Search Results for “Eres Tu” – Page 7

The Peace Corps Partners with Six New Colleges and Universities to Prepare Students for International Service

Feb 17 2014

Peace Corps Press Release WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 4, 2014 – The Peace Corps today announced new partnerships with six universities and colleges accepted into the Peace Corps Prep Program. The collaboration offers students a unique combination of undergraduate coursework and community service that prepares them for work in international development. Students at Arcadia University; Georgia Gwinnett College; Hiram College; University of Washington, Tacoma; Ursinus College; and Wilmington College can apply to their school’s new Peace Corps Prep Program for enrollment beginning fall 2014. “We are thrilled to partner with each of these schools to expand the Peace Corps Prep Program,” Peace Corps Acting Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said. “This program is a wonderful example of our growing efforts to foster stronger collaboration with colleges and universities nationwide to prepare civic-minded students for international service.” Each school independently designs its program based on specified criteria that reflects Peace Corps’ grassroots, integrated approach. A . . .

College Student Studies 'High Risk/High Gain'

Feb 16 2014

Kathleen Kanne, a senior in the American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota, is doing a research project on the “deselection” process in the early days of Peace Corps training (primarily through the 1960s and 70s). She is looking to interview RPCVs from this era who had colleagues who were deselected or who were deselected themselves. I wrote her about her study (one of my hopes is that we can get more and more academic studies done about the Peace Corps at the college and university levels) and Kathy wrote back, “My project is in its early stages, but it is tentatively focused on PCVs as representatives of American culture abroad and specifically the role deselection played in creating that image in the early days of the movement. “Because it seems to be more prevalent in the 60s and early 70s, that is the time frame I have been focusing on, . . .

“The Kennedy Half Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy” by Larry J. Sabato and the Online free course

Oct 30 2013

What is the Kennedy Legacy? And, is the Peace Corps an integral part of the Kennedy Legacy or just a footnote to history? Larry J. Sabato attempts to answer the first question with this comprehensive book that begins with the Kennedy era but continues to analyze how Kennedy influenced politics and culture for the fifty years after his death. To sign up for the course, the text to link to is: https://www.coursera.org/course/kennedy The University of Virginia, where Larry J. Sabato is the Professor of Politics, and founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University, has offered this online course based on the book and narrated by Professor Sabato. The course is free. The course is in its second week, but it is easy to go back and view the first short lectures. Sabato offers commentary, but the lectures are dominated by videos from the times. It is fabulous . . .

Garamendi Legacy Project in Mettu, Ethiopia

Oct 24 2013

When all is said and done, perhaps what will be most important and lasting about the Peace Corps will be what the PCVs did AFTER their tour of service. One such example is the RPCV Legacy Program of Ethiopia & Eritrea RPCVs (E&E RPCVs) that has been designated by the I.R.S. as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit tax-exempt organization. The program, organized in 2003 by the group under the leadership of Marian Haley Beil (Ethiopia 1962-64), for the purpose of sponsoring education and healthcare projects that will assist the neediest in-country, and are “championed” – that is designed, administered and fundraised for – by RPCVs and former staff members on a volunteer basis. To date 8 projects have been launched; five have met their goals and three are continuing. The projects are supported by donations primarily from the group’s RPCVs and to date more than $180,000 has been distributed. Of the . . .

New Novel by Kent Haruf (Turkey 1965-67)

Aug 21 2013

Benediction, a new new novel by Kent Haruf, was published in March and I missed the pub date. Here is some information on the book. Benediction By Kent Haruf (Turkey 1965–67) Knopf $25.95 (hardcover), $15.00 (paperback), $12.99 (Kindle) 272 pages 2013 An Amazon Best Book of the Month, March 2013: Kent Haruf writes about small towns and regular people, but don’t underestimate his ambition. He is writing about life, and to do that he has returned again and again–first with Plainsong, later with Eventide–to the small town of Holt, located on the eastern plains of Colorado. In Benediction, Haruf introduces us to Dad Lewis, a 77-year-old hardware store owner who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The experience of reading Haruf is a slow burn, but as we meet the people who gather around Dad Lewis in his final days we begin to see that this is a book . . .

