ids alumni orrin tiberi adventures in international … · 2019. 10. 31. · new cross cutting ids...
TRANSCRIPT
Growing up in Montana
doesn’t easily lend itself to
an international perspec-
tive on life. Flights are
expensive, drives are
long, and there is so
much to experience in
the great 406 that it is
sometimes hard to see
beyond the borders to
the rest of the world.
That change in perspec-
tive started for me at the
University of Montana
where I had the oppor-
tunity to enroll in the
International Develop-
ment Studies minor.
Through the IDS course
load I was exposed to a
whole new world, literally,
and came to realize how
amazingly diverse hu-
man experience can
be. I was able to get a
first hand look at that
diversity on a trip to
Tanzania with my An-
thropology major; a
trip that I credit to
starting my passion for
a social justice and
human rights centered
approach to “business
as usual”. Backed up
with the academic
knowledge learned in
(Continued on page 2)
Orrin Tiberi and his coworker’s on the
Uganda Village Project
IDS ALUMNI ORRIN TIBERI ADVENTURES IN
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
UPCOMING IDS
EVENTS! IDS SALON:
Pizza and Conversation with
IDS Professionals
Wednesday February 28th
3:30 to 5:00pm
Location TBA
IDS ANNUAL RECEPTION:
Wednesday April 18th
3:30 to 5pm
President’s Room
Brantley Hall
For More information on
these events: visit the IDS tile
on the UM App, our Facebook
Page or our website
hs.umt.edu/IDS
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
STUDIES NEWSLETTER
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
IDS DIRECTOR’S GREETINGS
Issue #13
Fall 2017
First IDS Lecture Series 2
PC Prep Conference 3
New Faculty Study
Abroad Program
3
New Cross Cutting IDS
Course: CSBC
5
Dan Spencer Receives
Award
6
New IDS Courses and
Requirements
6
Emerging Livelihood
Strategies in Indian
7
What’s Up with IDS
Founder Peter Koehn
7
New IDS Tile-App on
UMontana App
8
Inside this issue: 2017 has been a great
year in IDS – we added
lots of new minors, many
of whom opted to include
the Peace Corps Prep Cer-
tificate in their qualifi-
cations, which I have
been delighted to see.
Please come visit me
any time – my office
hours are Wednes-
days 11-2 but I am
also happy to meet by
appointment! Alterna-
tively, you can always
reach out to our pro-
gram Coordinator and
generally awesome Delyla
Wilson, whose work and
help I value tremendously!
Shout out to Delyla!
Earlier this year I spent
time in Uganda and Nepal,
sites where I have conduct-
ed research and advised
various development ef-
forts over nearly twenty
years. In Uganda I was
following up on a men-
strual hygiene manage-
ment (MHM) program in
rural Nakaseke, and also
spent time with water,
sanitation, and hygiene
experts who work on
MHM programs at Unicef.
It was eye opening as al-
(Continued on page 4)
IDS Director Kimber McKay with
colleagues Prosy Namutebi and
the IDS classes and bor-
rowing heavily from that
experience I was able to
start the shift from a Mon-
tana-centric perspective to
a global one.
After graduation I applied
and was accepted to the
Peace Corps Master Inter-
national program, where I
completed my Masters in
Public Health in the US
and Peace Corps service in
Riobamba, Ecuador. My
Montana roots provided
me the grit and my experi-
(Continued from page 1)
ence at both University of
Montana and my master
level (continued on page 2)
public health classes
provided me the
knowledge to make my
Peace Corps experience
successful. Upon receiving
my diploma I was off again,
this time in Uganda
through a fellowship called
the Global Health Corps.
Over the next 12 months I
worked with a small public
health organization, the
Uganda Village Project, to
design and conduct
an impact evaluation
of their work for the
past five years.
Again, my academic
and hands-on experi-
ences from the IDS
coursework, my MPH,
and Peace Corps
played a critical role
in the successful im-
plementation of the
evaluation.
Fast-forward a few
years and I am still on the
journey inspired by the IDS
program, working with the
Centers for Disease Con-
trol on HIV and Tuberculo-
sis prevention, treatment,
and care in Mozambique.
