An important part of Service Focus is carrying the service experience into the academic year. Service Focus cohorts are designed to connect peers and faculty mentors in conversation around a specific theme.
An important part of Service Focus is carrying the service experience into the academic year. Service Focus cohorts are designed to connect peers and faculty mentors in conversation around a specific theme.
Heather Howard is a Lecturer in Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School and a faculty affiliate of the Center for Health and Wellbeing; her courses have touched on topics from the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, state and local health policy, public health and politics, and the social determinants of health.
Political polarization in the United States has escalated in recent years, creating challenges for progress on a number of policy fronts -- public health and healthcare policies are particularly contested. Among the many pressing health issues facing the United States, gun violence remains a particularly thorny issue -- it is a leading cause of premature death and injury, but is particularly difficult to address. This cohort will meet over dinner to examine questions such as the following:
• What insights can we gain from examining gun violence as a case study in polarization? What are ways to generate bipartisan dialogue and action, and overcome political paralysis?
• How can each of us as citizens exercise our influence and make our voice heard as constituents? What skills should we develop, and how can we acquire and practice these?
• What are ways to enhance communication and dialogue among researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders in the community on complex topics such as gun violence?
• What does research suggest about key drivers and determinants of gun violence in the United States?
Leyla Arcasoy was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in New York working with health organizations to create an accessible curriculum for New York City teenagers on cancer care, screening, and prevention.
Max Chan was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. He was located in Shanghai and Beijing working with Abbott Laboratories on policies and programs to increase access to treatment for diabetics.
Hifsa Chaudry was supported by the Pace Center for Civic Engagement and was working on campus as a Community Action (CA) Fellow. CA provides a week-long, immersive introduction to meaningful service and community building for incoming first-years at Princeton. Hifsa assisted with community partnership development, communications, service-learning activities, and logistical planning for the program.
Jen No was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). She was located in Princeton, NJ working to develop STEM curricula with the Princeton Blairstown Center, which provides educational opportunities for underserved youth in a nature-filled environment.
Claire Silberman was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) and Service Focus. She was located in NYC working on housing advocacy through the Supportive Housing Network.
Valeria Torres-Olivares was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) and Service Focus. She was located in Washington, DC working at the office of U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-D).
Adam Wickham was supported by the International Internship Program. He was located in Moscow, Russia with the Russian International Affairs Council, supporting their work on diplomacy, conflict resolution, and cross-cultural engagement.
Emma Treadway was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in Cincinnati, OH working with a local city council member, with a particular focus on connecting policymakers and constituents.
Ashwin Mahadevan was supported by the International Internship Program. He was located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia working with the People Improvement Organization, a nonprofit organization focused on rebuilding Cambodia’s educational infrastructure and providing impoverished urban youth with educational opportunities.
Naomi Hess was supported by Service Focus. She was located in Washington, DC working on advocacy for marginalized groups, with a specific focus on disability rights.
Benjamin Morison is a professor of philosophy at Princeton University.
Experiential education, in which students actively engage with work beyond the classroom, has been increasingly emphasized in both primary and higher education and hailed as an approach which can lead to more profound academic learning, greater critical and interdisciplinary thinking, and ability to apply knowledge in complex real-world situations. How can we best realize this potential for enhanced learning? This cohort will meet over Monday dinners to consider the fundamental epistemological questions surrounding the idea of experiential education and learning through service, including:
• What sorts of reflection on service experiences can help put it in the appropriate context?
• Is there an unbridgeable divide between experiential learning and classroom learning?
• How exactly can practical experience be regarded as a learning experience? What knowledge is produced, and how? How can that knowledge be translated back to practice and community impact?
• How can we better identify and navigate the tensions and trade-offs that are inherent to learning through service?
• What are ways of capturing and communicating learning outcomes and benefits?
Emma Moriarty was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in Phoenix, AZ and Kailua, HI; working with Hale Kipa's sex abuse and sex trafficking survivor rehabilitation center, Emma conducted research and also supported the organization with communications and outreach.
Fernanda Romo Herrera Ibarrola was supported by the International Internship Program. She was located in Buenos Aires, Argentina working on democracy, equality and anticorruption with Asociacion Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia.
Jamie Rosen was supported by the Center for Jewish Life. She was located in Princeton, NJ working on programming for the local Jewish community within the Princeton campus.
