken a five-year hiatus from school, the first round of finals were a bit of a shock to the system. Happily, they went well, and I now feel fully equipped to tackle four more quarters of grad school!

This quarter I’ll take 15 credits (3 classes) including International Political Theory, Democratization in Africa, and Statistical Methods II. I’m really excited to take a course focused on Africa, as I did my Peace Corps service in Burkina Faso and feel a significant attachment and particular interest in issues pertaining to the continent. I’m hoping that the course will help me determine whether to pursue a regional concentration – a possibility I’ve toyed with since starting classes in the fall.

In addition to courses, this quarter I’ll start research as an Associate with DU’s Human Trafficking Clinic. The HTC is a unique institution among Int’l Studies graduate programs, partnering with various NGOs, private sector entities, and governmental agencies to conduct professional research, writing, and educational outreach on human trafficking, forced labor, and modern day slavery. Every year, a group of new associates are chosen from an increasingly large pool of applicants to serve as Associates for the entirety of their graduate school career. In addition to the Peace Corps Fellows Program, the HTC was a major reason that I chose to attend DU.

During the fall quarter, I took HTC Director Claude d’Estree’s course on Contemporary Slavery and Human Trafficking. The subject of my final research paper was an investigation of the relationship between caste discrimination and debt bonded labor in South Asia (this population constitutes the largest enslaved group in the world). I was able to piggyback off of a literature review of 30 sources on caste discrimination that I produced for a methodology course on Human Rights Research and Writing–a wonderful and particularly useful marriage of endeavors!

After I completed my Peace Corps service in 2008, I spent three months backpacking through South Asia. In retrospect, it’s amazing to consider that modern day slavery was literally staring me in the face constantly as I traveled through India and Nepal, articulated in millenia-old practices and norms. If I’d only known then what I know now…

Well, I’ve managed to digress well enough and hope that it’s been useful. I’ll get into the nitty gritty of the Peace Corps Fellows Program at the Josef Korbel School in my next post.

‘Til then, thanks for reading!

Chrissy (PC Fellow/MA Int’l Human Rights)

http://www.du.edu/korbel/

“To understand just one life you have to swallow the world.”

Salman Rushdie

Hello readers!

I’m a first-year MA candidate in International Human Rights and a Peace Corps Fellow at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. I’ll be blogging throughout my time at the Josef Korbel School, in the hope of providing useful information on the PC Fellows program. I’ll start with a brief introduction to give you a handle on who I am and how I ended up at DU’s Josef Korbel School.

It all began during my senior year at Colgate University. As I watched friends start on-campus interviewing and started to think seriously about what the heck I would do with my fancy poli sci degree upon graduation, I began to realize that I wanted to take my undergraduate education on the road–to see a little more of the world. That meant getting off the beaten bath. Studying abroad in London for a semester had planted a seed–a love of travel and the experience of exploring a foreign place, and a profound desire to do and know more. Wandering through the palazzos of Rome, visiting WWI battefields in western Europe, and sifting through archives in the British Library were all incredible experiences during my time abroad, but particularly affecting was a trip my group took to Northern Ireland. There, for the first time, I was briefly face-to-face with the reality of conflict…a reality so utterly opposite of anything I had ever known. The experience raised a lot of questions which, along with the travel bug I returned home with, prompted me to apply to join the Peace Corps.

After a year of internships in Washington, DC–where I put my poli sci degree to good use–I boarded a plane and landed two days later in the sweltry West African heat of Burkina Faso. Touching down onto an entirely foreign landscape was simultaneously terrifying and thrilling. Twenty-seven months later, I was indelibly changed–stronger, wiser, more confident, a little jaded, and deeply determined to pursue a career that would allow me to be part of something positive. I didn’t suffer from delusions of grandeur, I just knew that I’d seen and experienced too much to be content doing anything other than trying to foster positive change.

After three months of travel through India and Nepal, I headed home for the holidays and subsequently packed my bags again, this time for DC. After two months of the job search, I began working with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights, a phenomenal organization founded as a living memorial to RFK after his assassination. The RFK Center partners with grassroots activists from countries across the globe who work tirelessly on the ground to precipitate social change. In my capacity as program assistant, I was privileged to work with a host of amazing human rights defenders, from a Darfuri doctor who treated victims of rape and torture during the genocide, to one of Chad’s seven female lawyers, to a fierce Saharawi activist who spent 7 years enduring torture in a Moroccan jail, to the incredible women of WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise)-a civil society organization in Zimbabwe dedicated to advocating for the basic needs of Zimbabweans.

The year and a half I spent with the RFK Center provided a whirlwind introduction to the field of human rights. Soon after I started, I realized how desperately I needed a solid academic foundation in human rights. This led me to explore a host of graduate programs, eventually finding a perfect fit in the Josef Korbel School’s Peace Corps Fellows Program and the MA in International Human Rights.

I’ll talk more about what led me to the Josef Korbel School in my next post.

‘Til then, thanks for reading!

Chrissy (PC Fellow/MA Int’l Human Rights)

http://www.du.edu/korbel/

Any schoolboy can do experiments in the physics laboratory to test various scientific hypotheses. But man, because he has only one life to live, cannot conduct experiments to test whether to follow his passion (compassion) or not.

Milan Kundera, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”