A PUBLICATION OF THE REVES CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AT WILLIAM & MARY
VOL. 12, NO. 1, FALL 2019
REVES CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AT WILLIAM & MARY VOL. 12, NO. 1, FALL 2019
4 New in Print
5 Dr. Eva Wong is new director of ISSP
5 New B.A. in Japanese Studies
6 Swedish Ambassador Visits W&M STUDENT & FACULTY RESEARCH
8 New William & Mary program in Rwanda asks students to look inward
12 W&M faculty, students excavate Sanctuary of the Great Gods
16 Silver lining for the Great Barrier Reef
FEATURES
20 A passion for dance and justice
26 The role of climate change in armed conflict W&M IN THE WORLD
28 Changing the world one passport at a time
31 China trip a lesson in cuisine
32 VIMS: Research on Kepone
35 Rethinking constitutions
37 In Their Own Words: Barbara Pate Glacel ‘70 and Judy Davis
41 Alumnus Profile: A Q&A with David Luhnow ‘90
Established in 1989, the Reves Center for International Studies is today one of the premier centers of its kind in U.S. higher education. Its mission is to support and promote the internationalization of learning, teaching, research and community involvement at William & Mary through programs for education abroad, international students and scholars, and global engagement across the university.
William & Mary is the number one public university for undergraduate study abroad participation, with more than 50 percent of the university’s undergraduates studying outside the U.S. before graduation. More than 1,200 international students, scholars and their families from nearly 70 countries have come to William & Mary. And the Reves Center encourages and assists numerous international strategic initiatives across the university, including the William & Mary Confucius Institute, which offers Chinese language and cultural activities to the campus and community, and Global Research Institute, co-sponsored by the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, which supports faculty and student collaborations to find solutions to pressing global problems.
REVES INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD – FALL 2019
Kira C. Allmann ’10
United Kingdom
Dana B. Bennett Bethesda, MD
John E. Bessler ’85 Williamsburg, VA
Michael R. Blakey ’98
Singapore
Jane H. Carpenter-Rock ’92
Upper Marlboro, MD
Guillermo S. Christensen Arlington, VA
John S. Dennis ’78
Switzerland
Scott R. Ebner ’96 Boston, MA
Rodney Faraon Arlington, VA
Barbara Pate Glacel ’70, Chair Oak Hill, VA
Gregory J. Golden Falls Church, VA
Deborah Allen. Hewitt ’75 Williamsburg, VA
James D. Hunter ’85
Hong Kong
Richard C. Kraemer, Jr. ’94 Washington, DC
David C. Larson ’75 Fort Myers, FL
Donald F. Larson ’76 McLean, VA
Barbara A. Leaf ’80 Alexandria, VA
Leslie McCormack Gathy ’88
United Kingdom
Thomas C. Lillelund ’95 Luxembourg
Stephanie A. Morse ’92 Tallahassee, FL
Luis H. Navas ’82 Miami, FL
Bruce W. Pflaum ’75 Lake Oswego, OR
Sharon K. Philpott ’85, Vice Chair
White Salmon, WA
Ian M. Ralby ’05
Owings Mills, MD
Young Ju Rhee ’98 Boston, MA
Corey D. Shull ’06 Baltimore, MD
Patricia Trinler Spalding ’83
San Jose, Costa Rica
Carl E. Tack III ’78 Williamsburg, VA
Nathan Younge Falls Church, VA
FROM THE DIRECTOR
With this issue of Minded
two important mile stones: the 30th an niversary of the founding of the Reves Center for International Studies in 1989 and the 10th anniversary of the found ing of the Global Research Institute (GRI) in 2009. Both institutions have made a powerful difference in promot ing William & Mary’s global reach and reputation. Indeed, as the articles in this issue abundantly show, W&M is now a true global leader in internation al higher education. As I reflect on the factors that have contributed to our success over these past few decades, I am struck by three consistent themes that emerge in nearly every global initiative we undertake: interdisciplinarity, collaboration, and relevance.
