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Joint Conference with SIT Study Abroad and the University of Notre Dame

Innovation in the Service of Human Dignity
Joint Conference with SIT Study Abroad and the University of Notre Dame

BRATTLEBORO, VT (November 13, 2008) -- SIT Study Abroad is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Ford Family Foundation of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame. This collaboration has resulted in a new conference to show case undergraduate research focused specifically on human rights and human development. "Innovation in the Service of Human Dignity", Notre Dame's first annual student research conference focused on human development, took place on the university's Indiana campus from November 7-8 and was a tremendous success. The conference gave undergraduate students an opportunity to share results of original research with scholars in the field and with their peers. Topics included human development research related to health, public policy, gender, education, economics, human rights, peace and conflict, governance, ethics, environment, culture, and religion as well as related theories and philosophies.

Both Notre Dame and SIT are pleased with the genuine synergy of our shared mission to promote undergraduate research as a high priority and means of engendering a greater understanding of critical global issues. We are exceptionally proud that 33 former SIT participants from 26 different institutions of higher education were selected by Notre Dame faculty to present their research at this year's conference. This high level of participation illustrates the first-rate primary research being conducted by our students on issues of human development and human rights. The poised, articulate, and sophisticated presentations by SIT participants served as an excellent testament of how our students are receiving the access, training, and tools necessary not only for their own future academic success but for the advancement of human dignity and well-being.

Michael Roscitt, a former SIT Study Abroad student from our Uganda: Development Studies program and current undergraduate at Notre Dame, served as the conference's student director. The conference introductory plenary session was presented by the following SIT Study Abroad faculty and staff:

• José B. Alvarez IV, PhD, Director of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
• William Collins, PhD, Director of Asian and Pacific Studies
• Mary Lou Forward, Director of African Studies
• Damiana Miranda, PhD, Academic Director, Brazil: Public Health and Community Welfare
• Brenda Pereyra, Academic Director, Argentina: Social Movements and Human Rights

Presentations by SIT Study Abroad alums included the following*:

• Zoe Brennan-Krohn, Balkans: Post-Conflict Transformation in Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia, Brown University
  "Surviving the War, Surviving the Peace: Supporting Survivors of War-Rape and Domestic Violence in Medica Zenica"
• Alaina Varvaloucas, South Africa: Reconciliation and Development, Yale University
  "Policing the Police: Democracy and Effective Methods of Accountability in Post-Apartheid South Africa"
• Alyssa Huff, South Africa: Reconciliation and Development, Northwestern University
  "Translating Testimonies into Action: The Joe Slovo Anti-Eviction Movement
• Janet Checkley, Uganda: Development Studies, University of Pittsburgh
  "Are You Ready for CHOGM? The Preparations for CHOGM and the Effect on the Urban Poor in Kampala"
• Heather Day, Mali: Gender, Health, and Development, Connecticut College
  "'…But You Mustn't Insult her Parents': Marital Violence in Mali"
• Molly Baker, Cameroon: Development and Social Change, Cornell University
  "Perceptions of Sexual Harassment Amongst Students at the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon"
• Rachel Pryzby, Madagascar: Culture and Society, South Africa: Community Health, Smith College
  "Helping Women Help Themselves: Sex Work, Health and Development in Mahajanga Mali"
• Matthew Cummings, Uganda: Development Studies, Siena College
  "Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response in Uganda: Community-Based Disease Surveillance and Response as an Essential Tool for Improving Health in the Developing World"
• Emma Smith, Uganda: Development Studies, Yale University
  "HIV/AIDS Treatment and Care in a Long-Term Conflict Setting: Observations from the AIDS Support Organization (TASO) in the Teso Region"
• Kristen Hansen-Day, Bolivia: Culture and Development, Oberlin College
  "Interculturality and Accessibility: A New Public Health Model in Torotoro, Potosi, Bolivia"
• Katie Day, Uganda and Rwanda: Post-Conflict Transformation, University of Notre Dame
  "Governance and Human Development in Uganda Through the Lens of the Implementation of the Health Sector Strategic Plan II (2005-2010)
• Eliana Dotan, Uganda: Development Studies, Brandeis University
  "Family Planning and Poverty Reduction: An Inquiry into the Efficacy of Family Planning as a Tool of Economic Development in Uganda"
• Amber Murrey-Ndewa, Cameroon: Development and Social Change, University of Idaho
  "Contemporary Painting as Social Commentary: Cultural Re-Appropriation in Cameroon"
• Alexandrea Gayda, Nicaragua: Revolution, Transformation and Civil Society, University of Southern California
  "In Between Borders of Space and Time: Salvadoran Emigration, Transnationalism and the Social Impacts on those Left Behind"
• Alexandra Boggs, Madagascar: Culture and Society, Columbia University
  "Spirit Mediums of the Menabe Region, Madagascar"
• Anusha Mehar, Chile: Culture, Development, and Social Justice, College of Mount Saint Vincent
  "Mapuches Urbanos: Titles in Spanish"
• Heather Houser, Uganda: Development Studies, Rhodes College
  "Permission to Change: The Role of Culture and Cultural Tourism in Development"
• Angela Rumsey, Uganda: Development Studies, Illinois Wesleyan University
  "Life on the Street: Participant Observation of Street Children in Masaka, Uganda"

View a complete list of all SIT Study Abroad alumni presenters