鈥淚t felt grounding,鈥� Velez said. 鈥淥ne of the delegates we talked to was involved in Model UN when she was in high school. If this is a career path you want to go down, it is beneficial in honing the path to success.鈥�

The team also was able to explore DC with fellow committee members. They explored the National Mall and saw the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court and visited the nearby museums like the Natural History聽Museum.

“That’s not an experience most people get to have,” Stuart said.聽

Stuart helped restart the Model UN club along with Paola Saldana Galvan 鈥�24 and Grace Smith 鈥�23 a few years ago. Velez and others joined with enthusiasm.

鈥淲e live in a globalized community and a globalized world,鈥� Velez said. 鈥淲e are globalized citizens. We should get involved and get to know each other.鈥澛�

Model UN simulations engage hundreds of thousands of students each year, helping them to learn more about the principles of the United Nations and how it functions. Students role-play as delegates from different countries, working together to solve global issues.聽The Model UN website notes that many leaders in law, government, business, and the arts, including at the UN itself, participated in Model UN as students.

While coursework at 麻豆影院 has helped Stuart understand international relations, he knows that his knowledge and connections would not be where they are today without his involvement in Model UN.聽聽

鈥淟earning how the full structure works gives me an understanding of how international relations works and lets me practice it in a way coursework can’t,鈥� he said.聽聽

Stuart said that much of the information gained while at conferences and trainings is both historical and localized, making all he learns relevant to his future pursuits.

鈥淵ou also get to develop communication and public speaking skills,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an exciting thing that I really love.鈥澛�

Both Velez and Stuart said they plan to use what they have gained through Model UN in their future career pursuits.聽Velez, who plans to go into international law, has focused her attention on consulting for humanitarian organizations and working with federal agencies.聽

鈥淢odel UN allows you to get immersed in the culture, and learn how a lot of it is bureaucracy,鈥� she said.聽

In her time at 麻豆影院, Velez has learned how to network, organize funding, refine research, and lead a team to victory.聽

Velez and Stuart believe that 麻豆影院鈥檚 Model UN team draws its strength from its independent nature鈥攊t is student led鈥攁nd the close-knit community of its members. Due to 麻豆影院鈥檚 trimester calendar and the club drawing students from various majors, Model UN at 麻豆影院 runs on a much different schedule than at many schools.聽

鈥淲e arrange our travel, learn how to research, train our fellow students, and figure out all the nitty gritty details to make conferences happen,鈥� Stuart said. 鈥淎s a relatively small school, we really are the ones who are pushing this forward in a way that’s unique.鈥澛�

Velez is excited to see the club evolve now that it鈥檚 regained its traction.

鈥淲e are very proud of how much the club has grown,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a resource for all kinds of students of all different majors and interests. It鈥檚 all about being global.鈥澛�

For Nico Manzanera, traveling to The Gambia wasn鈥檛 the only first. He had recently declared a business and entrepreneurship major, a program that began at the start of the 2023-24 academic year. He became the first business major to go on one of these research trips.

鈥淚 was very happy to take the opportunity,鈥� Manzanera said.

A sophomore from Bradenton, Florida, Manzanera chose to explore the main challenges and opportunities for businesses in The Gambia. He was able to speak with people from all walks of life鈥攅ntrepreneurs, lawyers, athletes, and politicians.聽聽

Much of his observation came from traveling to local gathering spots in the city, as well as riding public transportation and talking to taxi drivers.聽聽

鈥淚 traveled a lot,鈥� Manzanera said. 鈥淚 got to see a lot of the day-to-day life of these people.鈥澛�

Senior Gigi Wood received one of her best leads from a taxi driver.聽聽

A double major in international relations and philosophy from Lake Villa, Illinois, Wood chose to base her research on sports and youth sports in The Gambia. Her taxi driver introduced her to a soccer player who played internationally for 16 years.聽聽

