Emily Myers ’16 was named a Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow. Myers is a current Minerva Fellow who recently returned from 10 months in Cambodia.
The fellowship provides college graduates with the opportunity to gain a Washington perspective on key issues of peace and security. They spend six to nine months in Washington, supported by a salary. Fellows serve as full-time project assistants at the participating organization of their choice.
Learn more about her here:
- Class Year: 2016
- Hometown: Waitsfield, Vt.
- Major: Political science
- Minor: Classics
- Activities/Clubs: Garnet Minstrelles president; Union College Democrats; Model U.N.; Mountebanks productions
How does this fellowship tie into your Union education?
The issues covered by the fellowship are completely in line with the type of work I did as a Union student. Union taught me to attempt to understand the complex and wide-ranging causes of conflict and political violence in the world, try to predict the ramifications, and then identify the actors and tools available to the global community to work toward peace. This is exactly the goal of many of the organizations affiliated with Scoville. In fact, one of the organizations I am interested in has a program dedicated to analyzing and publicizing the relationship between women, peace, and security, which is essentially what my senior thesis did at its core.
What are some courses/experiences here at Union that helped prepare you for it?
Without the professors who pushed me to expand my thinking and the experiences I had at Union inside and outside of the classroom, I never would have applied to Scoville. Specifically, writing a senior thesis, going on the Washington D.C. term, and participating in Model U.N., helped me prepare for both the work of the fellowship and the application process.
What do you hope to get (academically or personally) from the experience?
I hope to learn from experts in the fields of conflict prevention and peace-building, familiarize myself with the network of organizations working on these issues and learn to successfully convey complex political issues to the public. I also look forward to living in Washington D.C.