Stephen E. Hanson Vice Provost for International Affairs Director, Reves Center for International Studies
First, W&M is a university that truly prizes interdisciplinary research and teaching—and this is certainly true in all of our global work. Our study abroad programs bring together diverse aspects of the liberal arts and sciences, as well as faculty experts from all four W&M professional schools, to bring knowledge from the classroom into real-world contexts on every continent. Interdisciplinary research projects at GRI give W&M undergraduates the opportunity to work closely with faculty on studies of immense importance, published in the leading scientific journals. Our students frequently combine fields in the STEM disciplines, the internationally oriented social sciences, and the global humanities in creative and innovative ways.
Second, at W&M we understand that excellence in global education and research necessitates sustained and reciprocal collaboration, both within the university and with
WORLD MINDED STAFF
Editor: Kate Hoving, Public Relations Manager, Reves Center for International Studies
our valued partners around the world. Our international students and scholars across the university are knit together into a supportive and caring community. Our students, faculty, and staff work together synergistically to advance W&M’s global reach, whether this is through partnerships to provide authentic Chinese food in our dining halls or initiatives to provide every W&M student the opportunity to get a U.S. passport. As the wonderful conversation in this issue between Reves Board Chair Barbara Pate Glacel ’70 and our long-time staff leader at the Reves Center Judy Davis illustrates, we are blessed to be able to collaborate also with truly brilliant and caring supporters who volunteer their time and energy to further our global mission.
Finally, our global research and education is deeply relevant. At W&M, we know that sustainable global change can only come about when we combine innovative analysis designed to produce global impact with an understanding of diverse cultural and historical perspectives. We see this in our efforts to invite leading foreign policy makers to engage with the campus community, in VIMS research on climate change and its effects on the world’s oceans, in the Law School’s innovative programs on law and post-conflict peacebuilding, and in a myriad of other programs and initiatives across the university.
As we welcome our new Provost Peggy Agouris—herself an international student and scholar, originally from Greece— to W&M, I am happy to report that internationalization at W&M has never been stronger. I wish you all a happy Reves and GRI dual anniversary!
ON THE COVER
Contributing Writers: Paulina Farley-Kuzmina ‘20; David Malmquist, VIMS; Adrienne Brerard, Joseph McClain, Jennifer Williams and Erin Zagursky, University News & Media; Mike Buzalka
Graphic Design: University Web & Design
Leah Glenn perfoming Youngest of Nine, her original choreography inspired by Carlotta Walls Lanier, the youngest of the Little Rock Nine. Copyright 2019, Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts, Duke Divinity School. Photo by Jordan Haywood, jordanhaywoodphotography.com.
New In Print
BRIDES, MOURNERS,
BACCHAE: WOMEN’S RITUALS IN ROMAN LITERATURE
By Vassiliki Panoussi, Professor of Classical Studies
The book explores women’s place in weddings, funerals, Bacchic rites, and women-only rituals in Roman literature, and the ways women were able to exercise influence, even power in Rome in the late Republic (1st c. BCE) to Flavian times (1st c. CE). The first large-scale analysis of this body of work from a feminist perspective, the book makes a compelling case that ritual was an important lens through which Roman authors explored the problems of women’s agency, subjectivity, civic identity, and self-expression.
Published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019
1918-1955
EVERYONE ON THE SAME FREQUENCY: THE RADIO HOBBY, PRIVATE ASSOCIATIONS, AND THE CHALLENGE OF MODERNITY IN GERMANY
By Bruce B. Campbell, Professor of German Studies, Emeritus
The hobby of radio was a major way for people to come to terms with technological modernity in the first half of the 20th. century. Otherwise frightening technology was ‘domesticated’ and accepted by individuals by literally putting it on the kitchen table to build or update a working radio. the book focuses on Germany and the huge ecosystem of radio clubs and associations under several regimes from 1920 to 1955.
Published by Palgrave-MacMillan, 2019
A GENEALOGY OF DEVOTION
By Patton Burchett, Assistant Professor (Religious Studies Department)
A path-breaking genealogical study of devotional (bhakti) Hinduism that traces its understudied historical relationships with tantra, yoga, and Sufism. A Genealogy of Devotion illuminates the complex historical factors at play in the growth of bhakti in Sultanate and Mughal India through its pivotal interactions with Indic and Persianate traditions of asceticism, monasticism, politics, and literature. Shedding new light on the importance of Persian culture and popular Sufism in the history of devotional Hinduism, Burchett’s work explores the cultural encounters that reshaped early modern North Indian communities.