鈥淗e was the most helpful interview I had for my project, and I hadn鈥檛 even planned it,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淚t just kind of came about just from going to different areas and seeing different fields in the country.聽I was able to stumble on these amazing people who filled me in on things I wouldn鈥檛 have found online researching and gave me insights to look into on how sports can develop in these countries.鈥澛�

As an athlete herself鈥擶ood played on the women鈥檚 ice hockey team for four years鈥攖he topic was a perfect fit. Through her interactions, Wood hoped to learn more about the difficulties The Gambia had with their developing infrastructure, how athletes develop, and what that means for their country.聽聽

One of their main challenges, Wood said, is that many of the best athletes travel to Europe to play, especially soccer players. This makes it difficult to develop the professional teams in The Gambia.聽

However, she found that some international players have started to return to The Gambia to open youth sports programs.聽聽

鈥淚 got to talk to a few of them and get the real sense of what it means to be a youth athlete in a developing country like The Gambia,鈥� Wood said.聽聽

Junior Miami Kirkwood found that The Gambia is at the forefront of global environmental conversations.聽聽

Although The Gambia is a small nation with a vast array of environmental concerns, the country also has some of the most ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for the Paris Climate Agreement. (An NDC is a climate action plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts.)聽

Kirkwood, an environmental studies major from Delton, Michigan, focused her research on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and how they collaborate with policymaking in developing countries.聽

鈥淣GOs in The Gambia play a much different role than they do here in the United States,鈥� Kirkwood said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e much more hands-on.鈥澛�

Kirkwood had an interview with the team at Green Up Gambia, one of the most renowned NGOs in the country.聽聽

One thing founder Kemo Fatty said that struck her, Kirkwood said, was The Gambia was 鈥済round zero鈥� for climate change, and that it was their job to talk to people to facilitate their needs.聽

鈥淪tarting with the people who are experiencing environmental crises or environmental concerns and really engaging with local populations and listening to their needs,鈥� Kirkwood said. 鈥淭hese organizations have the resources to do more about that, so really they view themselves as facilitators rather than as saviors.鈥澛�

To Quynh Anh (Cailey) Cao Le,聽聽a sophomore international relations major from Vietnam, that understanding of the daily lives, struggles, and goals of the local people made the trip a unique experience.聽

鈥淚 think that is the amazing part,鈥� Cao Le said. 鈥淲e had a chance to understand their daily life. You have a chance for very intense interaction, also intense observation鈥攔eally, really powerful to help understand more about the country.鈥澛�

Cao Le鈥檚 research focused on the relationship between democracy and Islam in The Gambia. According to Cao Le, about 96% of the population of The Gambia identifies as Muslim, and the country just adopted democracy in 2017.聽聽

In addition to interviewing the Imam of the Masjid Taqwa Mosque, one of the leading religious leaders in the country, Cao Le also observed how the people acted, prayed, and worshiped, including in public spaces, to fuel her research.聽聽

聽Fun and games

Even with a schedule jam-packed with interviews and meetings, the students were able to squeeze in time to have some fun. With the beach just steps away from their hotel, swimming and playing beach volleyball together were common pastimes.聽

They also embraced the city life by wandering the town and enjoying local foods, African music, and each other鈥檚 stories about their experiences. The numerous markets were also a highlight of the trip.聽聽

鈥淭here were a ton of markets you could go to and really engage with the locals,鈥� Kirkwood said. 鈥淚 think we made a lot of local friends. It is branded 鈥楾he Smiling Coast鈥� for a reason.”聽

In addition, some were able to visit the Bijilo Forest Park, a national park often known as Monkey Park, to learn about the efforts around sustainability and the conservation of the monkeys that reside there.聽

聽Giving back

The second component of Field Experience in Development is volunteerism: giving back to a local community in tandem with KidsGive, a scholarship program associated with 麻豆影院. The mission of KidsGive is to educate those in the U.S. about the life and culture of African communities.聽

鈥淭he students both do field research and volunteer in community schools, so they help contribute to the places that they visit as well,鈥� Skran said.聽