Thinking back 10 years to
my time at University of
Montana I never would
have imagined this career
path, but feel incredibly
fortunate to be part of the
story of the awe-inspiring
and hectic humanity
around the globe.
USAID grantees, and other
development leaders. Top-
ics were wide-ranging,
In fall 2016, IDS was able
to offer its first ever course
using the new “IDS” rubric-
- “Lecture Series in Inter-
national Develop-
ment” (IDS 191). The
series attracted stu-
dents from several de-
partments as well as
town folk and profes-
sors. Featuring presen-
tations by international
development practition-
ers, including returned
Peace Corps volunteers,
from monitoring and evalu-
ation to international biodi-
versity conservation efforts
to the efforts of
grassroots NGOs to
sustainable health
development. All
lectures can be
viewed by visiting
the IDS web page!
IDS hopes to be
able to offer the
course again in fu-
ture years.
IDS ALUMNI ADVENTURES Cont.
FIRST IDS LECTURE SERIES
A site visit of a health facility in Mozam-
bique to assess the damages from a cy-
clone that hit in March 2017
Page 2
Between 1901 and 1910
there were 82 recorded
disasters, but between 2003
and 2012 there were more
than 4,000.
—UNDP
Hunger is the number one
cause of death in the world,
killing more than HIV/AIDS,
malaria, and tuberculosis
combined.
—World Food Programme.
Almost three-fifths of the
world’s extreme poor are
concentrated in just five
countries: Bangladesh, China,
the Democratic Republic of
Congo, India, and Nigeria.
—World Bank Group
By 2025, half of the world’s
population will be living in
water-stressed areas.
—World Health Organization
By 2030, the world is
projected to have 41 mega-
cities with more than 10
million inhabitants.
—UNDP
Between 2030 and 2050,
climate change is expected to
cause approximately 250,000
additional deaths per year,
from malnutrition, malaria,
diarrhoea and heat stress.
—World health Organization
More than 21.3 million
people—roughly the
population of Australia—are
refugees.
—UNDP
A survey enumerator conducting
the impact evaluation in rural
Uganda
DID YOU KNOW?
INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT FACTS
Page 3
course work as found in
UM’s PC Prep program.
While Education and Public
Health have the most
available positions a great
need for French speakers
in the Agricultural sector.
As part of recruitment the
PC is focusing on increas-
ing the diversity of PC ap-
plicants to be more reflec-
tive of the diversity of the
United States including
recruiting more people of
color, people with diverse
sexual orientation and gen-
der identity, first genera-
tion students, economical-
ly disadvantaged students,
and older students. To this
end the PC highlighted the
benefits of service includ-
ing health insurance, a
monthly stipend, all travel,
training, passport and visa
costs, student loan defer-
ral, an $8000 transition
fund at completion of ser-
vice, and non-competitive
eligibility for qualifying gov-
ernment positions .
If you would like to learn
more about UM’s PC Prep
program or this conference
contact UM’s PC Prep Pro-
gram Coordinator Delyla
Wilson !
NEW FACULTY-DIRECTED STUDY ABROAD COURSE
W/ IDS PROFESSOR PHYLLIS NGAI
PEACE CORPS PREP CONFERENCE
In September 2017 IDS
Program Coordinator De-
lyla Wilson attended the
first PC Prep Conference in
Washington, DC gathering
important information
about the PC and related
PC Prep program.
As the PC maintains bipar-
tisan support new federal
budgets will bring no re-
duction in the number field
positions so recruiting re-
mains as critical as ever.
