2009.07.10: July 10, 2009: Headlines: COS - Kazakhstan: DePauw University: Jessica L. Howard is heading abroad for service in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan
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2009.07.10: July 10, 2009: Headlines: COS - Kazakhstan: DePauw University: Jessica L. Howard is heading abroad for service in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan
Jessica L. Howard is heading abroad for service in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan
"Many of my professors at DePauw have been very supportive of my plans, but just as importantly, encouraged me to think critically about my goals, the Peace Corps' goals and the very concept of ‘development.' Even as I begin to pack for Kazakhstan, I haven't forgotten [Assistant Professor of Anthropology] Mona Bhan's calls to ‘reframe the problem' in Anthropology of Development, [Assistant Professor of Political Science] Smita Rahman's lecture on ‘traveling as a political act' in Muslim Political Thought, or [Associate Professor of Classical Studies] Pedar Foss's teaching of The Odyssey in my first-year seminar, Ancient Journeys. Many DePauw faculty and staff members have helped me understand that the Peace Corps is not only consistent with a liberal arts education, but also a future in education, international affairs, law, academia or whatever direction I decide to take."
Jessica L. Howard is heading abroad for service in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan
Jessica Howard '09 and Linnea Zielinski '09
Jessica L. Howard and Linnea V. Zielinski are two members of the recently graduated Class of 2009 heading abroad for service in the Peace Corps. Their two-year assignments will be spent in Kazakhstan and Ukraine, respectively, on trips that they look forward to as part of their ongoing education.
peacecorps_howard.jpgHoward begins her two-year term in Kazakhstan in August, performing a number of duties - grant-writing, tutoring her colleagues in English and assessing organizational needs - with the Peace Corps' Organizational and Community Assistance Program, which promotes long-term infrastructure development and sustainable growth in the country.
"I've wanted to join the Peace Corps since sixth grade, when a returned volunteer came and spoke on a career day at my school," she says. "I had visions of traveling, learning new languages and basically saving the world. Needless to say, the world looks very different to me now, and I recognize that it is in many ways more complicated than I can understand; yet I still feel drawn to the Peace Corps and its mission of cultural exchange. I will be traveling in remote territories - after all, Kazakhstan is one of the least-populated countries on earth - as well as studying Russian and Kazakh, but I know now that my responsibility isn't to ‘save the world' as much as to be a student of the world."
Howard's undergraduate experiences prepared her well for her Peace Corps role. While at DePauw, she spent a semester abroad in Cairo, an opportunity she says changed her perspective of what it means to be American. The following summer, Howard worked as an intern with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Jerusalem, through connections with Karen Koning AbuZayd, the agency's commissioner-general and 1963 DePauw graduate, an experience which later became the basis of her senior Honor Scholar thesis.
"Many of my professors at DePauw have been very supportive of my plans, but just as importantly, encouraged me to think critically about my goals, the Peace Corps' goals and the very concept of ‘development.' Even as I begin to pack for Kazakhstan, I haven't forgotten [Assistant Professor of Anthropology] Mona Bhan's calls to ‘reframe the problem' in Anthropology of Development, [Assistant Professor of Political Science] Smita Rahman's lecture on ‘traveling as a political act' in Muslim Political Thought, or [Associate Professor of Classical Studies] Pedar Foss's teaching of The Odyssey in my first-year seminar, Ancient Journeys. Many DePauw faculty and staff members have helped me understand that the Peace Corps is not only consistent with a liberal arts education, but also a future in education, international affairs, law, academia or whatever direction I decide to take."
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: July, 2009; Peace Corps Kazakhstan; Directory of Kazakhstan RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Kazakhstan RPCVs
When this story was posted in August 2009, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez. |
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Story Source: DePauw University
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Kazakhstan
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