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OBERLIN COLLEGE STUDENTS TO LIVE/WORK IN ASIA
MAY 20 , 2001-- This summer, under the auspices of Oberlin Shansi eight Oberlin College students will journey to Asia to live and work for two years as Shansi Fellows and two other students have received $1,000 Oberlin Shansi grants for summer research projects in Asia.
Oberlin Shansi is one of the oldest educational exchange institutions
in the United States. A two-year commitment and an ability to communicate
in the language of the host country distinguishes Shansi Fellows from
participants in other exchange programs.
The 2002-04 Oberlin Shansi post-graduate fellows going to sites in China,
India and Japan include Californians Katherine Hamilton '02 of Berkeley
and Isaiah Chase '02 of San Francisco; Scott Saylor '02 of Washington,
D.C.; Ohioans Jeffrey Chan '02 of Euclid and Aram Donabedian
'02 of Toledo; David Robinson '02 of Bronx, New York; Dan
Flynn '01 of Shelburne, Vermont; and Isaac Manfred Elfstrom '02
of Falls Church, Virginia. The students in the Class of 2002 will
receive their degrees from Oberlin on May 27.
The winners of the Shansi In-Asia summer study grants are Meghan Lowery
of Stow, Ohio, a first-semester senior majoring in art history
and East Asian Studies who will research Japanese theater in the Hokkaido
prefecture; and Kerstin Ahlgren'03 of Sanbornton, New Hampshire,
a junior majoring in East Asian Studies who will intern with an environmental
NGO in China.
The Fellows engage cultures and communities by studying languages, pursuing
interests such as public health, the environment, women's
organizations, literature, art, music and sports and teaching English
in programs established by the host institutions.
"Because the Shansi Fellows in Asia collaborate with non-Americans
to achieve a common goal, their experience is deeper than casual contact
and engenders cultural learning that goes both ways," says Shansi
Executive Director Carl W. Jacobson. "All eight are especially capable
Oberlin graduates who demonstrate strong personal qualities, among them
responsibility, flexibility, an ability to work with others, intelligence
and a commitment to international understanding."
An independent, non-profit, tax-exempt organization founded in 1907, Oberlin
Shansi operates on the Oberlin College campus and promotes understanding
and communication between Asians and Americans through individual and
group educational programs and community projects. The aim of these endeavors
is to help participants make constructive and useful contributions to
Asian and American institutions, programs and communities. The organization
provides grants to send Oberlin graduates and undergraduates to Asia to
work and study, provides grants for on-campus initiatives that broaden
understanding of Asian and Asian American issues, facilitates collaboration
between Oberlin faculty and Asian faculty, and invites Asian scholars
to Oberlin for research and study. Oberlin Shansi currently has affiliate
relationships with institutions in India, China, Indonesia and Japan.
Biographical & Placement information:
Obirin University, Machida, Japan
Isaiah Chase will graduate with a major in East Asian Studies,
emphasizing Japan. He studied at Kansai Gaidai University for the 2000-01
academic year and also gained informal teaching experience. In Oberlin
he has been active on the varsity lacrosse team and while at Kansai Gaidai
was a member of the men's boxing club. In Machida he plans to pursue his
interests in art, specifically woodblock prints, continue his study of
boxing, and study the Japanese clinical psychiatric system. He is a 1998
graduate of Midland School in Santa Barbara.
Scott Saylor is a double major in chemistry and East Asian Studies.
At Oberlin he has been a member of the varsity diving team for three years,
and he has also conducted two chemistry research projects which have important
implications in organic chemistry. In the summer of 2000, Scott studied
Japanese intensively at Waseda University in Tokyo, and he received a
scholarship to attend Kansai-Gaidai University in the fall. In 2001, he
taught Japanese at a language camp in Minnesota and hopes to incorporate
this experience in his English teaching at Obirin University. Scott wishes
to learn more about the Japanese health care system and may seek permanent
employment in Japan. He is a 1998 graduate of St. Albans High School.
American College, Madurai, India
Aram Donabedian is a history major with an emphasis on South Asia,
last year he spent six months in India at the School for International
Training program in Karnataka, volunteered at a non-governmental organization
and studied the Kannada language. While in Madurai, he will study the
Tamil language, teach in Jivana Jyothi--a vocational training program
for physically-challenged young people--and work in the International
Center at the American College. He also hopes to continue volunteering
within the non-governmental organization sector.