Broughton Cobern (Nepal 1973-75) Published New Book on Everest

Apr 30 2013

Broughton Cobern (Nepal 1973-75) is the author of the bestselling Everest: Mountain Without Mercy, a chronicle of the iconic first American expedition to Mount Everest in the spring of 1963. Now he has published to coincide with the climb’s 50th anniversary, The Vast Unknown America’s First Ascent of Everest. Crown Publishing will bring the book out on April 30, 2013, which means that it is already available on line or in book stores, if you can find one. This book and the climb are interesting in a number of ways. Some history that, of course, relates to the Peace Corps. One of the men on that famous climb was Willi Unsoeld who had just gone to work for the Peace Corps as the deputy director in Nepal. The director was the famous American climber Bob Bates, and Shriver in 1961 had asked Bates who he wanted as his deputy. Bates said Unsoeld. . . .

Kent Haruf (Turkey 1965-67) Publishes Fifth Novel on Holt, Colorado

Mar 09 2013

Kent Haruf (Turkey 1965-67) is out with the fifth book in his cycle of novels set in the high plains of Colorado. Knopf has just published Benediction, and it is reviewed in the Sunday March 10, 2013, Book Section of The New York Times. Kent’s earlier, best-selling novels about this close-knit community–Holt, Colorado–are The Tie That Binds, Where You Once Belonged, Plainsong and Eventide. The plot is summed up this way: When Dad Lewis is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he and his wife, Mary, must work together to make his final days as comfortable as possible. Their daughter, Lorraine, hastens back from Denver to help look after him; her devotion softens the bitter absence of their estranged son, Frank, but this cannot be willed away and remains a palpable presence for all three of them. Next door, a young girl named Alice moves in with her grandmother and contends with the . . .

Al Qaeda Country: Why Mali is Important–Peter Chilson (Niger 1985-87) will speak at George Washington University in D.C. on Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Jan 26 2013

Al Qaeda Country: Why Mali is Important Tuesday, January 29, 2013 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM George Washington University Lindner Family Commons, Room 602 1957 E Street NW Washington DC RSVP Click Here Peter Chilson, Associate Professor of English, Washington State University Introduction by David Rain, Associate Professor of Geography and International Affairs, GW Prizewinning author Peter Chilson is one of the few Westerners to travel to the Mali conflict zone. There he found a hazy dividing line between the demoralized remnants of the former regime in the south and the new statelet in the north – Azawad – formed when a rebellion by the country’s ethnic Tuareg minority as commandeered by jihadi fighters. In this inaugural lecture of the African Research and Policy Group of the Institute for Global and International Studies, Chilson will lay out the lines of conflicting interest in Mali as some of the world’s great . . .

Review of Henry Pelifian (Thailand 1975-77) Land of the Tuk-Tuk

Jan 09 2013

Land of the Tuk-Tuk by Henry Pelifian (Thailand 1975-77) AuthorHouse, $19.95 280 pages February 2012 Reviewed by Robert Hamilton (Ethiopia 1965-67) Henry Pelifian’s Land of the Tuk-Tuk is a compilation of several different stories sharing the same book cover. These include: 1. the partial story of the fictional protagonist Jack Dakasian, Peace Corps Volunteer teacher in Bangkok, Thailand; 2. the love story of Jack and his former student Amara Worathai, and Jack’s determination later to woo and marry her; 3. the story of Jack in Isfahan, Iran, teaching helicopter repair in English to Iranian military mechanics in, it appears, 1979, and just prior to the revolution which swept the Shah from power and the return of the Muslim cleric Ali Khomeni; 4. the story of the Armenian genocide and other atrocities inflicted upon Jack’s family in Turkey in the early 20th century and their migration to the U.S.; 5. Jack’s outrage at . . .

The Problem With Susan Rice and Manufactured Outrage

Dec 12 2012

[James Bruno was a Foreign Service officer for 23 years, having worked previously in military intelligence and journalism. He is a member of the Diplomatic Readiness Reserve, subject to worldwide duty on short notice. He holds a M.A. degrees from the U.S. Naval War College & Columbia University, and a B.A from George Washington U. He has served in SE Asia, Cuba, Guantanamo, Pakistan/Afghanistan. He also spent time at the White House and have worked with the Secret Service in a presidential protection detail overseas. He knows the Pentagon, CIA and other foreign affairs agencies well. He have been featured on NBC’s Today Show, Washington Post, Huffington Post & NPR. His political thrillers Permanent Interests and Chasme have simultaneously been on three Amazon Kindle Bestseller lists, including #1 in Political Fiction. His recently released Afghanistan thriller, Tribe, is also a bestseller. Here is what he has to say about Susan Rice.] The Problem With Susan Rice and . . .

