society nearly impossible. As a result,

the Potters remain isolated and ig-

nored.

The group presented their

findings to the district mayor of Ka-

rongi, who reports directly to President

Kagame. The mayor was very im-

pressed and said that he would devote

more time and resources to helping

the Potters in his district. They also

met with officials from the U.S. Embas-

sy, UNDP, and the Rwandan Ministry of

Youth who shared what they were do-

ing to further the country‟s develop-

ment. Although Andrew‟s group was

encouraged by the positive responses

to their work, they were constantly

reminded of the limited resources and

bureaucratic challenges that inhibit

progress.

“Rwanda is called „the land of

a thousand hills,‟ and it often feels like

development work in the country is

one uphill struggle after another,”

states Andrew, “but, as I‟ve learned

from my time aiding the struggle to-

wards lasting peace and sustainable

development, sometimes it‟s im-

portant to stand back and marvel at

Rwanda, Human Rights,

and Development By Andrew Dusek

This past winter, Andrew

Dusek who graduated with a minor in

IDs and a major in Political Science ,

had the privilege of traveling to Rwan-

da as part of an international human

rights delegation with an organization

called Global Youth Connect. GYC is

dedicated to empowering individuals

from around the world to advance hu-

man rights through youth activism. As

one of fifteen delegates from North

America, Andrew participated along-

side his Rwandan counterparts in

cross-cultural human rights learning

workshops, volunteer service activi-

ties, and sustained human rights activ-

ism while engaging with grassroots

NGOs, policy makers, and other key

stakeholders through advocacy.

One of the key areas of focus

was the complicated relationship be-

tween human rights and development.

In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide,

the country was economically and mor-

ally decimated. Survivors were left with

the daunting task of rebuilding a coun-

try that had failed to protect them from

harm. Worst of all, they were forced to

do so alongside many of the same

people who had killed their friends and

families.

Today, Rwanda has truly risen

from the ashes. With record high pri-

mary school attendance, a progressive

national parliament with a female ma-

jority, and investments in new technol-

ogies opening up the country to grow-

ing Internet accessibility, e-commerce,

and foreign direct investment, Rwanda

is a paragon of political and economic

development in Africa. Yet there are

still many areas that need improve-

ment. Issues such as juvenile justice,

the rights of indigenous peoples, and

the status of refugees continue to

cause concern.

During his three-week visit,

Andrew volunteered for an NGO in the

capital city of Kigali called Health De-

velopment Initiative. Although HDI is

dedicated to improving the quality and

accessibility of healthcare through

advocacy, education, and training, the

organization‟s work extends far be-

yond the field of health care. Andrew

did field research and created out-

reach materials to educate key stake-

holders in the Rwandan government

and the development community on

the rights of a historically marginal-

ized, indigenous group known as the

Community of Potters. He traveled to

remote villages to speak with local

leaders about issues ranging from

adequate housing and the importance

of agriculture to personal security and

access to health insurance. The stig-

matization that the Potters suffer pre-

vents them from identifying as true

Rwandans and makes integrating into

IDS ALUMNI ADVENTURES

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Rwanda, Human Rights, and Development

1`

The Indian Himalaya

Field Course in

Development Studies

2

Inhabiting Many

Worlds

3

IDS Student Receives Undergraduate Research Award

3

New IDS Peace Corps

Program

4

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

NEWSLETTER

#3 SPRING 2011 #3 SPRING 2011

IDS SPRING RECEPTION

PRESIDENTS ROOM (In Brantly Hall) Tuesday, April 19 3:30 pm to 5 pm

Guest Speaker:: Provost Perry Brown

Kimber and a young friend in a village in

Nakaseke District, Uganda.

Kimber Haddix McKay, Associate Pro-

fessor in the Department of Anthropolo-

gy, is working with students and Ugan-

dan colleagues on a study of disease

prevalence and health seeking behavior

in central Uganda this spring. Two UM

students (undergraduate Ann Tezak, who

returned to MT from UG last Fall, and

graduate student Laura Stanley, who is

currently in UG) are working with the

traditional healer organization

PROMETRA, and will contribute to the

study based on their research on tradi-

tional healing practices and the interplay

between traditional and allopathic heal-

ing systems.