Avi Siegal was supported by the Center for Jewish Life. He was working in Paris, France with the Aladdin Project, an international NGO that works to promote mutual understanding between people of different faiths and cultures, with a special focus on Jews and Muslims, intercultural dialogue, and Holocaust education.
Rebecca Chelli was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) and Service Focus. She was working at Legal Services of New Jersey in Edison, which is an organization dedicated to providing free legal information and services to low income clients concerning civil legal matters.
Eric Chen was supported by Princeton in Asia (PiA) and Service Focus, and was teaching an immersion English program to college students in Jishou, China. This town is in a remote area of Hunan province populated by Tujia and Miao, which are ethnic minority groups. Eric assisted in improving educational resources for these underserved minority students.
Frelicia Tucker was supported by Princeton in Asia (PiA) and Service Focus, and was teaching an immersion English program to college students in Jishou, China. This town is in a remote area of Hunan province populated by Tujia and Miao, which are ethnic minority groups. Frelicia assisted in improving educational resources for these underserved minority students
Allen Delgado was supported by Princeton in Asia (PiA) and Service Focus, and was teaching an immersion English program to college students in Jishou, China. This town is in a remote area of Hunan province populated by Tujia and Miao, which are ethnic minority groups. Allen assisted in improving educational resources for these underserved minority students
Sam Wang is a professor of neuroscience at Princeton University.
Ensuring fair representation is critical to a vibrant democracy, but remains a challenge for the United States. Gerrymandering, or the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to establish a political advantage, is widely recognized as a practice that fundamentally undermines democracy. We are currently in a critical moment as in 2021, state governments will start to draw new Congressional and state legislative districts. This cohort will meet over Wednesday dinners to examine questions such as the following:
• How can we gauge whether electoral district maps allow for fair representation? And how can we better ensure fair redistricting and allow citizens’ views and interests to be properly represented in our democratic processes?
• What are ways to enhance communication and dialogue among researchers, legislators, and stakeholders in the community on redistricting? In particular, what are ways to engage marginalized communities in conversations on redistricting?
• How can we best leverage technology, from data visualization to digital media, to support fair redistricting advocacy and reform efforts?
Harshini Abbaraju was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in Des Moines, Iowa working on community organizing and political access with the Asian & Latino Coalition Political Action Committee.
Roshini Balasubramanian was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). She was working at the Children's National Medical Center Pediatric Health Network in Washington, DC, conducting data analyses aimed at improving the quality of patient care.
Christine Cho was supported by the Princeton Environmental Institute. She was located in Zurich, Switzerland; her research at Zurich University used data science to investigate links between airtravel and infectious disease transmission.
Carrie Li was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in Washington, DC working with 270 Strategies, a company that matches grassroots organizing to candidates and causes nationwide to build strong campaigns. Carrie has particular interests in supporting efforts to expand voting rights and eliminate gerrymandering.
Derek Li was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. He was located in Los Angeles, CA, working on community outreach and developing training curricula with APIs Mobilize, a non- profit that provides professional training and political opportunities for high-school students.
Ashley Morales was supported by the Pace Center for Civic Engagement and was working on campus as a Community Action (CA) Fellow. CA provides a week-long, immersive introduction to meaningful service and community building for incoming first-years at Princeton. Ashley assisted with community partnership development, communications, service-learning activities, and logistical planning.
Emily Philippides was supported by the Princeton Varsity Club and Service Focus. She was located outside Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with Coach for College, providing teaching and coaching to assist their mission of promoting higher education through sports.
Zach Sippy was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. He was located in Minneapolis, MN working in partnership with Carleton College's Religious Diversity in Minnesota Initiative. This program documents the stories and histories of varying religious communities in Minnesota, with the aim of promoting tolerance and understanding. Zach's project focused on exploring the relationship between the Jewish and the Somali Muslim communities in Minneapolis.
Jennifer Jennings (Princeton ’00) is a professor of sociology and a Woodrow Wilson School Faculty Associate at Princeton University.
Education is often considered a crucial gateway to opportunity as well as an engine of societal progress. Yet, education in the United States is highly unequal -- in recent years, disparities in access and outcomes have persisted or grown across many dimensions such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status. This cohort will meet over dinner to examine questions such as the following:
• What are the structures and systems that drive educational disparities in the United States?
• What are practices and policies that can reduce educational disparities?
• What are ways to enhance communication and dialogue among researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders in the community on educational disparities?