In particular, the PC is
looking for career-oriented
students with relevant
hands-on experience sup-
ported by sector specific
that spring from the inter-
face of diverse values, cul-
tures, ideologies, and prac-
tices. The topics examined
on site included multina-
tional organization commu-
nication, press freedom,
internet censorship, social
media for social change,
cultural convergence and
divergence, and discours-
es of develop-
ment. While im-
mersed in the sights,
sounds, and smells
of the place, stu-
dents had the oppor-
tunity to connect with
local young people to
exchange views on
transnational phe-
nomena and to expe-
rience in person in-
tercultural communi-
cation at the conflu-
ence of the East and
the West. The UM
course offered during the
trip was COMX 491 (UG)
Hong Kong, Macau, and
China: International Com-
munication, Culture, and
Society which is an IDS
content course. If you are
interested in participating
in a future trip contact Pro-
fessor Phyllis Ngai at Phyl-
Professor Phyllis Ngai of
Communication Studies
offered a two-week study-
abroad in Hong Kong and
China in summer
2017. The international
course provided an oppor-
tunity for students to de-
velop a first-hand under-
standing of the socio-
cultural changes that are
happening under the “one
country, two systems” poli-
cy. Through site visits and
dialogue with local schol-
ars, activists, journalists,
legislators, and business
professionals, students
learned about internation-
al communication issues
Students enrolled in the class were rid-
ing the longest outdoor covered escala-
tor in the world amidst the forest of sky-
scrapers on Hong Kong Island.
ways to see the local chal-
lenges faced by rural villag-
ers and the ways in which
different development
practitioners work on those
challenges. It really got me
to thinking about how,
when, where, and why peo-
ple ever change their be-
havior.
HOW DO DEVELOPMENT
PRACTITIONERS INTEREST
PEOPLE IN CHANGING
THEIR BEHAVIOR?
Findings from anthropolo-
gy, behavioral economics
and psychology (and, per-
sonally, the experience of
parenting, interacting with,
or being a teenager) have
shown that oftentimes a
suggestion works better
than a directive.
Development practitioners
have seen time and again
that simply telling people
to do things frequently
fails. Rather, a more subtle
(Continued from page 1)
approach,
grounded
in a
sound
and cul-
turally
nuanced
founda-
tion can
really help
cross bar-
riers and
forge new
under-
standings.
In Janu-
ary, I helped advise a large
international non-
government organization
called FHI360 pilot test a
manual now adopted by
USAID, entitled Essential
WASH Actions. This manu-
al focuses on developing
trainers’ skill in teaching
people about improve-
ments in water, sanitation,
and hygiene and what
kinds of behavior changes
are recommended. In Ne-
pal, this
kind of pro-
gram re-
quires a
thorough
understand-
ing of the
cultures of
purity and
pollution,
the sacred
and the
profane,
which influ-
ence be-
havior eve-
ry day in that setting. It
also requires a skilled and
empathetic recognition of
how people commonly fail
to reach ‘ideal’ WASH re-
lated outcomes, because
of lack of water, soap, time
and so forth. Understand-
ing the social structures
underlying behavior well
enough to then influence
them is critical. And how to
influence behavior is not
simple. It’s been studied
for centuries. Recently this
topic has received quite a
bit of attention because
last month, the Nobel Prize
in Economics was awarded
to a theorist named Rich-
ard Thaler in recognition of
the merit of his ‘Nudge
Theory’.
JUST GIVE A LITTLE NUDGE
Nudge theory is based on
the idea that we humans
don’t always do what’s
best for us. But we also
(Continued on page 5)
IDS DIRECTOR’S GREETING
FROM KIMBER HADDIX MCKAY
Page 4
A loo with a view:
Photo credit: Anna Maria S. Jorgensen
Discussing Essential WASH Actions in Nepal with
Angjuk Lama, Kyamma Lama & Menuka Rai:
HIRING TRENDS
IN
INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
2017 From Devex 2017 Hiring Trends Report
Page 5
don’t always do as told.
Instead, our behavior is
frequently, and as it turns
out, powerfully influenced
by the suggestions and
encouragements around
us. The important thing for
us in the development
sphere to recognize is that
nudge theory’s approach
to changing behavior fits
extremely well with an em-
phasis on understanding
what influences people’s
behavior in the settings in
which they live. This feels
very comfortable to me as
a medical anthropologist!
A frequently cited example
of nudge theory in action is
the practice of etching the
image of a fly into the
porcelain of urinals in
Schipol Airport in Amster-
dam. The intent of this
exercise was to ‘improve
(Continued from page 4)
the aim’. Who could resist?