Published by Columbia University Press
POE’S ‘EUREKA,’ ERASMUS DARWIN, AND DISCOURSES OF RADICAL SCIENCE IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA, 1770-1850
By Robert J. Scholnick, Professor of English and American Studies
Scholnick’s book, a reviewer writes, “deals with the most important revolution in scientific thought: the idea of evolution.” It discloses an entire and surprising world of thought behind Poe’s work, drawing from such figures as Erasmus Darwin, Robert Chambers and Alexander von Humboldt.
Released by Edwin Mellen Press in 2019
THE RACIAL POLITICS OF DIVISION: INTERETHNIC STRUGGLES FOR LEGITIMACY IN MULTICULTURAL MIAMI
By Monika Gosin, Associate Professor, Sociology
From the publisher: The Racial Politics of Division deconstructs antagonistic discourses that circulated in local Miami media between African Americans, “white” Cubans, and “black” Cubans during the 1980 Mariel Boatlift and the 1994 Balsero Crisis. Monika Gosin challenges exclusionary arguments pitting these groups against one another and depicts instead the nuanced ways in which identities have been constructed, negotiated, rejected, and reclaimed in the context of Miami’s historical multiethnic tensions. By looking back to interethnic conflict that foreshadowed current demographic and social trends, Gosin provides us with lessons for current debates surrounding immigration, interethnic relations, and national belonging.
Published by Cornell University Press
Dr. Eva Wong is New Director of ISSP
BY STAFF
William & Mary currently has nearly 800 international students enrolled, evenly divided between graduate and undergraduate students, across multiple disciplines and professional schools. They represent more than 60 countries.
the programming, advocacy, and outreach goals of ISSP.
Eva Wong, PhD. has been appointed the new Director of International Students, Scholars & Programs (ISSP).
Wong has been the Assistant Director for International Programs since 2015. She succeeds Stephen Sechrist, who left William & Mary over the summer to move to Germany with his family.
The ISSP office interacts with approximately 1,200 students, scholars, alumni and dependents annually.
“We conducted a competitive, national search for a successor to Steve Sechrist, and were delighted to realize that the best candidate had been here all along,” said Stephen E. Hanson, Vice Provost for International Affairs and Director of the Reves Center. “Wong’s impact and vision are felt in every aspect of the lives, education and careers of William & Mary’s international students, faculty, staff, visiting scholars, and their families.”
Wong joined the Reves staff in 2010 as an International Student & Scholar Advisor and in five years was promoted to Assistant Director. In that new role she continued to advise students, scholars and W&M offices but has also developed and executed a vision for
“I am honored to serve William & Mary’s international community as the new Director of ISSP. During my time at Reves, we have been successful at what we do by building collaborative relationships with campus partners and external agencies. One of my priorities would be to continue to strengthen and grow those relationships,” Wong said. “As the institution moves toward a new strategic plan, I also look forward to supporting the university’s internationalization efforts by continuing to attract diverse talents to W&M and making sure that the campus is a welcoming place to all.”
Wong received her PhD in Education, Cultural Perspectives and Comparative Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara; and both her M.A. in Education, Counseling and Student Services and her B.A. in Psychology from California State University, Fresno.
W&M to offer Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Studies
BY ERIN ZAGURSKY
William & Mary will began offering a Japanese studies major this fall, becoming the only public university in the state to offer a bachelor’s degree in the discipline.
The Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Studies was approved by the State Council in Higher Education for Virginia July 16. W&M’s Board of Visitors approved the program proposal on Sept. 28, 2018.
Students will learn about Japanese language, culture and history while also
receiving training in cultural-studies methodologies. The major will include a study-abroad option, using existing exchange programs with Keio University and Akita International University and a new “send-only” program with Ritsumeikan University.
“We’re excited to offer students a deeper engagement with Japanese culture, society, politics, and business, and to give them the cultural knowledge and linguistic skills to become experts on Japan,” said Michael Cronin,
director of the Japanese Studies Program and associate professor of modern languages.
