DWA grad returns to Middle East after semester abroad

Claire enjoys a three-day tour of Jordan by Bedouin pick-up truck

Claire Anderson was fascinated by the Middle East long before beginning frosh year in 2006.  At Oxy, she analyzed the effects of colonial rule on small Middle Eastern and the systems of patriarchy that emerged. (Claire was also a student worker at the IPO.)  

Learning about this region was rewarding but Claire wanted a more close up and personal experience.   To complement her academic studies, Claire planned a semester in Jordan, the Western Asia country remarkable for the numerous civilizations that have thrived within its borders throughout history.

While abroad, Claire developed a deep affection for the country and was intrigued by Jordanian culture, especially related to gender relations.  With her curly blonde hair and light blue eyes, Claire personified the image of the "American" to Amman locals. Regardless of her "foreign" appearance, she was able to gain acceptance. Speaking Arabic gave her insider access to community events.  Courses in Arabic literature added to her academic knowledge but immersion in local culture was just as valuable.  Belly dancing classes, henna parties, weddings and the experience of everyday life helped Claire examine the complexities of gender and women's issues, particularly expectations about "a woman's place" in society.

"I found some of the strongest women I have ever met," Claire said. "These women found empowerment in a society where it was not easy to find."

With a degree in Diplomacy and World Affairs (2010) Clarie now makes her home in Jordan's capital city of Amman.  She was hired as editor-in-chief of a luxury lifestyles magazine called Aviator based on her credentials in public relations and documentary film writing.

After working a year or two in Jordan, Claire plans to return to the United States to continue her research in Middle East issues, with the goal earning a PhD in Arab/Middle Eastern Studies. Eventually, she'd like to work for a regionally-based non-government organization that focuses on women's empowerment and gender equity.

For now, she's content with her life in Amman. She acknowledges the differences in culture between Jordan and the USA and the restrictions that life in Jordan imposes but those challenges don't compromise the benefits of her life abroad.  "I am always happy in Jordan," she says. "Life here is fulfilling in a really simple and beautiful kind of way."

Emily enjoys a meal at home with her Japanese "family"

Emily Birnbaum will graduate in 2012 with a major in Spanish. Her interest in the language was fueled by the year she spent in Panama following high school.  So her choice for a study abroad destination?  Japan, of course!

Studying in Japan gave Emily the chance to experience a completely different part of the world. "I didn't know much about Japanese culture other than sushi and Hayao Miyazaki films like Totoro," said Emily. "But those are two of my favorite things, so I figured Japan and I would probably get along very well."

To prepare, Emily plunged into Japanese language immersion. The summer before sophomore year, she spent 10 weeks studying Japanese in a UC Berkeley program. Back at Oxy, she continued her studies. Then, in Fall 2010, it was off to Tokyo. 

Emily lives with a Japanese family in Kawagoe, about 30 minutes outside of central Tokyo. It's not too far from the Tokyo International University where Emily takes classes in Japanese language, literature and politics along with 30 other international students. She is learning about Japanese culture outside the classroom, too. "Japan is full of amazing aesthetic creativity in every corner," she said, citing a nearby national park, Shirinkoen, as an example. "I went at night to see the park lit up and was in awe of the beauty and creativity. From the art pieces that were on display to the meticulously arranged lighting of the trees, the experience was breathtaking."

Another example of Japan's creative culture is the Tokyo clothing style. On her blog, Emily posted a few photos of cute fashionistas. One snapshot is of a young woman wearing an empire-waist denim dress paired with socks (pulled up past her ankles) patterned with images of bagels. In another, a fabric patterned with small, colorful shoes is fashioned into long, billowing pants.

Emily's experiences have also taken her off the streets - 12,389 feet off the ground, in fact - to the top of Mount Fuji. Climbing to the summit was a challenge for Emily, who describes herself as a "virgin hiker."  She said, "Toward the end of the journey people were falling and tripping. I almost got blown off the side. My hands immediately went numb. The wind was raging. No wonder so many people pray to it before going up."

The group of students, tourists and local residents arrived at the summit just in time for sunrise. "There were mountains and lakes and clouds and trees, all lit by the marvelous morning sun," Emily recalled. "Some people prayed. Others took pictures. Everyone looked happy."