The importance of nudge
theory lies in its ability to
spur us to think about how
to influence behavior in an
effective fashion that helps
work in international devel-
opment achieve the best
outcomes. It’s an approach
based on encouragement,
not compulsion.
WHERE FROM HERE?
Sometimes people resist
adopting new behaviors or
habits because of inertia,
or because they lack the
tools to perceive and
choose among new pat-
terns. Nudging encourages
new behavior by, for exam-
ple, by making new options
available that are amusing,
relatively cheap to adopt,
or incentivized by positive
recognition. Making clean
toilets desirable when they
are not already can be
achieved through pro-
grams that reward with
awards and community
recognition the cleanest
toilet of the ward. Quickly,
people also perceive that
using a clean toilet is vast-
ly preferable to using one
that is not.
IDS DIRECTOR’S GREETING CONTINUED
FROM KIMBER HADDIX MCKAY
Want to learn more
about the theories and
practices that influence
the sphere of ‘social
and behavioral change
communication’? Take
IDS 497-02 in Spring
2018, Communication
for Social and Behavior-
al Change. We recom-
mend that all IDS stu-
dents take one or both
versions of IDS 497
(Monitoring and Evalua-
tion in odd years, Com-
munication for Social
and Behavioral Change
in even years). These
are cross-cutting toolkit
courses that will pro-
vide you with infor-
mation, methods, and
know-how that you will
find essential in all sec-
tors of international de-
velopment.
Aim for this! A housefly in
the men’s room urnals
at Schipol Airport:
Nudge theory is based
on the idea that we
humans don’t always
do what’s best for us.
But we also don’t al-
ways do as told. In-
stead, our behavior is
frequently, and as it
turns out, powerfully
influenced by the sug-
gestions and encour-
agements around us.
NEW CROSS-CUTTING IDS COURSE, COMMUNICATION FOR
SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL CHANGE, OFFERED SPRING 2018
Do you aspire to make a
difference in the world? If
so, IDS has a course for
you! IDS is now offering a
second a cross-cutting
methods course that will
serve students in eve-
ry sector of interna-
tional development!
IDS 497-02 Commu-
nication for Social
and Behavioral Change will
equip you with the essen-
tial skills for bringing about
positive change in a world
that faces significant
health and development
challenges –poverty, gen-
to create valuable for posi-
tive progress. By making
specific changes at the
individual, community,
and/or societal levels, peo-
ple can improve not only
their own lives, but
the wellbeing of gen-
erations to come. In
addition to being a
core capstone course for
the IDS minor, IDS 497-02,
offered Wednesdays 3:30
to 6:30, is also a content
course for Global Public
Health Minor; and an allied
course for Organizational
Communication.
der inequities, public-
health problems, environ-
mental degradation, un-
sustainable practices, and
many others. Social and
behavior change communi-
cation (SBCC) strategies
are about using the power
of communication to
change behaviors by influ-
encing people’s
knowledge, attitudes, and
social norms for the better
IDS Faculty member Dan
Spencer (Environmental
Studies) is the recipient of
this year’s UM Distin-
guished Service to Interna-
tional Education Award.
Dan has been involved in
international education for
nearly 40 years, following
five months studying volca-
noes in Costa Rica in
1978.
He led his first internation-
al travel seminar to the
Dominican Republic and
Puerto Rico in 1983, and
directed the Latin Ameri-
can programs for the Cen-
ter for Global Education
from 1984-89. Since
then he has developed
international programs in
Central and South Ameri-
ca, the Caribbean, south-
ern Africa and Vietnam,
taking over 2000 travel
seminar participants. He
began organizing interna-
tional programs at the Uni-
versity of Montana to Gua-
temala, Nicaragua and El
Salvador in 2004, and to
Vietnam in 2012. To date
he has traveled with over
210 UM students to Cen-
tral America and SE Asia.
Dan is grateful to his col-
leagues in Environmental
Studies and the Mansfield
Center, the Davidson Hon-
ors College, International
Development Studies, and
the Office of International
Programs for all the sup-
port and encouragement
he has received for devel-
oping and leading interna-
tional programs at the Uni-
versity of Montana. And
finally, for all the students
who have traveled with
him and so enriched his
life with their passion for
and commitment to our
wider world.