“The program was developed in response to student demand and the steady growth of the Japanese program at the university,” said Cronin. “Also, as part of a broad liberal arts curriculum, this new, interdisciplinary major will train students in the skills of critical thinking and communication that are fundamental to a liberal-arts education and highly valued by employers.”
Eva Wong
Photo by Stephen Salpukas
between the U.S., EU
BY ETHAN BROWN ‘21
Swedish Ambassador to the United States Karin Olofsdotter visited William and Mary Oct. 3 to deliver the 2019 McSwain-Walker Lecture. Addressing an audience in St. George Tucker Hall filled with faculty, students and local Williamsburg residents, Olofsdotter discussed the complicated trilateral relationship between her home country, the U.S. and the European Union, and touched upon some of the social, economic and cultural ramifications of international politics in the 21st century.
Varying motivations led students to attend Olofsdotter’s talk.
“I’m here for my Intro to International Politics … I’m also here because I’m very interested in diplomacy and the ambassadorial process,”
Grace Scott ’23 said.
Vice Provost for International Affairs Steve Hanson introduced Olofsdotter and elucidated the purpose of the annual lecture before detailing Olofsdotter’s distinguished career in public service. According to Hanson, the McSwain-Walker talk fosters dialogue on how the United States interacts with exogenous political and cultural forces.
“It is one that brings renowned scholars, artists, analysts and other notable public figures to William & Mary to speak on topics related to how other countries and cultures interact with the United States and how the United States interacts with them,” Hanson said.
Before Olofsdotter took to the podium, Hanson catalogued some of her professional
accomplishments. Olofsdotter began her current ambassadorial posting in September 2017, and has since spent two years working in Washington, D.C. Her career with the Swedish Foreign Service began in 1994, when she first started working at the Swedish Embassy in Moscow.
Following several postings specializing in defense issues and security policy, Olofsdotter took on her first ambassadorial role as the Swedish Ambassador to Hungary in 2011, and in that capacity, she worked with various policy makers within the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Olofsdotter began her speech by listing a series of light-hearted facts about her home country. She referenced Sweden’s extensive forest coverage and its significant moose population — over half-a-million moose live alongside 10 million Swedes — before discussing more serious national characteristics.
She touted the Swedish passport as the third strongest in the world for visa-less travel, and reminded the audience of prominent Swedish corporations, including Volvo, Spotify, H&M and IKEA, that have wide-reaching positive impacts on Americans. Olofsdotter reminded audience members that while they may not recognize it, Swedish people, companies and influences are ubiquitous in modern America. This sentiment is most visible to Olofsdotter when she interacts with U.S. senators and representatives, who frequently clamor for IKEAs to set up shop in their congressional districts.
“I walk the halls of Congress frequently, to talk to members of Congress, and I still haven’t met one member of Congress who wouldn’t like an IKEA in his constituency,” Olofsdotter said.
Once Olofsdotter established Sweden’s extensive legacy and presence within the United States, she transitioned to evaluating the two countries’ bilateral relationship. While diplomatic ties between Sweden and the United States date back to 1783, Olofsdotter commented on the relationship’s importance within modern geo-politics. However, despite the warmth of the Swedish-American relationship, Olofsdotter emphasized concerns regarding President Donald Trump’s trade policies because of their ramifications for Sweden’s economy.
“The United States is our fourth largest trading partner, so right now, of course, the discussions on trade in Washington are for us, actually existential,” Olofsdotter said. “… We are very worried about the protectionism we hear, the use of tariffs for various reasons, of course we also see the same issues with China as the United States does, but the tariff hurts our companies as well.”
She then described the deleterious consequences of Trump’s tariffs and voiced her frustration with the administration’s rationale behind imposing them.
“We are also following, and are quite upset, I’m going to be frank with you, when it comes to the steel and aluminum tariffs that have been put on Europe out of national security reasons … that is not acceptable,” Olofsdotter said. “Most countries in Europe have a deep and long-standing security
relationship with the United States, most of them are members of NATO, so to say that steel and aluminum are threats to U.S. national security — it’s just protectionism.”