Back at home in Karaowge, Emily felt pleased to be returning to her new life. "It`s funny how it takes leaving a place to make it feel like a home," she commented on her blog. Japan will probably continue to be home for Emily.  She plans on returning to Japan after college to work and boost her language skills, though she's still not sure what kind of career path will follow. "I hope that knowing Japanese, English, and Spanish will open doors for me somewhere for something," she said, "However, 'where' or 'what' I have yet to find out."

Read Emily's blog at www.pleasantlysassy.wordpress.com. 

The Sussex native takes time out of a busy Oxy semester to visit Yosemite

"I have a knack for having a lot of energy," says Christopher Neal, an exchange student from Sussex, England studying at Oxy during the fall '10 semester.  That energy has come in handy.  At Oxy, Chris is enrolled in four science classes, all with labs, that will count toward his biology major. Still, he's found time to visit Venice Beach, Universal Studios, Pasadena, Hollywood, and San Francisco.

The place Chris most wanted to see was Yosemite. So during Thanksgiving break he made the six-hour trip to what many consider to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.

The trip was full of jaw-dropping moments for Chris. He says, "Nothing can surpass the feeling of awestruck silence that envelopes around your gobsmacked throat when first seeing El Capitan." At the revered national park, Chris hiked around Yosemite Falls, Mirror Lake and Half Dome and enjoyed the hospitality of Curry Village.

Chris has nothing but praise for his Oxy experience.  He said, "Occidental is absolutely wonderful. The campus is vibrant and spectacular, the community incredibly friendly and close and the lecturers are superb."

When Chris returns to England in the spring, he'll carry with him knowledge of what he calls "gooey specimens" from biology classes. But he'll also bring back the memory of a friendly and enriching liberal arts campus, and of course the sight of breathtaking Yosemite National Park.

Yelka Kamara discusses her project about education in Sierra Leone

Click here to view videos from the Research Abroad conference.

Hip hop flamenco in Spain. Cardiovascular disease in India. Social outcasts in Korea. Cheese in Switzerland. Education in Sierra Leone.

These were a few of the topics that 20 Oxy students - almost twice the number who received grants the previous year - investigated summer 2010 with support from the Richter Traditional Scholarship for Independent Research Abroad.

Funded by the Paul K. Memorial Fund and the Evalyn E. Cook Richter Memorial Fund, the scholarship allows students to pursue a topic of special academic interest that can only be thoroughly studied in a specific foreign country.

At the annual IPO Summer Research Conference in October, poster-boards with project summaries lined the walls of Lower Herrick, and three students presented their findings. Visitors passing by the poster board displays might have felt like travelers on an international journey.

IPO Director Susan Popko introduced the event's three speakers and remarked on the many unique summer research opportunities that Oxy offered. "I know of no other college that funds research abroad for independent work for up to 12 weeks in the summer," she said. Popko also commended the students' creativity in selecting topics.

The first speaker, senior Sivan Ben-David, reported on her work in rural India. Her project, "Relation of Modernization and Health Related Knowledge to Blood Pressure" noted the poor healthcare systems in the villages.  "I would see these mud huts with very little furniture, maybe a table, maybe a chair, yet they would always have a TV," Sivan said. These same families had misconceptions about healthcare, as well as lack of access to health-education and healthy foods, she said.

Micah Carver's project, titled "Classroom Discipline Kiwi Style: School-based Restorative Justice Programs at Three New Zealand Schools," examined education in New Zealand.  The project described a "restorative justice" system - instead of punishment o a zero tolerance policy - that works toward changing the behavior of troublesome students who might otherwise be expelled.

The audience was then given a whiff of France in Jacqueline Steele's presentation on the art of perfumery. (For more on Jackie's project, see our interview with her below.)

At the end of the event, Popko announced the recipient of the newly-created faculty award - History professor Nina Gelbhart. Student Marisa Pulcrano praised Gelbhart, saying she "went out of her way to help me and was as energized and looking forward to my two months abroad as I was."