On campus, Donabedian has co-chaired the College's Student Labor Action
Coalition and recently received an award from the United Labor Agency
in Lorain County for his participation and leadership in student/labor
activism. Upon the completion of his fellowship, he hopes to pursue graduate
studies in South Asian History. He is a 1998 graduate of Sylvania Northview
High School.
Yunnan University, Kunming, China
Katherine Hamilton will graduate with a major in biology and during
an Oberlin winter term she traveled to South India to study land use practices
with a faculty-led student group. She plans to teach biology and says
Yunnan and Kunming will provide a biologically diverse environment for
her to explore. She will work with botanists at the university and develop
her contacts the department of ethnobotany at the Kunming Institute of
botany. While at Oberlin she has been involved in the Oberlin Student
Cooperative Assn., worked as an ESL tutor for farm workers seeking GED
diplomas, was the secretary of the Outing Club, and was a co-founder of
POP (the college pre-orientation program), and of the Oberlin Design Initiative.
Jeff Chan is an East Asian Studies honor student, who is also majoring
in history with a minor in art history. At Yunnan University, he plans
to continue his studies of Mandarin and ancient Chinese history and upon
his return to the US to pursue graduate work in Chinese History. At Oberlin,
he has served on the Shansi student committee, as the Asia House liaison
for the program and as a tutor with Student Academic Services. He is a
1998 graduate of St. Ignatius High School.
Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, China
Isaac Manfred Elfstrom is double major in history and studio art
and a minor in East Asian Studies. He spent spring semester studying in
Beijing and is returning to China to study contemporary Chinese political
issues. He also plans to continue research on China's healthcare system
and its changes during the present market reforms and to study traditional
Chinese painting techniques.
While at Oberlin he has served as co-chair of the college chapter of Habitat
for Humanity and is currently the building coordinator for the group.
His interest in social justice issues has led him to becoming involved
with the annual Hunger Cleanup in Oberlin, work on Oberlin's anti-sweatshop
purchasing code of conduct and involvement with reading groups at the
nearby Grafton prison farm. He is a 1998 graduate of Washington Waldorf
School.
Dan Flynn graduated in May of 2001 with a major in biology. He
is particularly interested in agricultural ecology and biking and was
attracted to Shanxi Agricultural University as a community where scientists
actively conduct agricultural research. While at Oberlin he was a member
of the student finance committee and the Oberlin Student Cooperative Assn.
A recipient of Oberlin's Joshua Levitt Memorial Prize for Excellence in
Biology, he currently works as a research assistant in the Department
of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He served
as a tutor in the Oberlin-Norwalk ESL Tutoring program and is currently
volunteering in the Harvard-Chinatown ESL program. He is also studying
Mandarin. He is a 1997 graduate of Champlain Valley Union High School.
David Robinson is a biology major who is also involved in artistic
studies with special interests and talents in graphic arts and silk screening.
While at Oberlin he has been a member of Oberlin Student Cooperative Assn.,
and the Oberlin Pottery Coop. He is also a musician and has studied jazz
saxophone and piano for many years.
In-Asia Shansi Study Grant Recipients for Summer 2002:
Kerstin Ahlgren is a junior majoring in East Asian Studies currently
studying in Beijing. She will serve as an intern at Friends of Nature,
one of the few completely autonomous NGOs in China. Believing it is important
to share success stories of environmental struggles and to educate the
next generation so we can mutually guide each other into a healthier world,
she plans to use her grant to do translating and to conduct educational
and community projects such as giving lectures in Chinese high schools
on environmental issues and tree planting.
Hoping to return with an understanding of specific ways in which American
and Chinese environmental NGOs can coordinate with and aid each other,
she will present a lecture in Oberlin on the environmental movement in
China and the research and educational methods employed by Friends of
Nature as well as its specific goals and issues.
Meghan Lowery, a 1998 graduate of Munroe Falls High School, is
a first-semester senior majoring in art history and East Asian Studies;
she will receive her Oberlin degree next December. She will use her summer
grant to research Japanese theater with a focus on Bunraku, a traditional
puppet theater form, as well as study No and Kabuki theater. She also
plans to document her research with photography and teach the art and
history of Japan this fall at elementary schools in Oberlin and share
her findings with the Allen Memorial Art Museum which is planning a major
puppet show for next summer.
Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli
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