Organized by junior Fanta Jatta, a neuroscience major from Madison, Wisconsin, the students visited Presentation of Mary Basic Cycle School in Brikama. Four of the 16 students came to The Gambia specifically to volunteer, attending the school daily to perform eye screenings for 400 students. They also helped an eye doctor with further examinations, and KidsGive furnished 32 students with much-needed glasses.聽聽

Additional 麻豆影院 students came to help with the screenings for one day of the week, which Wood said was a very eye-opening experience for her.聽聽

鈥淲hen I was very young, I started wearing glasses and contacts,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淎 lot of these older kids who were coming in had really bad vision, and they had been going through school not knowing that they needed these.鈥澛�

麻豆影院 and KidsGive also gave back in the form of sports fun, which Wood connected to her research. Before arriving at the school, Wood purchased sports equipment to be donated to the school, and 麻豆影院 put on a field day for the students. They all spent the afternoon playing soccer and volleyball and conducting relay races.聽聽

Wood said one of her favorite things about the day was seeing how dedicated some of the students were to their sport.聽聽

鈥淭hese boys ran all the way home, changed into their soccer uniforms and cleats, and came back because they wanted to show us how good they were at soccer,鈥� Wood said.聽聽

The day they were able to spend at the school was one of the most impactful parts of the entire trip for both Manzanera and Cao Le.聽聽聽

鈥淛ust seeing how happy the kids were to see us, to interact with us, how excited they were,鈥� Manzanera said, 鈥渢hat really made me very happy to see.鈥澛�

For Cao Le, the warm-heartedness of the kids made a big impact.聽聽

鈥淚 feel like a few hours of playing with the kids made my heart feel so much love and kindness,鈥� Cao Le said. 鈥淚 definitely want to come back to that school again, all because of the experience with the people in The Gambia, the local people. They are so amazing, kind, and warm-hearted.鈥澛�

Community-engaged learning

One of the benefits of traveling as part of the class, the students agreed, was that they were able to explore the country deeper and at a different pace than a tourist.聽

Kirkwood reflected on how the structure of the trip forced her outside of her comfort zone. Usually a planner and itinerary follower, she adapted to their pace and was able to 鈥済o with the flow.鈥澛犅�

鈥淚t really made me feel like I connected more with the people there,鈥� Kirkwood said, 鈥渁nd just kind of enjoyed their presence as they enjoyed mine, and that was really nice.鈥澛�

Without the class, Wood thought she wouldn鈥檛 have gotten the same experience in The Gambia.聽

鈥淕oing out into the cities, going into people鈥檚 homes, into the schools, I got to experience the country from a lot of its different aspects,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy that I got the experience to travel there and do this kind of research.鈥澛�

On May 15, the students presented their research posters in Steitz Atrium. The posters remain on display in Briggs Hall.聽聽

Set in 2006, the film depicts the Kingdom of Bhutan鈥檚 transition to democracy through an oft-humorous story involving a mock election, a valuable rifle that falls into the hands of a monk, an American antique weapons collector in pursuit, and villagers unmoved by material goods.

The Monk and the Gun earned the Showcase Audience Choice Award in Vancouver and the Special Jury Prize in Rome. And it鈥檚 been drawing stellar reviews.

Variety magazine called it a 鈥渄roll, shrewdly satirical fable, in which Western values crash against a seemingly intransigent (but potentially more enlightened) South Asian culture.鈥� The review praised Dorji as a 鈥済ifted storyteller who keeps audiences guessing about his characters鈥� motives until the surprising moment everything comes together.鈥�

Deadline predicted an Oscar nod for Dorji and the film: 鈥淣o sophomore jinx here, this one is even better than his first, and that is saying something.鈥滵orji, a Bhutan native, was a government major at 麻豆影院 and has said professors such as Claudena Skran, William Hixon, and Steven Wulf were instrumental in his studies. He returned to Bhutan following graduation and took up filmmaking about a decade later.

In an interview with The Wrap, Dorji said he鈥檚 still wrapping his head around the whirlwind journey he took when Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom went from an unknown film by a first-time Bhutanese filmmaker to a 2022 Oscar nominee.