After pointing out the tariffs’ consequences for both Swedish companies and American consumers, Olofsdotter provided a brief overview of other endemic threats to Swedish national security in the 21st century. Among these concerns is Russian aggression, which Sweden has sought to combat following Russia’s 2014 occupation of Crimea and its subsequent meddling throughout Northern Europe and the Baltic states. These anxieties have prompted Sweden to reevaluate its security priorities, especially given the inaccurate expectations of what a post-Soviet world would look like.
“When the Soviet Union collapsed, we all thought that the world would be peace and love, basically … so we deconstructed and cut down on our defense, and we made it rather quickly, so we have realized over the past years that the world is not as much peace and love as we thought it would be in the 90s,” Olofsdotter said. “This means we are going back to a conscript army, we are buying new submarines … we are increasing our exercises together with our neighboring countries and with the United States, to show Russia that we are serious in the defense of our country.”
In closing her speech, Olofsdotter commented on the importance of tolerance in an increasingly chaotic world by providing a personal anecdote about her grandmother, who in expressing contempt for Danes and Finns illustrated the vitality of approaching situations with understanding rather than hatred.
“I just want to remind you that every generation has its ‘scary foreigner’ … my grandmother was born in 1900, she thought that Danish people and Finnish people were the absolute worst, they were not to be trusted, they were not clean, they were drunk,” Olofsdotter said. “Of course, the ‘scary foreigner’ just comes from further away these days, but it’s exactly the same emotions.”
Article originally appeared in The Flat Hat. Reprinted with permission
Opposite: Ambassador Olofsdotter had lunch and a lively discussion with W&M 1693 Scholars and Swedish LLM student, Ellen Rehnberg at Murray House. Photo by Kelly D. Spence
Just before the lecture, Reves Advisory Board Member Emeritus Frank Shatz explained to the Ambassador that he hid from Nazis in one of Raoul Wallenberg’s safe houses. Len Borgstrom (seated at right) looks on. Photo by Kate Hoving
New William & Mary program in Rwanda asks students to look inward
BY PAULINA FARLEY-KUZMINA ‘20
Empathy and forgiveness are simple concepts, but are much harder to apply in practice. A new William & Mary sponsored summer study abroad program in Kigali, Rwanda focuses on the process of forgiveness and community building in the context of the Rwandan genocide, where around one million people (a tenth of the population) were massecred. For three weeks this past May, a mix of Ph.D, masters, and undergraduate students traveled to the capital of Rwanda where they spent time visiting memorial sites and talking to both survivors and perpetrators of the genocide.
This small group of twelve students from diverse backgrounds came together to learn firsthand from genocide survivors about what it means to overcome tragedy and move toward reconcilliation and forgivess in the face of crimes against humanity. Although there were academic components like classes and readings involved, the purpose of this program was to undergo a transformative experience by looking inward.
“My definitions of hope and forgiveness have changed. Before I thought forgiveness was someone apologizing and then both moving on from it, but looking at the reconciliation villages and the whole community that had to reconcile with one another I learned that forgiveness is a two-party journey where both sides have to come together to communicate,” said undergraduate policy and data science major Morgan Tompkins. Tompkins has studied international development abroad in Guatemala from an economic perspective through the Global Research Institute, but participated in
this program to explore social development with a more qualitative approach.
Headed by Dean of the School of Education Spencer Niles and Assistant Professor Daniel Gutierrez in the Counselor Education program at the School of Education, students in the program completed the intensive program in conjunction with partner institution Aegis Trust, an NGO from the United Kingdom based in Rwanda with the goal of preventing genocide, crimes against humanity, and mass atrocities worldwide.
The idea for this study abroad experience came into fruition after Niles went to Rwanda in October of 2017 to to give a keynote speech at a conference that brought together students, ministers of education, university administrators and teachers. There he was introduced to members from Aegis Trust, and together they began developing the program.
“A lot of the trip was designed around the idea of soul searching. We didn’t want to give you a ton of material. You can Wikipedia or watch one of the millions of documentaries on the Rwandan genocide,” said Gutierrez. “We want a transformation. We want people to go into this and have an experience and learn outside of the classroom.”