Leila Abou-Jaoude was supported by the Program for Community Engaged Scholarship and Service Focus. She was located in Princeton, NJ. As an education and engagement intern at McCarter Theater, Leila assisted programming and outreach for a youth theater camp.
Paola De La Cruz was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). She was located in Newark, NJ working at the Link Community Charter School, a free public charter school. Paola served as the Summer Academy Assistant Coordinator and helped to plan and implement components of the summer program.
Gabriella Carter was supported by the International Internship Program. She was located in Lima, Peru working on social entrepreneurship and education through the Emzingo Global Impact Fellows program.
Hanying Jiang was supported by the Princeton Summer Journalism Program. She was organizing their ten day summer educational program in Princeton, NJ, which exposes low-income and high-achieving students to journalism as well as college preparation.
Tammy Pham was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in San Jose, CA to develop college access programming for high school juniors and seniors in the KIPP San Jose Collegiate charter school, which is dedicated to providing low-income, first-generation students with the skills they need to get to and through college.
Emily Sanchez was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in Newark, NJ working on education access with NJ SEEDS, a non profit organization dedicated to helping low income high achieving students apply to college and independent schools.
Eric Tran was supported by the International Internship Program. He was located in Hanoi, Vietnam teaching
English to underserved youth with UBELONG.
Helen So was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). She was located in San Francisco working at New Doors Ventures on job training and skill building for the homeless.
Sigrid Adriaenssens is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, where she directs the Form-Finding Lab.
Climate change has been called the defining issue of our time, and there is no doubt that we stand at a critical moment. The effects of climate change range from decreased food production to increased risk of natural disasters, and without concerted immediate action to mitigate these impacts, adaptation in the future will be even more challenging and costly. This cohort will meet biweekly over dinner to examine questions such as the following:
• How are the effects of climate change manifesting? How do effects vary depending on socioeconomic, infrastructural, topographic, and built-environment factors?
• How can cities and municipalities better prepare for the multi-dimensional effects of climate change, working towards both sustainability and environmental justice?
• How can collaboration and communication among researchers, governments, and communities be enhanced for climate change-related action?
Ronnie Kilhonge was supported by The John C. Bogle Fellowship in Civic Service. He was located in Nairobi, Kenya working with M-Kopa Solar, the leading company in solar panel installations in Kenya. Ronnie's data analytics work supported M-Kopa's efforts to offer micro finance products to their clients to help them acquire solar panels.
Ange Ndayishimiye was supported by the International Internship Program. She was located in Beijing, China
working at the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture; her research assisted with development
of ecological architecture suitable for low-resource rural regions in China.
Hannah To was supported by the Princeton Environmental Institute. She was located in Dover, NJ working with Lightening Energy, a renewable energy start up that works on developing high energy density battery technologies as well as other technologies that can decrease our energy dependency.
Ritvik Agnihotri was supported by the Pace Center for Civic Engagement and was working on campus as a Community Action (CA) Fellow. CA provides a week-long, immersive introduction to meaningful service and community building for incoming first-years at Princeton. Ritvik assisted with community partnership development, communications, service-learning activities, and logistical planning for the program.
Vincent Deluca was supported by the Program for Community Engaged Scholarship and Service Focus. He was working with Sustainable Princeton to research the effects of water runoff on local residents.
Maria Fleury was supported by the Princeton Environmental Institute. She spent most of her summer in Princeton, NJ working with Professor Elke Weber on behavioral science research to understand decision-making around sustainability. She also spent time in Kuria West, Kenya with a Princeton Engineers without Borders team.
Sydney Hughes was supported by the Princeton Environmental Institute. She was located in Princeton, NJ working in the Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with Prof. Howard Stone; her research focused on the movement of soil carbon, a key factor in agricultural and global climate change models.
Joseph Prentice ’22 is supported by the Princeton Environmental Institute. He will be located in Cape Town, South Africa at the University of Cape Town; his research will focus on the impact of drug resistance on individual susceptibility to HIV infection and the risk of HIV transmission.
Claire Wayner was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) and Service Focus. She was working at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, DC, researching policy and supporting communications related to their work on renewable energy.
Tessa Lowinske Desmond is an Associate Research Scholar in American Studies.
Our food system encompasses everything from the production of our food to its consumption and everything in between. As such, it sits at the nexus of concerns about health, sustainability, politics, and economics. This cohort will meet to discuss questions and topics such as:
How can we better understand food systems through our academic studies (across a variety of disciplines)?
