Student News Fall 2008
Student News
America’s Next Top (Role) Model
Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar
Elizabeth Dahill ’08, who earned her bachelor of arts degree in history and political science, is pursuing a master’s degree in political science at the University of Ghana in Accra Ghana. Along with her academic studies, Dahill plans to participate in projects supported by Rotarians in Ghana such as micro credit and immunization programs, as well as speak to Rotary Clubs.
Haynes Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Fellows
Four College graduate students were selected to receive Haynes Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships. Emily Katherine Hobson and Tanachai Mark Padoongpatt, both of American studies and ethnicity; Jerry Gonzalez of history; and Edward Flores of sociology all received awards of $20,000 from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation to support their dissertation research.
A team of six USC undergraduates, including College international relations majors Kimberly Lewkowitz and David Livingston as well as students from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Keck School of Medicine of USC, have initiated a development project in India called the USC Hubli Water and Health Team. Funded by the Deshpande Foundation and advised by the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, the team promotes water quality in the Hubli-Dharward region of India. The project began work in India in July; in August, the USC students handed off the project to students from Karnataka University that they had trained, in order to ensure the initiative’s sustainability. The team’s efforts were profiled on CNN.com.
Four students from the Master of Liberal Studies Program attended the 2008 Graduate Liberal Studies Joint Symposium held at Stanford University in June. Illeana Brothers, Kinette Cager, Karen Holden and Shannon McHugh represented the program at the conference, where Holden presented her research on Raymond Chandler’s crime fiction and McHugh presented her research on film and feminism.
Jeanne McDougall, a doctoral candidate in history, appeared in the Warner Bros. film “Nights in Rodanthe,” starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. McDougall is one of several Virginia and North Carolina musicians to be cast as band members playing traditional music in the movie, which was shot on location on the North Carolina Outer Banks. The Storm Party Band, featuring McDougall, contributed two entries to the film’s soundtrack album. She and fellow “Rodanthe” performer Bob Zentz also collaborated this summer to compose music for “The Stingray Point Story,” an outdoor pageant that is part of the 400th anniversary celebration of John Smith’s exploration of the Chesapeake. In consultation with music and history faculty at USC, McDougall produced original music and instrumentation consistent with early 17th century musical practices familiar to American Indians and English explorers.
Dallas Woodburn, a senior majoring in creative writing, has signed on with literary agency Foundry + Media, who will be representing her first novel, “The Identity Theft of Dani Norhall,” to publishers.