IDS FACULTY MEMBER DAN SPENCER AWARDED THE
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO INTERNATIONAL
EDUCATION AWARD
tional core courses includ-
ing 2 Anthropology cours-
es, a Business course, a
Geography course and
Political Science course. In
addition we have added 5
content courses from An-
thropology, Business, and
Communications. To en-
sure students benefit from
IDS’ interdisciplinary com-
ponent, we are limiting
students to no more than
2 IDS Core Courses from
any one discipline and no
more than 2 IDS Content
Courses from any one dis-
cipline.
To ensure IDS students
have access to the most
current and relevant inter-
national development cur-
riculum that UM has to
offer we have worked with
faculty across campus to
identify courses that are
important to IDS students.
We have identified 5 addi-
Page 6
Dan is grateful ...for all the
students who have
traveled with him and so
enriched his life with their
passion for and
commitment to our wider
world.
Dan Spencer and a new friend
NEW IDS COURSES AND REQUIREMENTS
‘International
Development Jobs for
Young Professionals’
Facebook Page
Connect with other profes-
sionals in the International
Development community
for tips and tricks on find-
ing jobs and internships.
Page 7
IDS Professor Sarah Hal-
verson and Dr. Laura Cap-
lins published an article
titled Collecting Ophio-
cordyceps sinensis: an
emerging livelihood strate-
gy in the Garhwal, Indian
Himalaya. The article fo-
cuses on the Bhotiya, an
ethnically and culturally
distinct tribal group from
Garhwal of Uttarakhand,
India. The Bhotiya histori-
cally livelihood was based
in seasonal migration to
take advantage of scarce
mountain resources and
trade relations with Tibet.
This livelihood practice has
all but disappeared leading
to the Bhotiya adapting by
engaging in the collection
and sale of the valuable
alpine medicinal fungus
Ophiocordyceps sinensis,
widely known as
Cordyceps. The collection
of this fungus has explod-
ed, emerging as a lucrative
yet high-risk livelihood
strategy for many Bhotiya
communities. The
Bhotiyas’ historic herding
and trade-based interac-
tions and knowledge of
these alpine environments
where Cordyceps are
found uniquely positions
them to access this valua-
ble biological resource. To
learn more about the
Bhotiya livelihood adapta-
tion as well as the ecologi-
cal and economic aspects
of the emerging Cordyceps
trade you can reference
the 2017 article in the
Journal of Mountain Sci-
ence 14(2).
held at the World Bank’s
Global Environmental Fa-
cility, in Washington, D.C
where Koehn spoke with
about 40 interested at-
tendees from the World
Bank, USAID, the U.S. EPA,
and NGOs.
While in Washington D.C.,
Peter Koehn and Juha Uit-
to launched their new book
on Universities and the
Sustainable Development
Future (Routledge Sustain-
ability and Development
Series) at the Association
of Public & Land-grant Uni-
April was a
busy
month for
Professor
Peter
Koehn,
IDS found-
er and
faculty. Besides his usual
spring course load that
includes the popular GPH
lecture series, Dr. Koehn
presented an invited talk
on “Emerging Global Lead-
ership on Climatic Stabili-
zation: Why China Will Step
Forward.” The talk was
versities (APLU) on April
21, 2017.
Then in September 2017,
Peter Koehn presented a
paper on Soft Power and
the Belt and Road Initia-
tive: Symmetrical Higher-
education Partnerships as
the Way Forward for Chi-
na at the Confer-
ence Memories and Vi-
sions: China's Ties with the
Outside World through the
Belt and Road Initia-
tive at Northwestern Poly-
technic University, Xi’an,
IDS PROFESSOR SARAH HALVERSON CO-PUBLISHES
ARTICLE ON EMERGING LIVELIHOOD STRATERGY IN
INDIA HIMALAYA
WHAT’S UP WITH IDS FOUNDER PROFESSOR PETER KOEHN
Cordyceps cleaned and
ready for market.
Fatal trail drop-off on route to
Cordyceps meadows.
"Poverty is like punishment for
a crime you didn't commit."