鈥淚t can be quite challenging when you work that hard to make something and then people don鈥檛 even see it,鈥� Dorji said. 鈥淏ut as a Buddhist, I believe in karma, and I believe that if you have the right motivation and you work hard, things start turning around. And it was amazing to see the film go from this remote school (where the film was shot) and make its way through the world and end up as an Oscar nominee.鈥�

The Monk and the Gun explores new territory, set in the context of a shift to democracy, Dorji tells The Wrap.

鈥淚 really wanted to build on what I had achieved with聽Lunana聽and challenge myself as a storyteller,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 also wanted to play around with political satire and tell a story of my country in this state of transition.鈥�

Getting energized: What work have you done or will you be doing at 麻豆影院 that gets you the most excited?聽

The past two years I鈥檝e enjoyed my term as director of First-Year Studies. I took up this position midway through COVID, and it has been at times a challenge to reestablish traditions around the course. Because of my work in religious studies, I鈥檓 interested in scripture and the way texts come to serve as touchstones for groups of people. One thing I like about First-Year Studies is the way it gives us a common set of works at the center of our college community. There鈥檚 nothing else like it in our curriculum where every student and a subset of faculty are reading the same text. This communal value is most clear for longstanding works like Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.

Through this experience I鈥檝e also discovered that I enjoy thinking about questions regarding the introductory education of students. I鈥檓 on the task force redesigning the First-Year Studies class, and that raises all kinds of questions. I鈥檓 also working now in another group to design the Business and Society course that all students will take at the start of the business and entrepreneurship major. I guess this is another part of my resistance to specialization the instant students arrive on campus. Humanities courses are a great place to build connections across subjects and to give space for reflection.

Going places: Is there an example of somewhere your career has taken you (either a physical space or something more intellectual, emotional, or spiritual) that took you by surprise?

I鈥檝e definitely surprised myself with the course of my intellectual journey. I came to 麻豆影院 with Cairo and Egypt on my brain. Up through tenure a lot of my work centered on medieval Cairo. But then in the 2010s it got more difficult to travel to Egypt with all the political upheaval, and so I started to think more about sacred space from a global perspective. During these years we developed the global studies major and I had opportunities to travel to new countries like Indonesia and Senegal and Dubai. So, you could say that I鈥檝e pursued a larger canvas for my questions about Islam and the way humans experience place.

Out of the classroom

This or that: If you weren鈥檛 teaching for a living, what would you be doing?

I would probably rephrase this question to be more like: If you weren鈥檛 teaching at 麻豆影院 for a living, then what would you be doing? And my answer would be teaching someplace else, if not at a college, then at a high school. Teaching is the task of bringing students into contact with the larger contexts of their human experience, and as a democratic society we can鈥檛 move forward without good teaching. But if I had to think about what I would do besides teaching, then my mind goes to owning a bookstore. When I was in my 20s, I worked at bookstores, such as Vroman鈥檚 Bookstore in Pasadena. It wasn鈥檛 so long ago that colleges and universities weren鈥檛 the only places where intellectual exchange took place, and I think it would be healthy if there were more outposts for thinking seriously about the world and sharing ideas.

Right at home: Whether for work, relaxation or reflection, what鈥檚 your favorite spot on campus?

I like the trees on campus. I was thrilled last year to learn about the existence of a map that identifies all the trees on our campus. Over the years I鈥檝e tried to learn the names of the tree species around campus, and now I know there鈥檚 a place I can go if I get stumped. One of the goals in my class, Forests and Human Flourishing, is to get students thinking about the names of the natural things they see, and to move beyond the generic terms of 鈥渢ree鈥� and 鈥渇lower鈥� as we move through the world.

It鈥檚 always nice in the spring term as the weather warms and students get out onto the Main Hall quad to study or chat with friends. I enjoy taking walks down along the Fox River. It鈥檚 amazing to live so close to a river. I grew up in Southern California, so the abundance of water in Wisconsin continues to be a bit mind-bending. We鈥檝e got a river that runs past our campus, the Great Lakes aren鈥檛 so far away, and then 鈥渦p north鈥� we have all these smaller lakes.