The Indian Himalaya Field Course in Development Studies

This summer, instructors Keith

Bosak and Laura Caplins will take a

group of students to the Garwhal region

of the Indian Himalaya, giving students

the opportunity to take a field course

abroad. The Indian Himalaya Field

Course consists of two classes – Himala-

yan Environment and Development

(FOR/RECM 352) and Tourism, Liveli-

hoods, and Sustainability in the Himala-

yas (FOR/RECM 353). These classes are

IDS minor content courses so students

can simultaneously work toward their

minor requirements and take advantage

of a rare opportunity to visit the Garwhal

Region. Students enrolled in the field

courses will spend the majority of their

time trekking and living in the Nanda

Devi Biosphere Reserve learning through

extensive readings, class discussions,

direct field experience (including living in

a remote mountain village), meetings with

development officials, sustainability activ-

ists and stakeholders in the region.

The Nanda Devi Biosphere Re-

serve is located within the northern Indian

state of Uttarakhand, specifically within

the Garwhal region. The Garhwal region

of the Indian Himalaya is known as the

abode of the gods. It is a holy place con-

taining some of the most sacred sites in

India. One of these sites, Nan-

da Devi, is the second highest

mountain in India and wor-

shipped throughout the region

as the physical incarnation of

the goddess Parbati. The Nan-

da Devi Biosphere Reserve has

been designated a United Na-

tions World Heritage Site for its

extensive biodiversity. Local

people have worked to imple-

ment a plan to promote com-

munity based ecotourism that

will benefit the local environ-

ment while providing commu-

nities in the area with a sus-

tainable livelihood option.

Students participating in the pro-

gram spend nine nights traveling through

the High Himalayas using the power of

their own two feet. Trekking portions of

the trip are porter supported, so students

only need to carry their personal belong-

ings. Most of the treks take place above

the tree line in beautiful alpine meadows.

Trekking follows a daily pattern. In the

morning students wake up and pack, leav-

ing out what is needed for class and

Page 2 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

IDS Faculty Happenings

In cooperation with Asociacion Nuestros

Ahijados, Peter Koehn, Phyllis Ngai, their

twin 13-year-old boys Justin and Jason,

and 34 other members of the UCC church

spent their spring break building houses

for needy residents of Antigua in Guate-

mala. While in Guatemala, Peter also ex-

plored internship opportunities for IDS

students.

breakfast. After a one hour class, breakfast

is served and then students continue along

the trail. After a couple hours of hiking, trek-

kers stop for a brief lunch and then continue

onward to the evening camping spot. Once

in camp, the tents are set up and then over

a hot cup of chai tea, students can do some

reading, take a nap, explore the local area,

or work on their journal entries. A second

class is held from 6:00 – 8:00 at night ei-

ther outside or in a “class tent” depending

on the weather, After class dinner is served

and students have the remainder of the

evening to relax and visit.

The program for this summer is

already at full enrollment so students should

be sure to contact Keith Bosak or Laura

Caplins early for next summer‟s program.

While the cost of such programs seems

daunting at first glance, there are a variety

of aid options available to students interest-

ed. Student aid applies to summer study

abroad programs and there are a variety of

scholarship aid resources available to any

prospective enrollees.

The most powerful teachers I have

found in India are my women teachers;

gentle, statuesque beings wielding machet-

es. For three months I am interning at

Vanastree; a collective of seed-keeping

women who market and sell value-added

garden products. I found it funny that,

when researching my new Indian home of

Sirsi, Karnataka, it‟s qualities resembled

Missoula‟s on paper. Sirsi is about the

same population size and density as Mis-

soula, located in one

of the least populat-

ed regions in India in

the midst of a wealth

of natural forest

resources and with

the whole slew of

human and resource

rights issues at-

tached along with it.