Use Your Cross Cultural Experience–And Do Some Good!

Sep 07 2012

Laurette Bennhold-Samaan (PC/HQ Cross-Cultural Specialist 1994-01) now works for an international consulting company called Aperian Global. She is asking for the help of RPCVs in developing content for a half dozen African countries with an unique ‘web tool’ that provides extensive knowledge on how to conduct business effectively in countries around the world. What this ‘web tool’ does is to help people understand and work better in new cultures, and work effectively with people of different backgrounds. Today, GlobeSmart has detailed information on 66 countries. It is being used by more than 400,000 people working for 100 international organizations. (If you’d like to see a demonstration of GlobeSmart, check out https://www.aperianglobal.com/login/). Now Aperian Global is looking to increase their countries in Africa. They develop profiles by interviewing host country nationals, and people-like you!–who have worked in these countries. Laurette, who I worked with at the agency, has asked me to let . . .

A Writer Writes: Principles vs. Principal:Is There Room for "Pay to Play" in Volunteerism? by Brian Holler Turkmenistan 2010-12

Jul 24 2012

Principles vs. Principal: Is There Room for “Pay to Play” in Volunteerism by Brian Holler (Turkmenistan 2010-12) If I had one piece of advice for incoming Volunteers, it would be to focus on the “What is Peace Corps?” section of language training. Like most of my brethren, I’ve spent my fair share of time explaining what an American is doing here. In Turkmenistan, a country that values hospitality above all else, where people will feed and shelter a stranger, the practices of volunteerism and charity are still foreign concepts. People will do anything for their neighbor, but are skeptical of the intentions of someone that has come from another country only to assist their community. In the developed world, formal acts of philanthropy require little tangible reciprocity. Different countries have different cultural norms though; transaction costs may be different. The question is: when faced with more “concrete” operational requirements, how . . .

National Public Service Museum and Student Center planned with a spot for the Public Service Volunteer Experience

Nov 16 2011

ASPA is the American Society for Public Administration. The organization’s website is: http://www.aspanet.org/scriptcontent/index.cfm The ASPA Board has endorsed the goal of “establishing a National Public Service Museum and Student Center to serve as a place for American Youth to learn about the current challenges and past accomplishments of public servants.” In an article in the August/September 2011 issue of The ASPA Times, Richard Baum, Chair of the ASPA Museum Project Team, describes the project in detail: “The Museum, to be based in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, would present information abut government policies and programs in a dynamic, interactive manner, taking a page from newer museums, such as the journalism focused Washington -based Newseum. It would serve as a place for youth, through class or family visits, to gain a better understanding of what government actually does and how and it does it”… The new Museum will show the government’s . . .

NPCA President and CEO Kevin Quigley (Thailand 1976-79) wants to align the Peace Corps with our "national interests"

Oct 10 2011

NPCA President and CEO Kevin Quigley (Thailand 1976-79) wants to align the Peace Corps with our “national interests” You might have read Kevin’s testimony at the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee week on October 6, 2011 (I know you think you have more important things to do, but still…..). In his public testimony, Kevin’s second recommendation is that the agency should “Align Country Selection More Closely with Long‐term National Interests” In other words, what’s good for the State Department is good for the Peace Corps. Interestingly, former senator and early architect of the Peace Corps, Harris Wofford, made the point in his Q & A with Senator Menendez at this same Hearing that when establishing the agency Secretary of State Dean Rush told President Kennedy that “the Peace Corps is not an instrument of foreign policy, because to make it so would rob it of its contribution to foreign policy.” As . . .

Researching RPCVs For An Academic Study

Jul 25 2011

[I received this special academic request for help from Nan Cowardin-Lee in California. Take a look, and see if you have time to help her in her research. Nan is located in Berkeley, attending the university’s branch in San Franciso. ] My name is Nan Cowardin-Lee. I am a PhD student at Alliant International University in organizational psychology. I am conducting research on value and moral challenges experienced by individuals who have lived or studied abroad for more than 6 months. The research has a generational comparison component. Therefore, I am interested in obtaining information from individuals of all generations, and, in particular, I would appreciate hearing from individuals born before 1946. The research data is collected in two parts. In the first part, an on-line survey asks participants to report on a general or specific incident that challenged them while living in a culture that was not their own. A series . . .

Search Results For -Eres Tu