One book, one recording, one film: Name one of each that speaks to your soul? Or you would recommend to a friend? Or both?

Book: The Amur River: Between Russia and China, by Colin Thubron. More than any other genre, I love travel writing. I like to follow someone through a landscape and read about their experiences. This book is by the dean of English travel writers, and in it he follows the Amur River from its origin in Mongolia and then along the vast stretch where it serves as a border between Russia and China. Thubron goes back and forth across the river and he describes the striking contrast between the Russian and Chinese sides of the river. The book has only become more interesting as events of the past year have drawn these two nations closer together. It鈥檚 not that I would ever be drawn to travel along the Amur River, but to me that鈥檚 the point of reading a travel narrative: getting somewhere I couldn鈥檛 otherwise visit.

Recording: FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE by Brian Eno. This is such an outstanding album that I have to mention it. I try to find art that recognizes our environmental crisis and responds by reimagining the human relationship to the world. This album draws on the ambient work Eno has spent a lifetime producing (Music for Airports, Apollo), but is still an album of songs in the vein of Another Green World. The lyrics move toward an earthy or environmental perspective. The first song asks: 鈥淲ho gives a thought about the nematodes鈥� and the album proceeds to move up and down the scales of the cosmos, but always working to shift our point of view from the human. I鈥檝e thought for a while that music would be a great way to introduce students to questions about climate change.

鈥淢arif茅鈥檚 passion for the project shone through the energy she displayed on stage,鈥� said Vaughan. 鈥淚 believe Marif茅鈥檚 pitch was the best that day and that is why she was one of the students awarded funds to complete her project.鈥�

Entenza-Sierra will use the prize money to purchase quality supplies for her portrait project, which is already under way.

Her Senior Experience project, Neither Here nor There: The Known and the Unknown, is a comparative portrait series that will feature members of the Appleton community alongside citizens of Sierra Leone. Having traveled to the West African country with KidsGive for a humanitarian relief project, Entenza-Sierra was excited to return in December for her capstone work.

The first half of the portraits feature 麻豆影院 students, faculty, and employees here in Appleton. She traveled to Sierra Leone for 10 days during winter break, where she explored Freetown, Bo, and Mattru Jong and found subjects for the second half of the exhibit鈥檚 paintings. Entenza-Sierra seeks to reflect the lifetimes of people in her portraits by taking the time to speak with her subjects. 聽 聽聽

鈥淧eople are important to talk to, people are important to get to know,鈥� said Entenza-Sierra. 鈥淵ou never know how that will circle back to you.鈥�

Entenza-Sierra wants to shine a light on the lives of Sierra Leoneans, both personal and political. She hopes her exhibit will encourage viewers to learn more about the frequently overshadowed socio-political strife in Sierra Leone. The exhibit aims to diversify its viewers’ perspectives by exposing people to new faces, cultures, and ideas. Entenza-Sierra plans to display each community鈥檚 portraits on opposite sides of the exhibit and allow people to question and evaluate the separation between Appleton and Sierra Leone.聽聽

Entenza-Sierra has carefully considered every aspect of her capstone, all the way down to the medium itself. The acrylic paint she is using will not only dry quicker, making it easier to capture details live, but is also independent from the dark and often oppressive history of oil paint. Entenza-Sierra wants to show the 麻豆影院-Appleton community unfamiliar faces of the lively and relatively unknown country of Sierra Leone. Neither Here nor There: The Known and the Unknown will be presented in the Wriston Art Center this spring.

Entenza-Sierra said she plans to attend graduate school for her Master of Fine Arts or a doctorate in Middle Eastern studies. Regardless of her path, she plans to bring her love of art with her.

