CONWAY, Ark.
(January 20, 2014) – Eight Hendrix students will travel to Rwanda in May on a
two-week Odyssey trip.
The 2014 Rwanda Odyssey
is supported by the Charles Prentiss Hough Odyssey Professorship, held by
Hendrix politics and international relations professor and department chair Dr.
Daniel Whelan.
History professor
Dr. Allison Shutt and politics professor Dr. Kim Maslin will join Whelan and
the students on the trip.
“Rwanda
provides an excellent case for exploring many questions relating to the ethics
and politics of development,” Whelan said.
The purpose of
the Rwanda Odyssey is to explore some of the tensions and challenges evident in
contemporary Rwandan society, focusing specifically on a variety of ethical
aspects of its development and post-conflict reconciliation strategies.
The Rwanda
Odyssey trip will consist of numerous site visits around the country, allowing
students to meet and interact with local communities, government officials,
local and international NGOs, and international and bilateral assistance
organizations. Specific visits will be tailored to the students’ interests and
research goals.
“Rising sophomores
and juniors will earn global awareness Odyssey credit, while rising seniors will
complete research capstone projects for undergraduate research Odyssey credit,”
Whelan said.
The following
students will participate in the trip.
- Lila Coco, a junior from Houston, Texas, will earn undergraduate
research Odyssey credit studying "The Mental Health Dimensions of
Rwanda's Reconciliation Process"
- Bria Guthridge, a freshman from Watauga, Texas, will earn global
awareness Odyssey credit studying "Civil Society and the Road to
Stability in Rwanda"
- McKenna Jacquemet, a sophomore from Menlo Park, Calif., will earn
global awareness Odyssey credit studying "Development Ethics in the
Rwandan Context"
- Chirag Lala, a freshman from Little Rock, Ark., will earn global
awareness Odyssey credit studying "Rwanda's Economic Development
Policy"
- Andrew McWard, a freshman from Fairway, Kan., will earn global
awareness Odyssey credit studying "Human Rights in the Development
Process"
- Jill Nguyen, a junior from Hanoi, Vietnam, will earn
undergraduate research Odyssey credit studying "The Power of
Representation: Women's Political Representation and Crime in Rwanda"
- Kay Beth Tyson, a freshman from Lipscomb, Texas, will earn global
awareness Odyssey credit "Ecotourism: Rebuilding the Economy in
Rwanda"
- Kyle Wicks, a junior from Conway, Ark., will earn undergraduate
research Odyssey credit studying "Conflict and Connectivity: Why
Cellphone Users Rebel"
About the faculty
Dr. Maslin
teaches courses in American institutions, political philosophy and gender. She
has traveled to Rwanda five times in various capacities. She is currently
interested in examining the role of various types of gender quotas in women’s
substantive representation.
Dr. Shutt
teaches African history. Her fall 2014 course titled Aid, Humanitarianism and
Development will focus exclusively on Rwanda. She has lived and studied in
South Africa, Zimbabwe and Togo, and visited Kenya. Along with Hendrix English
professor Dr. Carol West, Shutt led an Odyssey project with seven Hendrix
students to South Africa in 2007.
Dr. Whelan
teaches courses in development, international law and human rights. He
accompanied the first group of Hendrix students who traveled in Rwanda in 2007.
He later led a team of three students working on individual research projects
in Rwanda on the politics of land reform, women and microfinance, and the
implementation of programs financed by the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and
Malaria. In Rwanda, he is interested in deepening his understanding of the tensions
between human rights and development.
Founded in
1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences
education. For the sixth consecutive year, Hendrix was named one of the
country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report.
Hendrix is featured in the latest edition of Colleges That
Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges, as well
as the 2014 Princeton
Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, Forbes magazine's
list of America's Top Colleges, and
the 2014 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United
Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.