What are different models and approaches to the food system? What are the fundamental premises they are based on, and what problems do they attempt to address? What are relative benefits and drawbacks of these models and approaches?
What are the research approaches and methodologies that can be brought to bear on the food system? What are possible avenues for independent work in the junior and senior year in this area?
Isaac Hart was supported by the Center for Jewish Life. He was located in London, UK where he was working on intercultural dialogue in the Jewish community with the organization JW3.
Roy Kim was supported by the International Internship Program. He was located in Kampala, Uganda working with TEXFAD, a nonprofit organization that promotes and supports small business innovation with a focus on utilizing local, sustainable resources such as banana fiber.
Maya Mishra was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was conducting research with NASA in Washington, DC; working with NASA's Chief Health and Medical Officer, Dr. J.D. Polk, Maya conducted research on the human body in microgravity, which benefits innovation in space medicine as well as our understanding of aging and stress.
Noel Peng was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). She was located in New York, NY at the Museum on Chinese in America, a historical organization that illuminates the history of Chinese immigrants in the United States. Noel's work in the museum's education department supported their efforts to foster discussion about identity, race, immigration, and public policy.
Stav Bejerano was supported by Service Focus. He was participating in the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies Global Seminar in Nanyuki, Kenya; his work examined how film can advance understanding of conservation and sustainability, and how communities can use media to support their environmental activism.
Germalysa Ferrer was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). She was located in Trenton, NJ and worked with Arm in Arm, a community organization that works to improve food access and stable housing.
Lisa John was supported by Princeton in Asia (PiA) and Service Focus, and was teaching an immersion English program to college students in Jishou, China. This town is in a remote area of Hunan province populated by Tujia and Miao, which are ethnic minority groups. Lisa assisted in improving educational resources for these underserved minority students.
Patrick Huang was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). He was located in Redwing, MN working to promote college access for youth through Every Hand Joined.
Melody Zheng was supported by the Pace Center for Civic Engagement and was working on campus as a Summer Fellowship Coordinator. She was organizing activities and events for the Trenton Summer Fellowship, a pilot program designed to give Princeton students working in Princeton or Trenton over the summer an opportunity to engage more deeply with the city of Trenton.
Gabriel Duguay was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) and Service Focus. He was located in Montreal, Canada working with the Quebec-Labrador Foundation, which supports projects related to community-based conservation, preserving biodiversity, and promoting local cultural heritage.
Gabriel Duguay ’22 is supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS) and Service Focus. He will be located in Montreal, Canada working with the Quebec-Labrador Foundation, which supports projects related to community-based conservation, preserving biodiversity, and promoting local cultural heritage.
João Biehl is the Susan Dod Brown Professor of anthropology and is a Woodrow Wilson School Faculty Associate at Princeton University.
‘Health’ and ‘care’ are words that we often use in daily speech as well as in research and policy — but that we do not always fully unpack to ourselves or each other. This cohort will meet over dinners to critically reflect on your personal and community service experiences of health and caregiving, and explore what it might mean to conceptualize health as human adaptation to changing environments and care as human presence. As we consider how biosocial and medical realities shape each other, we will delve into questions such as the following:
• What are the social and medical implications of how we imagine ‘health’ and ‘care’? How do these concepts vary among patients and health practitioners and from community to community, and how are they intertwined with ideas of therapeutic efficacy and wellbeing?
• How is healthcare organized and delivered and which values undergird it? Which structural factors and social markers impact healthcare access and health disparities?
• How do vulnerable communities conceptualize illness and suffering and enact care?
• How are ‘best practices’ in healthcare evaluated? Which kind of methodological toolkits can we assemble that will allow us to better identify people’s needs and create responsive and caring practices?
Abigail Drummond was supported by the International Internship Program. She was located in Johannesburg, South Africa working with Ibis Reproductive Health, a reproductive health clinic that aims to empower women through sexual education and resources. Abigail's work supported quantitative and qualitative research about women's sexual health in South Africa, specifically as it relates to HIV/AIDS.
Nayef Kiame was supported by the International Internship Program. He was located in Riobamba, Ecuador working with Partners of Andean Community Health (PACH). Nayef supported PACH's work on increasing healthcare access and delivery to underserved communities.
Mina Musthafa was supported by Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). She was located in New York, NY working at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Mina helped to identify unstably housed patients with high utilization of medical care and emergency services and assisted them in attaining better housing and advocating for medical respite.