Jackie Steele shares her perfume expertise at the Research Abroad conference

Jackie Steele, a Michigan native who will graduate in Spring '10 with an ECLS major, visited France to analyze perfume.  Her project, titled "A Closer Art: Abstraction in Perfumery and Scent Composition" begins by stating that the history of perfumery resembles, "a history of human culture, technology, and ideology."

For Jackie, perfumes "reveal truth about our existence as sensory beings and work themselves into our memories; perfume today is a meditation, a celebration, of the richness of the phenomenal world, which enriches our world in turn."

 We interviewed Jackie to learn about her project and research experience.

IPO: How did you become interested in perfumery, and how did you develop your project?

JS: I became interested in perfumery when I stumbled onto a niche perfumery website. I was looking for a new perfume that was different because I was never happy with the aesthetic of many department store scents; they were always too sweet and fruity for me. The discussions and descriptions on the site were as erudite and intellectual as you can imagine. I realized that some people were venerating certain perfumes as works of art, and I wanted to investigate further. I was most interested in certain types of abstractive tendencies in perfume conceptions and compositions. It seemed like a paradox-scent is so concrete, how can it be also abstract? I started there.

IPO: How did the Richter support enable you to carry out your project?

JS: The possibility of getting a Richter grant motivated me to look deeper into perfumery; even if I hadn't gotten the grant, the initial research fostered my love and interest in perfumes. I was thrilled to do the project; there was no way I could have done this without support. And the Richter name imbued the project with a certain standard that I was expected to meet in terms of professionalism and scholarly merit.

IPO: Why was France the best place to study perfumery?

JS: France is the epicenter of perfumery, traditionally and symbolically as well as factually. Paris is one of the major centers of composition and education; two leading perfumery schools are there, and one is home to the world's only perfume archive, where lost scents are recreated, and rare scents preserved. Grasse, in the south of France, is the traditional capital of perfumery, where they used to grow a lot of flowers and materials. There are several perfume museums there, one is a super comprehensive, intellectual museum that frames the artistry of perfumery alongside with more practical things like how perfume is produced.

IPO: I read that you'll continue researching olfaction and artistry, and that you're writing a volume of poetry and analysis loosely inspired by your Richter study.  Can you tell me more about that?

JS: That project is my ECLS honors project. It consists of a series of poems and an essay of analysis. I was thinking about the power of perfume and scent, in setting a 'mood', how it pervades your thought and the qualities of things, and in general the phenomenology of smelling. It reminded me of certain Heideggerian concepts; even some terminologies of scent and perfumery (the 'throw' of a scent, for instance) matched the terminology of Heidegger's phenomenology. By the end of my Richter I was already thinking of modern perfumery as a phenomenological meditation. So I decided to build from these thoughts. The honors essay will explore a certain question in phenomenology as it pertains to poetic mood. The poems will address these themes too, in their way.

IPO: You're a senior - can you tell me about your plans for after graduation?

JS: I'm probably going to take a year to work and locate my priorities. I hope I can apply for other scholarships that will allow me to take this research farther. I had a crazy time where I really wanted to be a perfumer. I'll hold that wish close for a little longer and see what do to with it-the training is expensive, and I'd have to move to France. Other than that, I'll take whatever opportunities to travel that I can get, while I settle my goals a little.

IPO: Any particularly memorable or surprising moments from your research or experiences in France?

JS: When I was living in Paris, Damian Stocking (my advisor for the project) and his wife, Cherie, visited for an academic conference. While they were there we took a bike tour of the city. So, basically we had office hours on bikes in the Cour Carr�e of  The Louvre. We laughed the entire time because it was so awesome. Then we went to Ladur�e and ate macaroons and rose ice cream. That was a very nice break from studying.

Oxy students don't need to leave the U.S. to have an international experience. Oxy offers The United Nations Program, an opportunity to live in New York and work as an intern in the field of international relations at a UN related internship. The much-commended program just celebrated its 25th Anniversary.

This semester, one participant is Michael Fisher.  Aside from taking courses on the evolving role and function of the United Nations, he is an intern for the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations. He came to New York after a semester abroad in Germany. There, he studied the strategies and structure of the European Union, focusing on state sovereignty, energy policy, and human rights.