Niles and Gutierrez flew to Rwanda in November of 2018 for their preliminary visit where they designed the course, program structure, and schedule. With only a few months for a turnaround to finalize logistical details such as tuition cost, credits, and enrollment caps, the program surpassed expectations for both the students and faculty involved. Aegis Trust provided William &
Mary with meals, guides, the basics for the peace and education curriculum, and helped with lodging accommodations. Niles and Gutierrez supplemented the Aegis Trust peace and education course with their own readings, material, and assignments.
This program in Rwanda is unique for a number of reasons. It is one of three William & Mary programs in sub-Saharan Africa (the others being in Cape Town and Mauritius), it offers an opportunity for students of all higher education levels to study abroad together and all receive credit, but also because the program courses are based out of the School of Education.
“Having the balance between undergraduates and graduates gave the undergraduates a chance to talk to graduate students and see what path they are on and open their eyes to what the potential choices are for graduate school or careers,” said Marina Knapp, special programs advisor at the Reves Center. “It also gave the graduate students a chance to step up and take on a leadership and mentoring role.”
The group arrived in Rwanda during the 25th anniversary of commemeration of the 100-day genocide, making their time spent there especially meaningful. For those three weeks students
had a packed schedule; they visited museums, memorial sites, killing sites, resting places, reconciliation villages, universities, and parliament. They also had opportunities to explore the surrounding wildlife, for example going on a safari and taking a boat ride on Lake Kivu. There was also a volunteer component to the program: the group passed out food at a hospital as well as helped build a road during “Umuganda,” a day once a month where everyone in each community helps or cleans up in some way.
Due to the very horrific nature of genocide and its aftermath, both students and faculty were confronted with incredibly tough topics throughout the program. However, Niles and Gutierrez are both professional counselors and were able to create a safe space for students, as well as any support needed before, during, and after site visits or meetings with survivors. This support came in many forms, for example time to decompress after site visits, small group conversations, and journaling. Students were also encouraged to speak to either faculty member one-on-one.
“When you see somebody taking in an experience and letting it change them, it changes you somehow,” said Stephanie Dorais, a Ph.D candidate in counselor education. “It’s a continuum
The group met with staff of Aegis Trust and listened to survivors’ stories. Photos courtesy of Daniel Gutierrez and Aegis Trust
Education) to generate research about the process of thriving.
“We’re interested in how people who come from very challenging circumstances are able to thrive. What are the mechanisms that are a part of that process that help them have that level of resilience? The goal is to identify patterns that exist across situations and individuals who are thriving despite the experiences they’ve had and then where does that lead us to in terms of counseling
ized, they anticipate minor changes to the curriculum and itinerary, a shorter duration in Rwanda, and also more time spent upfront on foundational work before departure, as well as a follow up component.
“Transformation is not only intellectual. Our students are very comfortable with intellectuality, but a truer transformation needs to go beyond that,” Dean Niles said. “It needs to involve not just the head, but the heart.”
This memorial commemorates Belgian soldiers who lost their lives. The memorials gave students a new understanding of the depth of suffering and pain that occurred during the Rwandan Genocide Against the Tutsi. “It was an awakening moment for many of the students,” Guttierez says. Courtesy photo
Dr. Gutierrez is taught a traditional Rwandan dance by one of the children in the orphanage. Photo courtesy of Aegis Trust
W&M faculty, students excavate Sanctuary of the Great Gods
BY JENNIFER L. WILLIAMS
William & Mary faculty members and students working at an archaeological dig this past summer not only made new finds but added to the extensive amount of information about the site already on record.
Classical Studies Lecturer Andrew Ward and Assistant Professor Jess Paga took three students to excavate the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on the Greek island of Samothrace from June 23 through Aug. 11. Elizabeth Dowker ’20, Robert Yancey ’19 and post-baccalaureate student Madeleine Nelson learned about all facets of the work, which Americans have been doing at the site since the 1930s and is currently led by Emory University and New York University. The W&M students will spend the fall and spring semesters on data processing and synthesis of their summer work.
Paga received a W&M Arts & Sciences Annual Fund grant through the dean’s office that facilitated bringing students to the Mediterranean, while Ward is a 2019 Reves Faculty Fellowship recipient.