Grace Simmons was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in Philadelphia, PA working with Dr. C. Alix Timko's laboratory at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; her research explored clinical approaches to treating adolescent eating disorders.
Grace Xu was supported by Princeton in Asia (PiA) and Service Focus, and was teaching an immersion English program to college students in Jishou, China. This town is in a remote area of Hunan province populated by Tujia and Miao, which are ethnic minority groups. Grace assisted in improving educational resources for these underserved minority students
Mary Davis was supported by the International Internship Program. She was located in Arusha, Tanzania working at the Levolosi Health Center, a clinic that provides primary and maternal/child healthcare for the local community.
Zaynab Masood was supported by the International Internship Program. She was located in Hanoi, Vietnam working with the Morning Star Center, which provides early diagnosis, care and rehabilitation to mentally disabled children.
Nathnael Mengistie was supported by the University of Virginia, and was investigating challenges in healthcare policy, global health and medicine.
Sandra Yang was supported by the Center for Health and Wellbeing/Global Health Program. For her Health Grand Challenge internship in Memphis, Tennessee at the Le Bonheur Children's hospital, Sandra was researching pediatric obesity.
Sarah Yashar-Gershman was supported by the International Internship Program. She was located in Riobamba, Ecuador working with Partners of Andean Community Health (PACH). Sarah supported PACH's work on increasing healthcare access and delivery to underserved communities.
Ilya Yatsishin was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. He was located in Los Angeles, CA working with the Institute of Urology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine on innovative approaches to minimally invasive urologic surgery.
Leah Smith was supported by the International Internship Program. She was located in Phnom Penh,Cambodia working at the Cambodia Organization for Living and Temporary Care. Leah's work supported the organization's mission of providing temporary and long-term residential care, education, medical and social support.
Joy Xie was supported by the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education as a participant in the Princeton Start-up Immersion Program (PSIP). She was located in Tel Aviv, Israel working on healthcare and entrepreneurship
Christina Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Concepts of identity -- such as race, gender, social class, and religion -- may be historically and socially constructed, but have a powerful influence on how we understand and experience the world, as well as how we interact and are perceived by others. This cohort will meet over Friday lunch (12-1:20pm) to delve deeper into and challenge concepts of identity as it relates to engaging in service and social change. The cohort will explore questions and themes such as:
Nati Arbelaez Solano was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in Pittsburgh, PA where she worked with Jewish Family and Community Services to connect immigrant and refugee families with support services.
Tamica Perera was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was working at an orphanage located in Marawila, Sri Lanka, teaching children English and math in Marawila as well as doing various workshops to help them develop self-confidence and self-esteem.
Ana Sotomayor was supported by the Program for Community Engaged Scholarship and Service Focus. They were located in Princeton working with the Princeton University LGBT Center on their Oral History Project, which seeks to collect interviews with LGBTQIA-identifying alumni for research and archival purposes. Ana's work supported the Center in making their archive more readily accessible for research purposes.
Gabrielle Sudilovsky ’22 was supported by the Center for Jewish Life and Service Focus. She was working with IsraAID, an Israeli-based humanitarian aid agency that responds to emergency crises and engages in international development around the world.
Priya Vulchi was supported by the John C. Bogle '51 Fellowship in Civic Service. She was located in Puerto Rico to further the work of her non-profit, CHOOSE. Priya's work paired interviews with residents on race and identity with systematic research on racial disparities, and aimed to spark public conversation on the U.S.’s fraught history with its territories and what it means to be 'American.'
Elif Aydin was supported by Princeton's Engineers without Borders (EWB) and was working in El Cajuil, Dominican Republic. Elif and her EWB team worked to improve the delivery and safety of water in this rural mountain region.
Soojin Robinson was supported by Princeton in Asia (PiA) and Service Focus, and was teaching an immersion English program to youth in Vientiane, Laos . She was working with the Lao Rugby Federation, which works with youth to improve confidence and language skills.
Tali Shemma was supported by the Center for Jewish Life. She was located in Tel Aviv, Israel and worked with EcoPeace, an environmental NGO that uses environmental work as an instrument for regional peace-building and community-building. She was also involved in organizing a mixed Israeli-Palestinian summer camp with Roots, a grassroots organization that works to promote interfaith dialogue.
Isabel Lewis was working in New York, NY; as a Residential Assistant at the School of the NYTimes, Isabel supported their Summer Academy's educational mission of introducing journalism to high school students.