Abroad Magazine looking for stories about the Peace Corps
ABROAD VIEW magazine's spring 2005 Closer Look section will focus on "The Peace Corps Experience." We are looking for articles from recent college graduates or graduate students who are currently enrolled in the Peace Corps or who have completed their assignments within the past few years. Articles should be honest and engaging, with the purpose of giving prospective volunteers an inside look at the Peace Corps. We are also seeking captivating, top-quality photos for the magazine.
While we encourage the submission of strong narrative and anecdotal pieces first and foremost, since Peace Corps volunteers' experiences vary greatly and each volunteer has a unique work and living situation, we have suggested the following topics. Please choose one (or a few, if applicable) as a focus for your article.
Suggested Topics and Questions to Explore:
1. Applying to the Peace Corps. Consider the process of applying and going through the clearances. Tell us about your experience of the waiting period and deciding where you really wanted to go? What tips and advice would you have for others? Short anecdotes about applying and clearing are preferred, rather than full-length articles.
2. Not getting the assignment of your choice. How did you respond to this and how did it work out for you?
3. Preparing for your Peace Corps assignment. Once you were accepted, what practical and philosophical steps followed? Did you find yourself soul searching on how you would approach aid work and what axioms you would follow? Did you consider what you expected to give or gain through the experience or topics such as cultural imperialism? On the lighter side, for a sidebar, we would like to know what you wished you had taken and what you would recommend bringing both for yourself and for your host community.
4. Culture Clashes. Given their inevitability, we'd like to know how you dealt with a particular or ongoing culture clash?
5. Physical or Other Challenges. What were some of the environmental or practical differences and/or difficulties that you experienced? How did they affect your experience and how did you handle them?
6. Cultural Integration. How did a 2-year assignment in one area help you to immerse yourself in and forge deep ties to your host community? What festivities, traditions, bonding, and participation in daily activities were made possible by your long-term presence and commitment?
7. Location-Based Experience. How did being in a rural versus an urban environment shape your experience? We are seeking both perspectives, as well as the perspective of a more modern/Western experience versus a non-Western experience.
8. Types of Work. We are seeking an article for each of the following types of Peace Corps work experiences:
* Education, Youth Outreach, and Community (includes teaching English)
* Business Development
* Environment
* Agriculture
* Health HIV/Aids
* Information Technology
9. Impact of Peace Corps on Character. How did your Peace Corps experience shape your idea of how you are a citizen in the world? What values did you get from it? What lessons will you carry forward?
10. Peace Corps Impact on Career. How did your Peace Corps experience change or further your career goals? How has it shaped or influenced your subsequent career?
Articles should be 800-1400 words and offer personal perspectives on the Peace Corps experience from the topics listed above or other areas. In addition to full-length articles, we also encourage the submission of brief testimonials and quotations from current or former Peace Corps volunteers. You should also feel free to contribute any resource suggestions for prospective volunteers who want to learn about or prepare for their Peace Corps assignment.
We appreciate your participation, as these articles will be extremely valuable to students and recent graduates looking to make Peace Corps part of their intercultural education.
All submissions are due by November 1, 2004. Earlier submissions are appreciated as articles are reviewed on a rolling basis. Email articles to editors@abroadviewmagazine.com. If you have any questions, please visit our web site at www.abroadviewmagazine.com <http://www.abroadviewmagazine.com/> , send an email to editors@abroadviewmagazine.com. or call 802-442-4827. Compensation for published articles is $25 and up to 10 contributor's copies, full credit is given to authors, and authors retain the ownership of their articles.
Coordinating this section are Mary Catherine Maxwell, senior editor for Abroad View, and Doug Reilly, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Slovakia, an Abroad View Editorial Board member, and the Assistant Director for The Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Union College Partnership for Global Education.