His research led him to develop the topic for his Diplomacy and World Affairs comprehensive project - the role of the United Nations in preventing and resolving energy conflicts.

We interviewed Michael to learn more about his experience.

IPO: What is the UK Mission to the UN? What is your role there as an intern?

MF: The Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, often abbreviated as just UKMIS, represents the interests of the United Kingdom at the United Nations. With the support of other UK government departments, UKMIS represents the UK in every negotiation that takes place at the UN Headquarters in New York. We're one of the largest missions at the UN and we cover almost every issue at the UN-from the upcoming referendum in the Sudan to combating desertification.

While the two other Oxy interns assigned to the Mission work primarily in either the Economic and Financial Committee or the Social, Humanitarian Cultural Affairs Committee, I've wound up splitting my time rather evenly between the Security Council and Second Committee. I helped to prepare for the UK's November Presidency of the Security Council, I follow resolutions in the General Assembly,and I regularly attend European Union coordination meetings. My job at UKMIS keeps me busy!

IPO: Your comprehensive project for the DWA major is about the role of the United Nations in preventing and resolving energy conflicts. How did you develop that topic? Why is it meaningful to you? How will your UN experience help you to complete the project?

MF: I first started thinking about the topic for my senior comprehensive during my semester abroad last fall in Germany. During a trip to Bratislava to meet with representatives of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, I heard a fascinating presentation on a gas war between Russia and the Ukraine in 2009. It got me interested in national resources and energy security. When I came to the UN this September, I made a point of speaking with experts in this area.

IPO: What are your future plans for the future? Has your UN experience influenced them?

MF: I'm planning to attend law school next fall, where I'd like to focus on international law. My internship at the UN has presented me with some great opportunities. I've managed to attend meetings of the General Assembly's Fifth Committee, which focuses on legal issues, as well as briefings on the International Criminal Court.

IPO: Any surprising or memorable moments from the UN you want to share?

MF: A few things.....Literally bumping into presidents and prime ministers during the General Assembly's ministerial week. The weekly meetings with the UK Ambassador to the UN. And the very much needed free coffee during early morning coordination meetings with the European Union.

UN 25^th Anniversary Celebration

Alumni and John Hirsch (left) celebrate the 25th anniversary of Oxy's UN program in New York City

September 25 was an occasion of celebration for Oxy's United Nations program - the program's 25^th anniversary. One of the few programs of its kind in the country, the UN program has graduated more than 350 students to date. The anniversary event was held at Manhattan's University Club of New York for an audience of 150 alumni, faculty and staff.

Occidental College President Jonathan Veitch opened the festivities by announcing a $500,000 lead gift from Occidental trustee Bill Kahane '70 and his wife, Elizabeth, toward a permanent endowment for the program.The Kahanes' gift will endow two scholarships for the program that this year has its biggest class ever of 17 students. Veitch, who stressed the importance of a global education in his welcoming remarks, said faculty will now reflect on new approaches to educating students to be globally literate and to understand their obligations as world citizens.

The highlight of the event was a keynote address by Steve Coll, '80, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Coll is also CEO of the New America Foundation, "a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the economic, energy, health and other challenges facing the United States."

In his talk, Coll said, "Obama has shown his commitment to the ideals of the United Nations. And he remains committed with the investment of these talented appointees."

Despite that commitment, securing a lasting peace in South Asia will not come easily, a panel of foreign affairs experts warned in the panel discussion that followed. Moderated by Coll, the panel included longtime foreign correspondent Mary Anne Weaver, former New York Times foreign correspondent Barbara Crossette, journalist James Traub, and Philip Oldenburg, a research scholar at Columbia University's South Asia Institute.

The event concluded with a roundtable discussion by recent program alumni entitled, "Why the Oxy's U.N. Program Matters - Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow."  Leading the conversation was John Hirsch, Occidental's UN program director who served as the United States ambassador to the Republic of Sierra Leone from 1995 to 1998.

Three weeks into the program, Amy McDonough, a senior DWA major from Massachusetts is immersed in international health and development issues. "So often here, I find myself as the only American in the room," she says. "I just love that."

Reporting by Rhea Borja and David McKay Wilson