Alumna Gains Global Perspective to Improve Opportunities for Students with Disabilities

Wasiq Muhammad Muhammad Ali — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 18:42:31 +0000

Alumna Gains Global Perspective to Improve Opportunities for Students with Disabilities Wasiq Muhammad… Mon, 07/25/2022 - 14:42

Each year, hundreds of American students, aged eighteen to twenty-four, vie for the opportunity to work and study in Germany through the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals program. The reciprocal program, which has run for thirty-nine years, selects seventy-five Americans and seventy-five German professionals to spend a year experiencing life in their respective cultural-exchange nations.

This year, Mason is celebrating the selection of Honors College alumni, Abigail Hawkins, to the prestigious CBYX program. Hawkins, who graduated from Mason in May 2022, majored in global affairs with concentrations in human security and Middle East and North Africa Studies, and a minor in Arabic.

Throughout her undergraduate study, Hawkins worked with Mason’s College Diabetes Network and gained experience in the nonprofit sector to improve healthcare affordability and accessibility.

Alongside her studies at Mason, Hawkins is a two-time alumna of the US Department of State's Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), a program designed by the U.S. government to expand the number of American students, who represent a range of majors and disciplines, studying and mastering critical foreign languages. In addition to her participation in the CLS program, Hawkins has studied abroad in Jordan, Spain, and Japan.

With her newest opportunity in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals program, Hawkins continues to forge a path for herself in international education with the goal of improving access to study abroad opportunities for students with disabilities and chronic illnesses.

Topics

alumna

Critical Language Scholarship

Honors College

College of Humanities and Social Science

Fellowships

Jasmine Okidi Named Mason's First Beinecke Scholar

Wasiq Muhammad Muhammad Ali — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 21:12:06 +0000

Jasmine Okidi Named Mason's First Beinecke Scholar Wasiq Muhammad… Fri, 04/15/2022 - 17:12

Jasmine Okidi, a third-year University Scholar studying English, was selected as Mason’s first-ever recipient of the Beinecke Scholarship. The award, which was established in 1971 by the Board of Directors of The Sperry and Hutchinson Company to honor Edwin, Frederick, and Walter Beinecke, supports graduate study in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

As early as her freshman year’s Principles of Research and Inquiry (HNRS 110) course, Okidi has demonstrated her commitment to multi-dimensional and interrogative research. Okidi, who is from Kampala, Uganda, utilized her HNRS 110 coursework to explore community-inclusive strategies to address wetland degradation in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city.

In her initial investigation of the wetland degradation in Kampala, Okidi featured a proactive three-phase plan for educating the public on the current state of the area: 1) survey the community, 2) spread information, and 3) assess how perceptions are influenced. Afterwards, Okidi went on to develop the project under OSCAR’s Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP), investigating the political ecology of Kampala’s wetland management.

Alongside her passion for conservation, Okidi’s interests in African and African diasporic literature, ecocriticism, and Black feminist ecologies highlight the strength of her academic prowess and reflect the interdisciplinary nature of scholarship within the Honors College. Whilst keeping in line with this tradition of scholarly excellence at Mason, Okidi blazes a trail for future Beinecke scholars in the Honors College.

Each recipient of the Beinecke scholarship receives $4,000 immediately prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school which Okidi looks forward to using in her pursuit of a PhD in Africana Studies and exploring race and ethnicity, gender, and environment in Ugandan literature and culture.

Topics

Mariam Qureshi

Alumna Gains Global Perspective to Improve Opportunities for Students with Disabilities

Topics

Jasmine Okidi Named Mason's First Beinecke Scholar

Topics