Samothrace was famous in antiquity for its mystery cult, which peaked in popularity in the 4th to 2nd centuries BCE with the construction of some of the most architecturally adventurous buildings of the Hellenistic period and the dedication of the famed Winged Victory (Nike) statue that’s now in the Louvre. Now in the second year of a five-year research initiative trying to understand key issues of phenomenology and access, researchers continue to study the site.
Ancient worshippers would come to the island, and they would be ritually initiated in secret.
“And only when you were initiated would you start to understand the truth of the sanctuary,” Ward said. “Supposedly, according to written sources, once you were initiated you would become a better person in all ways and be lucky and be safe at sea.”
The current research is focused on how ancient initiates moved through the sanctuary, navigating the island’s rough terrain and torrential water, and the effect that this movement had on their experience of the site. Crucial to that is the ravine that runs through the middle of it.
This summer, the group found stone and concrete pieces of the ancient ravine lining that was built to contain the flow of water. Especially exciting, Paga said, was that researchers discovered divergences in the ravine that are clear evidence that its course changed over time. They also found part of a staircase in an area known as space K that indicates such conveyance was used to help initiates get around.
Smaller finds included Paga’s discovery of an area where vessels for drinking wine during rituals were discarded. Conservators were able to put back together the pieces of the black gloss feasting cups and bowls.
The W&M group also found several items that had washed up against the ancient ravine walls. They included a silver coin with the head of Athena on it and an ionic column base believed to have washed down from a dedicatory monument above on the Stoa terrace, according to Paga. They also
found conical bowls in another area and architectural blocks from some of the most sacred buildings in the sanctuary.
“This summer, I learned a lot about excavations in sites that were excavated earlier in archaeology’s history and the problems that arise from that type of situation,” Yancey said. “In terms of my excavation skills, after I helped fill out the stratigraphic unit sheets and gave presentations of the various trenches I was working in, I feel like I developed a much deeper understanding of stratigraphy and how anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic actions can impact the soil.”
Students participated in field work in the mornings and in the afternoons continued the work of documenting previous finds for publication.
“The people I was lucky enough to work with were great teachers and collaborators, sharing their considerable experience both with the site and with data visualization approaches,” Nelson said. “The entire experience was the ideal opportunity to test and hone skills I learned in the classroom in a real-world application.”
Inputting and managing data both new and old is a big part of the work, and students will continue to archive photos and work on 3D models for
plans during this school year. Those will inform a planned journal article, according to Ward.
“We want them to understand the processes of excavation, the processes of protocols, digitization, documentation,” Paga said. “So that when they leave the island, they have a much fuller and more robust understanding of the nature of the discipline of archaeology.”
She also pointed out that the Samothrace project is unusual in American-led Greek archaeological field projects in that it is directed by a woman and includes a mostly female crew in many different roles. Paga was very glad the W&M students got to experience that.
“I felt extremely fortunate to be welcomed onto such an intellectually engaging and forward-thinking project,” Dowker said. “Excavating at such an important site as the Sanctuary of the Great Gods made me feel trusted as a skillful undergraduate excavator. It increased my confidence in my skills in excavation and survey and showed me where I can further develop my professional interests.”
Faculty members emphasized the broad range of experience that students are exposed to on the dig. The site crew included archaeologists, specialists in geospatial studies and geographic
The William & Mary research group in front of the Hieron monument at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace, Greece, this summer. Back row, left to right: Classical Studies Lecturer Andrew Ward, Robert Yancey ‘19, Elizabeth Dowker ‘20, Associate Professor of Government and Classical Studies affiliated faculty John Lombardini and front row, left to right: Classical Studies Assistant Professor Jess Paga, postbaccalaureate student Madeleine Nelson. Courtesy photo
information systems, geologists, geomorphologists, chemists, computer scientists and conservation spe cialists.
