Eleven Clark University undergraduate students were recently named Steinbrecher Fellows; all will undertake projects this summer and during the 2011-2012 academic year. The Steinbrecher Fellowship Program was established in 2006 to encourage and support Clark undergraduates’ pursuit of original ideas, creative research, and community service projects.
The 2011-2012 Steinbrecher Fellows and their projects are:
Harrison Bass ’13 will spend the summer doing an internship with the Brooklyn Food Coalition and volunteering at the Brooklyn Rescue Mission Food Pantry. His work with the Food Coalition will include helping with the community farm and farmers’ market in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Bass is a geography major.
Agnes Beckmann ’12 will travel to Nepal to work in an orphanage in Kathmandu as a volunteer with the non-profit organization ProWorld Service Corps. During her stay in Nepal, Beckmann will take photographs of the landscape and of the people of Nepal. Upon her return to Clark this fall, she will create a photographic exhibit to share her impressions of Nepal and her knowledge of the culture and landscape of this war-torn country in the Himalayan Mountains. Beckmann majors in psychology.
“The 11 students whose proposals were selected conveyed their excitement about the prospect of pursuing their projects and convinced us that they will take full advantage of the extraordinary opportunities for learning and for ‘doing good’ that these wonderful fellowships will make possible.”
— Professor Sharon Krefetz
Ngoc Bui ’13 will do an internship with the Directors of the Urban Upgrading Microfinance Research Projects in Nam Dinh and Hai Phong, Viet Nam. The projects, which are supported by grants from the World Bank, will provide Bui with the opportunity to do research aimed at helping non-profit organizations “on the ground” develop ways of improving conditions in their cities. Bui is an economics major.
Alison Canino ’12 and Kathleen Dolan ’12 will spend the summer at Lakota Native American Reservations in South Dakota. The two will serve as counselors at a camp for Lakota children ages 6-15 located on the Cheyenne River Reservation. They will travel to other reservations, where they will take photographs, participate in traditional cultural activities, and learn from natives about Sioux Indian politics and economics. When they return to Clark, Canino and Dolan will collaborate on an exhibit that will educate the Clark community about the history and culture of the Lakota people. Canino majors in International Development and Social Change; Dolan studies political science.
Alicia Gauvin ’12 will conduct a research project in the fall on the types of sex education students receive, and what they recall from it by the start of their first year of college. Gauvin will gather original data by administering a survey to Clark first year students and to first year students at other colleges in Worcester. Gauvin is a psychology major.
Devon Grayson-Wallace ’12 will explore “The Grandparent-Grandchild Relationship Through Young Adulthood.” She will conduct in-depth interviews with pairs of grandparents who have a grandchild in college; she also plans to survey college students about their relationships with their grandparents. Grayson-Wallace is a sociology major.
Dwight Jared Packard-Winkler ’12 will study contemporary art techniques through a summer apprenticeship with Associate Professor of Studio Art and Painter Elli Crocker. He will work with professor Crocker in her art studio in Boston, and will observe and interview other artists in Boston while working on original paintings of his own. Packard-Winkler majors in art history and studio art.
Andrew Renard ’12 will work on his research project, “Masculinity in the Media: Exploring Media’s Role in Shaping Socio-Cultural Definitions of Gender,” this summer. He will focus on how the media portrayed men in the South during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Renard will conduct archival research in state archives and university libraries in Montgomery and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Renard is a history major.
Amelia Reno ’12 will spend the summer working on an archeological project in Turkey; she will be part of a team led by Rhys Townsend, associate professor of art history at Clark. Reno is an art history major.
Elena Stocchiero ’13 will conduct a research project on tensions between European Union Community Law and the national laws of its member countries, with an in-depth study of the Italian case. She will conduct archival research and interview Italian government officials in her home country of Italy and will travel to Brussels, Luxembourg, and Strasbourg to access European Union archives and interview EU officials. Stocchiero is a political science major.
The Steinbrecher Fellowship Program was established in memory of David C. Steinbrecher, class of ’81, by his parents, Phyllis and Stephen Steinbrecher, class of ’55, and is funded by generous gifts from the Steinbrecher family and friends of David. The program is directed by Associate Professor Sharon Krefetz, former Dean of the College and current Chair of Clark’s Department of Political Science.
Professor Krefetz said that the members of the Selection Committee for the Steinbrecher Fellowships were extremely impressed by how much thought all of the applicants put into their proposals.
“The 11 students whose proposals were selected conveyed their excitement about the prospect of pursuing their projects and convinced us that they will take full advantage of the extraordinary opportunities for learning and for ‘doing good’ that these wonderful fellowships will make possible,” said Professor Krefetz.
Since its founding in 1887, Clark University in Worcester, Mass., has a history of challenging convention. As an innovative liberal arts college and research university, Clark’s world-class faculty lead a community of creative thinkers and passionate doers and offer a range of expertise, particularly in the areas of psychology, geography, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. Clark’s students, faculty and alumni embody the Clark motto: Challenge convention. Change our world. www.clarku.edu