Profiles

CLAS students pursue diverse interests in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences on campus and around the world. Creating new knowledge through interdisciplinary study and sharing it through outreach to the community are among the College's goals.

Environmental action, one step at a time

“This is the spoon we use at the Student Union,” said Craig Kell, CLAS '08, holding a black plastic spoon. “And this is the one we used at the conference,” he said, this time showing a yellowish spoon which - on first impression - felt and looked like plastic.

There is one major difference though: the second spoon is made out of potatoes and decomposes in 100 days.

“Imagine what difference we could make just by replacing the silverware!” Kell said.

“We are not trying to cure AIDS, or halt global warming,” said Curran Kennedy, CLAS '08. “But we are all doing small practical things that make a difference.”

Kell, 22, a political science major, and Kennedy, 21, who is double majoring in sociology and global health and poverty, spent their spring break in New Orleans , attending the first meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University at Tulane University .

A branch of the Clinton Global Initiative - which Bill Clinton founded in 2005 to work with government and business leaders to turn good intentions into action - the CGIU intends to do the same by bringing together college students, university officials and global leaders in one network.

The two were among 700 students accepted to the conference. They were the only representatives of UConn present.

CGIU focused on four areas: energy and climate change, global health, human rights and peace and poverty alleviation.

To be part of CGIU, every member - student or not - had to make a commitment, no matter how small or big, to take some practical action to bring about change. Click here to see the rest of this profile.

A focus on photojournalism

Many UConn undergraduates look toward the future and wonder how they’ll make their mark in the world. Phillis Kwentoh, CLAS ’08, is making hers as we speak.

Kwentoh, a journalism major with a double minor in human rights and African American studies, has always had an interest in photography. She plans to pursue a career in photojournalism after college.

In October 2007 Kwentoh was featured in a juried art exhibit in Brooklyn, New York. The exhibit, which was curated by Kareem Black, a big name in celebrity photography, was the perfect opportunity for Kwentoh to showcase her work.

“Showcasing my photography in New York City reassured me that I do have a talent that will take me far.”

While Kwentoh has always had talent, she discovered her confidence while on vacation with her family to her parents’ native Nigeria. Though she was in Nigeria for her mother and grandmother to participate in Onitsha’s cultural ceremony Otu Odu, Kwentoh used her camera to capture a part of Nigeria’s unique culture.

“The picture I like best was taken on the second day of the ceremony,” Kwentoh said. “The picture is of a group of kids watching the ceremony take place.”

Photo by Phillis Kwentoh

Kwentoh later titled this picture Nwa Ifele, which in her family’s native Igbo language means “shy child.” It was also the photo that Black chose for the exhibit.

Kwentoh, who has not taken an art class since attending Connecticut’s North Haven High School, understands the importance of photography.

“The ability to tell a story without saying a single word is what attracted me to photography.”

After working toward a human rights minor with the goal of working for the United Nations, or a non-governmental organization, Kwentoh knows her niche.

“I want to be a human rights advocate and use my photography to show people what’s really going on in the world. I want to capture powerful moments. I want people to look at my photos and say, ‘I understand what you’re saying.’” -- Curran Kennedy, CLAS '08

Jumpstarting preschoolers

The debate on how to improve education for our nation's poor has been going on for decades, but Colleen Deasy , CLAS '08, is forging ahead with a new campaign, determined to produce results.

Deasy, a human development and family studies and English double major, has brought Jumpstart, a national organization dedicated to enhancing the educational foundation for preschoolers, to the University of Connecticut .

“Preschoolers are at a really interesting age and there's a lot of potential to do something beneficial. Studies have shown the importance of early intervention, so we work on language, literacy, problem solving, and social skills,” Deasy says.

Deasy and 45 other UConn students are volunteering this year, working one-on-one in the classroom with the children.

Most of Jumpstart's intervention is focused on children from low-income families. The UConn students work with children in nearby towns.

“We work with children whose families are living below the poverty line because studies have shown that these children typically start school behind their more affluent peers,” she says.

In fact, according to Jumpstart, 50 percent of all children from low-income families start first grade up to two years behind their peers in preschool skills. And 5-year-olds from low-income communities have one-fourth the vocabulary of their mid-income peers.

“I've always liked children and what I'm doing is trying to foster my love for reading and writing in these young kids,” says Deasy.

She sees Jumpstart as a way for her to jump start her own professional career, which she hopes employs a service-oriented approach.

“I see myself going to law school and getting a joint master's in education policy. I'd like to represent families with special needs and make changes to the school system so it's more family-friendly and serves children with special needs better.”

Deasy gives the most credit for her dedication to service to UConn's Community Outreach organization.

Measuring rainfall’s role in climate change

If life is about being in the right place at the right time, graduate student David Hoover , CLAS '08, was in the right place -- UConn's Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE) -- at the right time.

