Research Grantees Share Their Stories
Members of the class of 2015 of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies shared the results of the research they completed after receiving the first-ever Pardee School student research travel grants.
Kenneth Rayner, Jill Richardson, Sarah Dorman, Daniel Conroy, and Karla Leon Espinosa were the winners of a competitive process that awarded financial assistance to support research on topics ranging from maritime issues in India to internet access in Africa.
“During my trip I encountered new cities and new people, recording invaluable information for my research and getting a first hand look at the non-profit organizations that were striving to help bridge the gap between technology and education in developing countries,” said Sarah Dorman, who traveled to Paris, Berlin, London, and Barcelona. “I was able to complete case study interviews and observations for my masters thesis.” Dorman’s research is on NGOs providing educational Internet access in sub-Saharan Africa.
Rayner, a first lieutenant in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, traveled to Asuncion, Paraguay to study the state partnership program between the U. S. and Paraguayan military.
“I was given the opportunity to have dinner at the house of the U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, Leslie A. Bassett. The embassy staff was truly accommodating and gave me an outstanding understanding of current and past U.S. military cooperation with Paraguay,” Rayner said. “The highlight of my last few days, however, was a meeting between myself and Colonel Cesar Ovelar, Director of the Paraguayan cyber and information department and former military liaison between the United States and Paraguay. He provided insight into the perceptions of the Paraguayan military on the country’s security challenges today and in the future.”
Jill Richardson researched the branding of the BRICS consortium nations, and spoke with top global finance figures on a trip to Washington, D. C.
“My trip was immensely useful in providing insight towards my thesis. I was lucky enough to interview four different economists and policy analysts at at several wide ranging and ideologically diverse institutions. Each person I spoke with took an entirely different viewpoint and approach, providing me with ample angles from which to further pursue my research,” Richardson said. “It was fascinating to hear such a plethora of opinions on my thesis topic! It was also very rewarding to hear how impactful my thesis topic is to current economic policy. Discussing highly topical, current and relevant themes with Washington DC’s global thought leaders was an honor in and of itself!”
Karla Leon Espinosa attended the Western Association Political Sciences Conference in Las Vegas, Nev.
“I presented my paper Give me a Twitter Account and I will Become President, the short version of my MA paper that I defended two weeks later. This was the first time I presented in a conference, and it was a very rich experience,” Leon Espinosa said. “My paper was really well received, getting great feedback from the panel as well as the audience. I was also able to network with other colleagues doing the same type of research I’m interested in. I’m very thankful to the BU Pardee School for the grant that allowed me to participate in such an exciting event. I couldn’t have done without this financial support.”
Conroy went to Delhi, India to research avenues for future US-Indian maritime counterterrorism cooperation.
“The trip allowed me to seek out many books and documents that were not available in the United States that gave my examination of policies much more depth and nuance. While the sources I collected proved invaluable for my research, it was the experience of traveling and briefly living in the country I was writing about that was the most impactful element of my experience,” Conroy said. “My experiences in Delhi showed me the ground reality of many elements of Indian national security and reveled many of the difficulties and limitations that make working with Indian such a unique challenge. Most importantly, my trip widened my international perspectives well beyond anything I had experienced before and proved to be the perfect capstone to my education at Boston University.”