First, a little

back round on

where I am intern-

ing. Vanastree means „women of the

forest‟ in Kannada, the language of the

Karnataka state of southwest India. As a

collective, the Vanastree women each keep

a home-garden, save and share indigenous

and open-pollinated seeds with each other,

and work out of an office in Sirsi town

packaging various products that they brand

with the Vanastree label. Their products

vary from spices to craft items. This work

helps empower these women in the con-

fines of the traditional woman‟s role in ru-

ral India by giving them an external source

of income and a social support network.

When I embarked on this intern-

ship, I hoped that the forest would teach

me about development and that the plants

in the area would teach me about the peo-

ple. I‟m a passionate horticulturalist at

heart so instead of starting with the people,

I wanted to start with their surroundings in

order to study how human growth bur-

geoned out of their environment. What I

came to find in Sirsi is a town of people

living peacefully with the environment, with

no abject poverty and no industrial agricul-

ture in this almost wholly farm landscape.

How could this be? In India? How had so

many supposedly necessary evils of devel-

opment escaped the grasp of a town

whose size ended up feeling much larger

than Missoula, but whose people shared

the same similar type of community?

I had arrived on a doorstep of

rural development. Sirsi town does not

appear rural by any means. All of the mod-

ern conveniences are here in this bustling

town but slip 20 minutes away from the

congested downtown roads, and you‟ll

find yourself in the midst of areca-nut

plantations and rice paddy fields with vil-

lages comprised of entire lineages of fam-

ily members; truly rural living. It is in these

villages where the Vanastree women are

sprinkled, growing or-

ganic vegetables and

holding reverence for

healthy crop seeds.

There is a level of sa-

credness in relation to

the environment and

the natural landscape.

Even small children

freely spout out the

names of every flower,

tree, and garden vege-

table.

During my time in India I have

come in contact with rural-dwelling Indi-

ans, city-dwelling Indians, and rural Indi-

ans who have found themselves in urban

centers. They each make distinctions

about themselves and their ways of life.

Village children have told me that urban

peoples do not agree with their rural life-

style; city-dwellers have relayed that villag-

ers are too „stuck in their ways‟. They are

two different worlds; the rural and urban

India. Differences are held onto with a

strong sense of identity. Yet because of

communication and entertainment tech-

nology, these worlds are increasingly in

communication with each other. Daily,

people in Sirsi and the surrounding villag-

es would talk of the flock of people mov-

ing into the cities and away from rural,

agricultural lives. Yet all of the former vil-

lagers that I met who had found lives in

urban centers spoke of hopes for a rural

renaissance; a return to a slower, land-

based life with extended family units.

I cannot even begin to predict the direc-

tion which rural development will take in

these areas. I can only share the senti-

ments of a rural renaissance.

(Racheal Shear is an IDS Minor who grad-

uated in 2010 with a major in Environ-

mental Studies)

Inhabiting Many Worlds by Racheal Shear

Kayla Hoggatt is a

senior at The Uni-

versity of Mon-

tana majoring in

Political Science

with a minor in

International De-

velopment Stud-

ies. Last fall, Professor Peter Koehn

approached her with the opportunity to

submit an application for an Under-

graduate and Faculty Research Award

in order to work with him on developing

a minor in Global Public Health while

conducting her own research to pre-

sent at UMCUR. Professor Koehn and

Kayla received the $1000 scholarship,

$500 of which went towards Kayla‟s

education, and the other $500 to be

used for their project. Kayla stated, “I

was surprised at how simple the pro-

cess was. I don‟t think that many stu-

dents are aware of this opportunity,

and with 10 awards given out each

year, there is a good chance of receiv-

ing one.”

Kayla‟s research focuses on

the World Health Organization (WHO)

2008 prediction that the number of

deaths by non-communicable diseases

will increase by 17% in the next ten

years. In order to determine why chron-

ic diseases are on the rise, Kayla is

examining the Global Burden of Dis-

ease (GBD) to explore the trends asso-

ciated with the prevalence of chronic

(non-communicable) and infectious

(communicable) diseases in develop-

ing countries. Since new diseases have

been added and investigated with each

new round of the GBD study, whether

these diseases are chronic or infec-

tious could provide useful insights into

the research question as well. In partic-

ular, Kayla is interested in the effects

that development and globalization

have on the prevalence of chronic dis-

eases as well as the continuous spread

of infectious diseases. Kayla is pre-

senting the results of her research at

the UM Undergraduate Research Con-

ference, Friday April 15, 2011.

