Student Blog

Update from Holly Everett in Durban South Africa

I’ve been having a fantastic time living ten minutes from the beach, learning little bits of Zulu, eating as much cheap and delicious fruit as I can get my hands on, and – of course – doing lots science. I’ve been working with Prof Thumbi Ndung’u at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for TB & HIV…

Update from Brodigan winner Ibironke Otusile ’15

This past summer [2015] I went to Lagos, Nigeria with so many expectations but had no idea how they would be fulfilled. I was going there to work and to have fun. I quickly learned that it was impossible to do both simultaneously; you really do not mix business with pleasure. I had to start…

Update from Olivia Glick ’16

Olivia was in South Africa this summer researching post-Apartheid politics for her senior thesis.  She is seeking to understand how South Africa’s post-Apartheid political transformation seemingly failed to lead to widespread economic development today.  She sends these photos from her trip. Olivia speaking with with Lolo a woman who lives in RDP housing in the…

Update from Teresa Paterson ’16

I traveled to Kenya this summer with the goal of focusing my senior thesis research on understanding the motives behind and the interpretations of the Mau Mau rebellion against the British colonial government in the late 1950s. However, after conducting interviews with Kenyans, I was left with many questions focusing on memory: specifically, how is…

LIVE Blogging at The Africa Innovation Summit at Wesleyan, Jasmine Mack ‘ 16

Currently everyone is taking their seats. Introductory Remarks: Olayinka Lawal’15 currently introducing the key note speaker and beginning the summit. Keynote Speaker: No one is useless in this word without burdening another.-to feel useful for someone. (Hirut M’Cleod quoting someone about Thanksgiving) Hirut M’cleod’00 is talking of her experience with a homeless person and being…

A Response to the Ebola Panel, Kevin Winnie ‘16

Attending the Ebola information panel and researching more about the Ebola virus, I have come to an understanding that the American and international response to the widespread outbreak has been nonexistent while Western media perpetuates stereotypes of Africa. As the Ebola virus has become more widespread across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, combatant forces in…