鈥淭hey are going to be living in a world that鈥檚 going to be increasingly international,鈥� Donnelly said. 鈥淭hey may think, oh, I鈥檓 going to work for a company like Kimberly-Clark or Caterpillar or something, but those are international companies. They鈥檙e competing with international companies and their markets are going to be increasingly outside of the U.S.鈥�

He encouraged students to seek out international opportunities while in school, from studying foreign languages, to taking educational trips abroad, to attending events hosted by international students on campus.

Donnelly found his path into the U.S. Foreign Service while volunteering with the Peace Corps in Tunisia shortly after graduating from 麻豆影院 in 1968. He took his first assignment during the administration of Richard Nixon and would work through seven presidents, retiring as George W. Bush was leaving office.

He said he leaned into his 麻豆影院 education each step of the way as he climbed the ranks as a government servant, working in Senegal for two and a half years, Ethiopia for two years, Egypt for two years, Mali for two years, Tunisia for three years, and Sri Lanka for three years.

He quickly learned to navigate the world of government service when elections shuffle the players.

鈥淣inety percent of American foreign policy doesn鈥檛 change,鈥� Donnelly said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing visas for people coming, we鈥檙e out there trying to promote American companies, we鈥檙e looking for support at the UN for democracy. That doesn鈥檛 change. But you do see changes when a new administration comes in.鈥�

Some administrations he worked through were more idealistic in their foreign policies, he said. Others were more pragmatic. As an employee of the government, you aren鈥檛 always going to agree with policies, but you have a job to do, he said.

鈥淚 quickly realized that I was not elected to make these policies,鈥� Donnelly said. 鈥淲e have a process. Government employees are basically paid to implement them. So, I say to young people all the time, if you are going to go work for the government鈥攊nternationally or domestic鈥攜ou need to know enough about yourself to know if you鈥檙e comfortable being a government servant.鈥�

Donnelly is one of four 麻豆影院 alumni who have been appointed U.S. ambassadors by presidents, joining Walter North 鈥�72, U.S. ambassador to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the Republic of Vanuatu from 2012 to 2016; Christopher Murray 鈥�75, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of the Congo from 2010 to 2013; and David Mulford 鈥�59, U.S. ambassador to India from 2004 to 2009.

鈥淎ll of the traits that make someone successful in business or academia or journalism or whatever it is, you need all of those to succeed in international work,鈥� Donnelly said. 鈥淏ut you also need to be culturally sensitive and be understanding and be intellectually curious about other cultures and free from quick value judgments. You have to be willing to try to understand the complexities of the international world.

鈥淎nd I do think a good liberal arts college like 麻豆影院 does that. It鈥檚 a good training ground, I would argue.鈥�

Jason Brozek, the Stephen Edward Scarff Professor of International Affairs and associate professor of government, has been coordinating Donnelly鈥檚 visit to 麻豆影院, bringing him into courses ranging from聽International Law, to聽Intro to Political Science, to聽Effective Altruism. Donnelly also is meeting with students in the Career Center and talking with faculty.

He was initially due to be the Distinguished Visiting Scarff Professor in Spring 2020, but that was postponed due to the pandemic. In Spring 2021, he and Brozek worked to split the duties of the position to accommodate the times. He spent a week with Brozek鈥檚 remote-synchronous聽Intro to International Relations聽class, and in May he delivered a remote public lecture titled 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Trade Mess: Who Caused it, and Can Biden Fix it?鈥�

鈥淭hanks to the support of the Scarff family over the last three decades, we鈥檝e been able to connect students with ambassadors, diplomats, leaders of global nonprofits, and other experts in international affairs,鈥� Brozek said.

Scarff visiting professors have included, among others, William Sloane Coffin Jr., civil rights and peace activist; Takakazu Kuriyama, former ambassador of Japan to the United States; George Meyer, former secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Robert Suettinger 鈥�68, Intelligence analyst and China policy expert; Russ Feingold, former U.S. senator from Wisconsin; and Nancy Hendry, international attorney fighting sexual exploitation.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been an incredible opportunity to enrich our academic community and to make the work of international politics tangible and hands-on for multiple decades of Lawrentians,鈥� Brozek said.