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Kathryn Wasserman Davis, an alumna of I-House New York, celebrated her centenary birthday by contributing $1 million to fund 100 Davis Projects for Peace in 2007. “I wanted to use my 100th birthday to help young people launch some immediate initiatives – things that they can do during the summer of 2007 – that would bring new thinking to the prospects of peace in the world,” said Mrs. Davis. Mrs. Davis and her late husband, Shelby Cullom Davis, US Ambassador to Switzerland (1969-1975), both lived in I-House New York while working on their masters’ degrees at Columbia University in 1931-32.
After many creative projects were completed last summer, Mrs. Davis re-funded the program in 2008 and extended participation to residents of select International Houses. Four awards were reserved for I-House Berkeley residents who will receive grants of $10,000 to implement projects during the summer of 2008.
Dr. Liliane Koziol, Director of Programs, convened a review committee that selected the four recipients from among resident submissions. As a result, four dynamic residents will launch their peace projects this summer.
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Ana Teresa Villarreal Montemayor, a sociology Ph.D. from Mexico will work with Cambodian and Vietnamese children to promote cross-cultural sensitivity through sports and friendship in a Cambodian “Peace Camp.” |
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Aaron Sorenson, a Ph.D. student from the U.S. pursuing South and Southeast Asian Studies will conduct creative writing workshops in the Khmer language in Cambodia and publish resulting essays in both Khmer and English. |
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Ayse Ercumen from Turkey, who attended an Austrian high school in Istanbul, is working towards her Masters in Public Health and will conduct a clean water intervention project in Mumbai, India. |
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Sina Akhavan from the U.S. and of Iranian descent will work in Kosovo teaching employment education skills to Roma children. |
I-House is exploring ways to make the Peace Projects a permanent part of the I-House experience. |
In its second year, Davis Projects for Peace, is an invitation to residents at selected International Houses and students at the American colleges and universities in the Davis United World College Scholars Program to design grassroots projects that they will implement during the summer of 2008. The projects judged to be the most promising and do-able have been funded at $10,000 each. The objective is to encourage and support today’s motivated youth to create and tryout their own ideas for building peace.
For more information, see www.kwd100projectsforpeace.org/
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