— Eli Khamarov, writer
"As long as poverty, injustice
and gross inequality exist in
our world, none of us can truly
rest."
— Nelson Mandela
"Where you live should not
determine whether you live, or
whether you die."
— Bono, singer-songwriter
"Extreme poverty anywhere is
a threat to human security
everywhere."
— Kofi Annan, Seventh Secre-
tary-General of the UN
"Poverty is the parent of revo-
lution and crime."
— Aristotle
"Wars of nations are fought to
change maps. But wars of pov-
erty are fought to map
change."
— Muhammad Ali
"It is a common condition of
being poor...you are always
afraid that the good things in
your life are temporary, that
someone can take them away,
because you have no power
beyond your own brute
strength to stop them."
— Rick Bragg, journalist
WHAT IS
POVERTY?
Missoula, MT 598
INTERNATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
STUDIES
Phone: 406-243-6752
Fax: 555-555-5555
E-mail:
We are on the
Web!
hs.umt.edu/ids
University of Montana
32 Campus Drive SS 302
Missoula, MT 598
406-243-6752
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
international focus or virtual.
These internship opportuni-
ties have been designed and
selected to give IDS stu-
dents an opportunity to
make global connections
while staying locally ground-
ed. Opportunities include
internships with the UN
World Food Program, Circle
of Health International (an
international nongovernmen-
tal organization based in
Austin, Texas, founded by
UM alumna Sera Bonds),
Ecology Project Internation-
al, Unite for Sight, Missoula
based Soft Landings, and
many more.
“The international intern-
ships expand the workforce
experience and professional
networks of UM students
immeasurably and help
them find work in their cho-
sen field after graduation,”
said Kimber McKay, director
of UM’s International Devel-
opment Studies and the re-
lated Peace Corps Prep pro-
gram.
The freestanding minor
brings together UM faculty
members’ networks full of
international experts in eco-
nomic development, health
economics, global health,
agriculture, communication
and environmental change.
Through classes from de-
partments and colleges
University of Montana In-
ternational Development
Studies students now have
more connections to global
careers through the new
international development
studies minor custom-
designed app tile on
the UMontana mobile app.
IDS students will automati-
cally have access to the
tile when they register on
the UMontana mobile app.
The IDS tile provides IDS
students with a quick way
to keep up on IDS events
as well as selective inter-
nationally-focused scholar-
ship and internship oppor-
tunities. The app tile points
IDS students to carefully
vetted international devel-
opment-focused intern-
ships many of which are
either locally based with an
across campus – including
business, economics, for-
estry, anthropology, politi-
cal science, geography and
many more – students
learn how to build a multi-
disciplinary toolkit suited
for international careers
spanning sectors, govern-
mental and nongovern-
mental organizations.
UM has a long-standing
tradition of making global
connections, with faculty
members conducting re-
search and consulting
abroad in each one of its
colleges. Every year, UM is
recognized in the top five
campuses in the nation for
producing Peace Corps
volunteers and was the
first public University to
offer the Peace Corps Prep
program.
NEW IDS APP-TILE ON UMONTANA APP!
Director:
Kimber McKay
Program Coordinator:
Delyla Wilson
We are on the
web:
hs.umt.edu/IDS
International Development
Studies is an interdisciplinary
field of study focusing on the
interconnected processes of
social, political, economic,
cultural, and environmental
change taking place in low-
income countries and disad-
vantaged regions of wealthy
countries. Coursework in the
minor emphasizes a global
perspective on the process of
change and development,
critical analysis of the role of
internal and external influ-
ences on the development
process, and applications to
local (including Montana) situ-
ations and challenges. The
IDS minor takes advantage of
existing faculty expertise and
courses to offer an interdisci-
plinary experience for those
students interested in either
international or domestic de-
velopment work. Students
minoring in IDS will develop
knowledge and skills appropri-
ate for graduate study and for
working in non-governmental
organizations, international
and bilateral government de-
velopment organizations, the
U.S. Peace Corps and other
national/international equiva-
lents, and /or community de-
velopment groups. In addition,
the IDS is the home of Peace
Corps Prep Program.
What is
International
Development
Studies?