“School board democratization and representation is a huge opportunity to enact local change and to ensure school districts are equitable and just,” Fowler comments. Her passion for this project stems from an interest in civic engagement and interdisciplinary problem-solving. Civic engagement has been a part of Fowler’s life since high school but she credits the Calderwood Seminars in Public Writing for her interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving. She said the course with Professor Williams taught her foundational skills for lifelong communication methods, but also taught her the value of collaboration when it comes to problem solving — not just collaboration with other people but collaborations of various disciplines. “The course totally shifted the way I viewed writing and teamwork,” she notes.
EMILY FOWLER’S PUBLISHED WORK FOCUSES ON HER RESEARCH ON CIVIC ENGAGEMENT BY ASHLEY LORRAINE WIESNER
Political science texts litter her laptop, mock trial preparation occupies her mind and cappuccinos course through her system as Emily Fowler buzzes about Chapman Hall. Fowler, a Clark Honors College student studying political science and media studies, rarely has time to eat lunch between her CHC coursework, involvement with Mock Trial, CHCSA, the Wayne Morse Scholars Program and her demanding internship with Terrapin Data, a Eugene-based technology start-up that works with civic data. Interning at Terrapin Data is a new addition to Fowler’s life. She found the internship through the honors college weekly newsletter and jumped at the opportunity to work with technology and civic engagement. Fowler started with the company in
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THE SCHOLAR
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October of 2019 and since that time has used data science to collect and develop engaging civic data sets for Oregonians. Her position relies heavily on computer science and coming from a political science background, Fowler was a nontraditional pick for the job. Knowing the position would be a challenge, she took to the internet and turned to mentors at Terrapin Data to learn programming and data analytics. Taking on a challenge is a mindset Fowler attributes to her time at CHC, saying that CHC has given her an interdisciplinary and empathetic mindset when approaching problem-solving.
An interdisciplinary approach is just one of the problem-solving skills Fowler has gained from CHC. She says learning to engage empathetically with people and information has enhanced her approach to civic engagement. Approaching people and topics with empathy was a skill Fowler learned in the course, “Muslim Women from the 7th to 15th Centuries” with Professor Irum Shiekh. The class allowed her to explore and dismantle media representations of Muslim women through honest class discussions that allowed her to empathize with human experiences different from her own.
“This position lets me combine my interest in politics with my growing toolbox of computer science and programming [skills],” Fowler explains.
“There are some classes that students carry with them for the rest of their lives,” Fowler adds. “Always looking back at the lessons learned…this was one of those classes.”
This computer science toolbox and interest in civic engagement inspired Fowler to translate 12,000 data entries into engaging data-based tools and applications Oregonians “can use to inspire civic engagement and local change,” Fowler says. Her projects translated directly through an Amazon Alexa app, or an interactive map of Oregon that breaks down school board demographics throughout the state and provides information on how to run for
Fowler’s work is not done with the completion of her Terrapin Data project, which went live in mid-April. She hopes to continue her passion for civic engagement and computer science with her CHC thesis and future career. Her thesis will explore the role of artificial intelligence in future elections and she hopes to have a career in civic tech to find data-based solutions for issues like climate change, income inequality and election stability.
NELLY NOUBOUSSI FINDS INSPIRATION IN HER MOTHER’S WORK AS SHE HEADS TO OHSU BY KEELY MILLER
At 13 and living in Cameroon, Nelly Nouboussi was excited when she learned she and her older sister Ruth were going to live in the U.S., but her expectations were instantly dashed when she arrived at her uncle’s house in Springfield, Oregon. “I thought I was just going to come live in this...huge mansion,” recalls Nouboussi, a recent ‘20 graduate from Clark Honors College, but after arriving, she realized her uncle’s house was smaller than her family’s home in Cameroon in Central Africa. The drab winters and Springfield’s community dynamics made it difficult for Nouboussi to adjust to her new environment. But surprisingly, missing home was what struck her most.
Coming to UO and the CHC turned out to be the right decision, says Nouboussi, whose dedication to her research is apparent; she was a recipient of an Undergraduate Research Award in 2018. “I’m glad I came here,” she adds. Nouboussi has always wanted a career in medicine, following the path of her mother, a physician in Cameroon who provides low or no cost care for people in need. She credits her mother’s good deeds for the formation of her own professional goals. “That was something that I really admired about her, and I wanted to kind of follow in her footsteps,” she said.
Nouboussi began applying to medical schools in last year and by the time of her graduation, had been accepted into four of them. She decided to attend Oregon Health and Science University in Portland in the fall of 2020, receiving a full scholarship. After graduating from medical school, she plans to return to Cameroon, where she wants to become a part of improving its health care system. This, she said, is her biggest motivator. “Having to focus on my goal and what I see as my purpose,” she said. “That’s what makes me keep working hard every day.”
“When I came here, I started feeling really homesick because I missed my family,” says Nouboussi, who left both parents and three siblings behind in Cameroon. “I missed, like...everything.” Before moving to the U.S., she thought she would have a cellphone that would allow her frequently communicate with her family, but that didn’t happen, and she only spoke to her family once a month. Despite these difficulties, Nouboussi was determined to finish high school and after graduation, she chose to attend the University of Oregon. She secured scholarships including the Robert J. Erickson Kaiser Permanente Scholarship, Pathway Oregon, Diversity Excellence Scholarship and the David O’Kelley scholarship from CHC, where her sister, Ruth, was already a student.
photo Sarah Northrop
school board positions.
During her four years at CHC, Nouboussi was a research assistant with for CHC professor and medical historian Melissa Graboyes, and worked in Professor Matt Smear’s neuroscience lab, where she studied the olfactory systems of mice.
ROBERT D. CLARK HONORS COLLEGE
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