Page 3 #3 SPRING 2011

IDS STUDENT RECIEVES UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AWARD

NEW IDS PEACE CORP PREP PROGRAM

The University of Montana, in partnership with the United

States Peace Corps, is pleased to announce the first Peace

Corps Preparatory Program to be instated at a public university.

Beginning in Spring 2011, students at the University of Mon-

tana can earn a Peace Corps certificate demonstrating comple-

tion of preparatory coursework through participation in the In-

ternational Development Studies minor. Preparatory course-

work will aid in increasing volunteer effectiveness and better

equip students for international service.

The existing International Development Studies minor provides

a strong framework for the general Peace Corps certificate pro-

gram. “We are deeply honored that the Peace Corps has recog-

nized the instructional expertise and efforts of IDS faculty

members by designating The University of Montana as its first public university to offer Peace

Corps Prep certification,” said Peter Koehn, IDS program director. “Given the amazing degree of

interest in service in low-income countries that exists on this campus and the doors that open

upon completion of a PC assignment, I expect that many more UM students will elect to com-

plete the IDS minor and one of the new Peace Corps Prep track options.” In cooperation with

Tenly Snow, the Peace Corps strategic representative on campus, IDS is also developing oppor-

tunities for students to complete additional coursework to prepare for service in the Peace

Corps‟ special assignment areas: environment, health and HIV/AIDS, youth and community de-

velopment, business and information communication technology, agriculture/forestry, educa-

tion, and civic engagement.

As the third school in the nation and the first public university to introduce a Peace

Corps Prep Program, the University of Montana is a natural choice for a preparatory program.

Historically the University of Montana has produced 765 volunteers; currently there are 33 ac-

tive Peace Corps volunteers. “Peace Corps is excited to welcome The University of Montana to

the Peace Corps Prep Program,” said B.J. Whetstine, Peace Corps national outreach specialist.

“This new initiative only serves to strengthen an already thriving partnership. UM already offers

two Peace Corps Master‟s International Programs. Peace Corps Prep will extend new opportuni-

ties to undergraduate students.” Peace Corps reactivated its preparatory program in 2006 to

give students an advantage in the highly competitive application process for the Peace Corps.

UPCOMING IDS CORE COURSES Summer 2011:

GPHY 141S Geography of World Regions PSCI 463 Development Administration (Mexico Study Abroad Program).

Fall 2011: ANTH 329 Social Change in Non-Western Societies

COMM 251X International and Development Communication GPHY 141S Geography of World Regions

PSCI 463 Development Administration SOCI 270 Intro to Rural and Environmental Change

SOCI 371 Social Change and Global Environment

What is International Development Studies?

International Development Studies is an interdiscipli-nary field of study focusing on the interconnected pro-cesses of social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental change tak-ing place in low-income countries and disadvan-taged regions of wealthy countries. Coursework in the minor emphasizes a global perspective on the process of change and de-velopment, critical analysis of the role of internal and external influences on the development process, and applications to local (including Montana) situa-tions and challenges. The IDS minor takes advantage of existing faculty expertise and courses to offer an interdisciplinary experience for those students interest-ed in either international or domestic development work. Students minoring in IDS will develop knowledge and skills ap-propriate for graduate study and for working in non-governmental organi-zations, international and bilateral government devel-opment organizations, the U.S. Peace Corps and other national/international equivalents, and /or com-munity-development groups.

#3 SPRING 2011

International Development Studies Program Director: Peter Koehn, Professor of Political Science

LA 348 406 243-5294 peter.koehn@umontana.edu

Program Coordinator: Delyla Wilson LA 410 delyla.wilson@mso.umt.edu

http://www.cas.umt.edu/ids/

FIND US ON

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The IDS program is supported, in part, by the University of Mon-tana’s Office of Inter-national Programs