Hoover , who is in the second year of a master's degree through the geosciences program, received one of 25 Multidisciplinary Environmental Research Awards for graduate students for the summer of 2007.

“This grant funded my research through the summer, which was great. There's a tendency toward specialization in the sciences, but this award's multidisciplinary approach allowed me to take ideas from different fields and put them together,” Hoover says.

The CESE grant allowed Hoover to travel to Kansas to do field work on the ecological effects of rainfall changes on tallgrass prairie.

“This project examines how predicted changes in the timing and intensity of precipitation may affect plants in the tallgrass prairie. Understanding this response to climate change is important because grasslands cover 40 percent of the world's land surface, feed the world's wild herbivores and livestock, and remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere,” he explains.

Hoover can simulate these predicted changes in rainfall using the computer program Community Land Model 3.0.

“The program uses year 2000 hourly weather data in Kansas as a control to simulate the effects of different amounts of precipitation on vegetation. I compare what the actual vegetative productivity was in 2000 to what the model simulates with a new, hypothetical amount of precipitation.”

Hoover 's focus on precipitation is a new slant, differing from studies focusing more on temperature and carbon dioxide than rainfall.

“Rain isn't studied a lot but is really important to ecosystems. It's important to see how future climate change might affect ecosystems,” he says. – Curran Kennedy, CLAS ‘08

Learning human rights firsthand

Noopur Vyas, CLAS '08, has known human rights were her calling since she was a young girl.

A double major in international relations and history fit her focus, but Vyas wanted more than classroom study. She wanted to learn directly from the people who have triumphed over tragedy as well as those continuing the fight.

The Semester at Sea study abroad program gave Vyas the perfect opportunity. During Semester at Sea students travel the world via ship for 100 days while visiting eight countries on four continents.

“I couldn't choose one place to go, so I made a snap decision to do Semester at Sea, which allowed me to see the most countries and cultures,” Vyas says.

Accompanying Vyas and the other 650 students on the ship was Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu.

“Tutu was such an inspiration and loved talking to and empowering young people to actually change the world, as opposed to just talking about doing it,” Vyas says.

While in Tutu's home country of South Africa , Vyas participated in Operation Hunger .

“We provided nutrition education for people living in the townships and trained them on what was lacking in their diets.”

In Brazil , Vyas met with officials working toward equal land distribution between Brazil 's affluent and poor.

“There's no comparison to going into a township, HIV clinic, or orphanage and seeing things firsthand that you've otherwise only read about. It's a completely different experience,” Vyas says.

Vyas didn't stop exploring human rights issues when she returned to the States. Over the summer she interned with the State Department's Office of International Affairs: International Organizations.

“I conducted a research project on the government's genocide policy and got an insider's view on U.S. foreign policy concerning Darfur ,” Vyas said.

Back at UConn for her senior year, Vyas is now an Advocacy Project leader examining ways to bring advocacy groups on campus together for networking and to establish common goals.

“I've been really inspired and motivated by Semester at Sea to do community work hands-on and get away from just conceptual stuff.” – Curran Kennedy, CLAS ‘08

Migration moves her thesis

Caroline Platkiewicz, CLAS ’08, doesn’t know what the future has in store for her, but she certainly knows how to take advantage of the present.

An Honors student double majoring in political science and international relations, Platkiewicz has used her time at UConn to participate in the International Relations Association; Husky Reads, a program dedicated to reading to children in pediatric clinics; various internships; and tutoring at the Writing Center on campus.

Platkiewicz also fortified her double major by studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“I wanted to take my degree a step further and look at cultures and political relationships between countries and development within countries,” she said.

While in Europe Platkiewicz examined issues such as terrorism, economic development, and international organizations and law, but she delved deepest into the issue of migration.

“I observed the interactions between Danes and political refugees from Afghanistan and Iraq that gave me a deeper understanding of the effects of the U.S. wars abroad,” she said.

 “Transnational migration is going to be huge and will challenge countries supposedly coming together. It’ll be interesting to see if countries see themselves as separate entities or as part of a whole and how they come together on issues like immigration.”

“Studying abroad opened doors and possibilities on what I want to do and shaped my thesis, which will be on transnationalism within the European Union.”

“I like the idea of different nations coming together to resolve conflict and examining globalization. Whatever happens on the other side of the world will impact us, and I think it’s important to be aware of what’s going on outside of the U.S.” - Curran Kennedy,CLAS ’08 

Arabic transforms her Middle East experience

Suzanne England, CLAS ’08, had an interest in the Middle East long before it became a hotbed for terrorism study.

“As a kid I always wanted to go to Egypt and learn Arabic, but as I got older I felt that the culture and religion were being misunderstood,” England says.

