This summer I interned remotely as a Youth Development Intern for the Nashville After Zone Alliance (N.A.Z.A) Program at Conexión Américas. Conexion Américas is a nonprofit, which promotes the social, economic, and civic advancement of Latino and immigrant families in Middle Tennessee. The N.A.Z.A. program is designed to provide quality afterschool learning opportunities for middle…
Tag: Education
How “Chilly” Climates for LGBTQ+ Students Deepen Inequalities on Campus
When someone brings up “chilly” campus climates, it might draw forth images of female students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classrooms. In fact, a long history of scholarly research traces the ways STEM fields have been unwelcoming toward women students, faculty, and workers. This chilly environment translates into lower pay than male counterparts,…
Teaching Spotlight: How Should and Can We Help the poor? A Course on Global Development & Giving
In the Fall 2019 semester I launched a new undergraduate course titled Global Development & Giving (PUP 4931), which was supported by FSU’s Council of Research and Creativity. I have been visiting poor countries, predominantly in South East Asia, once or twice annually since 2014. These countries include Cambodia, Myanmar, Tibet (China), and, foremost, Laos….
Aging Today: Why are older adults especially vulnerable to financial exploitation and how common is it?
The audio from these scripts originally aired during WFSU’s Aging Today segment. An early sign of cognitive impairment is difficulty managing money, making older people susceptible to scams or to financial abuse by family or friends. But even without cognitive impairment, the ability to judge trustworthiness can decline in later life, making older adults prey to false…
Aging Today: What is Lifelong Learning?
The script for this piece originally aired during WFSU’s Aging Today segment. We tend to think of education as something we do early in life to prepare us for employment, but programs to give educational opportunities to older adults, often referred to as lifelong learning, have a different goal. Rather than taking courses to gain employment credentials,…
Is The Gender STEM Gap Smaller in Less Developed Countries Than in Highly Developed Ones? What Role Does Urbanization Play? Evidence From Cambodia
Women earn bachelor’s degrees at higher rates than men in most economically developed countries. Within these countries however, women continue to lag in postsecondary majors and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This has considerable implications for women’s earnings. While the relationship between economic development and urbanization and gender equity in educational…
Social Science Scholar: Internship with the Cambodian Children’s Advocacy Foundation
Because of Social Science Scholars, I was able to completely fund an entire internship in a foreign country, which is an amazing opportunity that few students are able to accomplish. I believe that my time in the program has greatly increased my own confidence in my abilities, along with overcoming my personal dilemmas that may have prevented me from going beyond my own limitations. Social Science Scholars is a phenomenal program that brings out the best in students by encouraging them to go forth into the world and take their knowledge and experience into the field.
Social Science Scholar: Asociacion CREAR, ESL Assistant
My experience with Asociacion CREAR has allowed me to see the important role of offering services to others that may help people achieve upward mobility. With the skills learned from Asociacion CREAR I am confident that I can work alongside other communities in Latin America through the Foreign Service or any NGO in their communities. This opportunity would have not been possible for me without the Social Science Scholars program and I am incredibly grateful for those that facilitated this experience.
Social Science Scholar: La Asociacion CREAR, Art Program Aide Intern
Without the generous funding and informative leadership seminar that Social Science Scholars provided me with, interning with an organization abroad would have been unimaginable. I am so thankful for the summer experience of living and working in rural Costa Rica. Through this trip, I was able to directly impact the communities of Playa Samara and El Torito by engaging the children in lessons that contribute to their personal growth. Interning with La Asociacion CREAR has also provided me with an intercultural experience that has allowed me to view the world through a new perspective.
Entrepreneurship Programs Can Help Ex-offenders Stay out of Prison
This piece first appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat. Struggling to re-enter society with nothing but lost time and the additional burden of a criminal record, ex-offenders have a 76.6% chance of being rearrested within five years. This is dramatic evidence of the failure of the so-called “punishment” or “retributive” approach to criminal justice, which promises…