Majoring in International Relations with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies, England became more than just a student when she studied abroad in Cairo, Egypt. This experience transformed her into a world traveler with a deep appreciation for the customs and values of the Middle East.

“Our concept of reality is what we receive from the media. Those who don’t go out and see things have their reality created for them so I wanted to go abroad and create my own reality,” England says. “One of the biggest problems is peoples’ misperceptions and generalizations about others before learning the truth.”

England used the study abroad opportunity to dispel myths and gain a deeper understanding of the Middle East while also giving back to her host culture.

To give back, England first had to become semi-fluent in Arabic, which paid dividends, as she lived in the city.

“Learning the language made me more approachable and I think it made the trip that much better because I was able to talk to the locals. I learned things about them but they also learned things about me, and you learn to differentiate between people and their governments.”

England then used her Arabic proficiency to teach English to refugees from all over Africa and the Middle East through the Student Action for Refugees (STAR) program at American University in Cairo.

“It was a lot bigger of an undertaking than I thought it would be, but it was completely worthwhile,” England said. “I was put with 15 adult men in their late 20s and 30s mostly from Sudan, Somalia, and Palestine.”

England chose to study in Egypt because of its vast geographic features, from deserts to the scenic Mediterranean Sea, but she didn’t stop at its borders. England also described “surreal” adventures to places like Dubai, Jerusalem, and Palestine, among others.

Back at UConn, England continues to stay involved as a study abroad ambassador, a member of the International Relations Association, and a volunteer tutor at Kinsella Elementary School in Hartford.

England has noticed a common thread amongst her experiences.

“We all have different cultures but we have the same hopes and desires. Once you break down the differences, we have a lot in common. I learned a lot about myself being abroad.” – Curran Kennedy, CLAS ’08

Trustee learns the art of political science

When Ross Gionfriddo, CLAS ’09, walks around campus, he represents not only himself but the entire UConn student body.

In April, Gionfriddo was elected as the UConn Board of Trustees undergraduate student representative. His term will run for two years, just in time for him to graduate with a double major in political science and economics.

Gionfriddo also is a member of the UConn crew team and he serves as vice president of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. In fact, it was a fraternity brother who introduced him to the idea of being the student representative.

“A mentor from my fraternity told me about the position and I thought to myself, ‘I could get involved and make some changes,’” Gionfriddo says.

Self-described as the student who would complain a lot, Gionfriddo is now in the delicate position of balancing the concerns of 20,000 undergraduate students with an insider’s knowledge that comes from serving on the board.

“This job puts me in a difficult space, so my role is to represent the students concerns and interests while also making decisions in the best interests of UConn,” he says.

One issue he cites is students’ demands for a sidewalk and weekend night bus services along Hunting Lodge Road to off-campus apartment complexes. Gionfriddo counts campus safety as one of his main focuses. He knows however, that the difficult part will be relaying to students the need to impose increased fees in order to pay for such demands.

“One of the biggest problems is people who complain but don’t have all the facts. The students have entrusted in me the power to make the best decisions,” he says.

To make sure he still hears the voices of his fellow students, Gionfriddo holds office hours in the Student Union, answers students’ concerns through e-mail, and visits with groups that have interests in particular issues.

“I don’t think a lot of students know about this position, but I want to be proactive in getting student involvement,” he says.

Gionfriddo also gains personally from the experience.

“This is a great way to build connections with powerful people and get experience. The board works like a corporation and I learn a lot just going to the meetings.” – Curran Kennedy, CLAS ‘08

Health care inequities prompt study

At just 21 years of age, Nikita Lakdawala, CLAS ’08, has combined a world of experience with her double major in molecular and cell biology and an individualized field that she created, health care and social inequality.

She has studied abroad in London, volunteered to serve the homeless and hungry in Boston, New York, and Willimantic, Conn., and worked with the underprivileged in soup kitchens and farm fields.

“Even though UConn is such a large school, I’ve been able to get involved in community service programs. I think students, if they want to be involved, can find things to do,” she says.

Lakdawala’s community involvement has given her a new perspective, she says.

“It’s not the same thing to read about something in a textbook as it is to see it firsthand.”

To this end, Lakdawala has organized her senior capstone thesis around her volunteer work in Willimantic, where she provides acute care and health talks to the underprivileged.

“Barriers to health care access and discrepancies between the poor and rich are big issues that need to be tackled,” she says.

Ambition to reform U.S. health care led Lakdawala to London where she visited hospitals and interviewed doctors and physicians.

“Studying abroad allowed me to compare two different systems and see how they operate,” she said. “With med school on the horizon, this understanding is important since I’ll have to work within the setting as a doctor.”

For Lakdawala, hands-on work in communities combined with foreign study has broadened her viewpoint and understanding of medicine.

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