bers who are coming not only from William & Mary, but Emory and a number of other American institu tions, have been really willing to also teach the stu dents,” Ward said. “And so all three of the students — Robert, Madeleine and Elizabeth — were able to not only excavate and learn excavation techniques, but
struction, work with the geomorphologist, work with
ing the students come and dig, wash pottery and that’s standing of how our engagement with antiquity is not just one discipline, but really is this interdisciplinary
Opposite: Above: Aerial view of dig site; Below: Assistant Professor Jess Paga at the Rotunda monument
This page (clockwise from bottom left): Robert Yancey ‘19; postbaccalaureate student Madeleine Nelson; Elizabeth Dowker ‘20; Andrew Ward speaks to a small group at the dig. Courtesy photos
A dreadful discovery about the crown-of-thorns starfish contains a silver lining for the Great Barrier Reef
BY JOSEPH MCCLAIN
Jonathan Allen has good news and bad news for Australians regarding the crown-of-thorns sea star.
The bad news is that the fecund and voracious destroyer of Indo-Pacific coral reefs has a previously unknown method of reproduction.
The good news is that the Australians might be able to limit the outbreaks of these coral-munching echinoderms by using this new knowledge.
Allen is an associate professor in William & Mary’s Department of Biology. He is a member of a team that discovered that the crown-of-thorns seastar (COTS) can reproduce by larval cloning. Their discovery is described in “Larval cloning in the crown-of-thorns sea star, a keystone coral predator,” published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.
Emily Richardson, a 2018 M.S. graduate in biology, is a co-author; her work was supported in part by a grant from William & Mary’s Reves Center for International Studies. She is now in a Ph.D. program at Monash University in Australia. Other authors are Dione Deaker and Maria Byrne of the University of Sydney and Antonio Agüera of the University of Brussels. The project was funded by was funded by an Ian Potter Foundation Grant from the Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station.
The crown-of-thorns is an infamous pest, responsible for the loss of immense stretches of coral throughout the Indo-Pacific region, especially on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It’s been the object of concern and media exposure for a couple of decades. Many people assume that because it does so much harm, the crown-of-thorns must be an invasive species, but it’s not.
“It’s native to the Pacific,” Allen said. “They’re widespread and we now know that there are four species.”
From an ecological standpoint, the crown-ofthorns has the same impact whether it’s a single species or four, he added. They’re all corallivores —coral eaters.
“And they pretty much exclusively eat coral,” Allen added. “They eat a lot of coral.”
They grow to about a meter in diameter, so it takes a lot of coral to keep an adult crown-ofthorns fed. When an adult crown-of-thorns dines on a section of coral reef, there is nothing dainty about the act. Asterias, the common starfish of the East Coast, use their muscular tube feet to open up an oyster or clamshell. Coral polyps have no bivalve protection and so the crown-of-thorns just drapes its body on a section of coral.
“They get in what they think is a good spot,” Allen said, “then they kind of throw their stomach
up out of their mouth and just lie there and digest the coral outside of their body.”
Allen said that the crown-of-thorns are a natural part of the Great Barrier Reef ecology, but crown-of-thorns population explosions, known as outbreaks, put the balance out of whack. He said there has to be some set of environmental conditions that cause the crown-of-thorns population to go through the reef.
“What causes an outbreak? That is the big question. That is the question everyone wants the answer to,” Allen said. “There have been multiple hypotheses going back decades.”
Allen said that “top-down” ecological hypotheses were au courant in the 1960s among scientists trying to explain crown-of-thorns outbreaks.
He explained that the top-down hypotheses suggested that the starfish numbers were exploding in response to decreased predation. He gave the example of large sea snails, commonly called tritons and helmet snails. They are predators of the crown-of-thorns.
“They are long-lived, slow-growing animals, and they make good additions to shell collections,” Allen said. “Divers and tourists have collected them — probably going back to Cook.”
Other top-down hypotheses center on decreased numbers of reef fish species that eat young crown-of-thorns.
Allen said the most recent thinking is that, while the decreased number of crown-of-thorns predators has some impact, a bottom-up explanation has more to do with the cause of outbreaks.
Bottom-up hypotheses simply suggest that the crown-of-thorns are reproducing and/or growing to maturity much more rapidly than anyone realized.
Mature crown-of-thorns reproduce sexually, a process that, like its feeding, is crude, but effective. Allen said the COTS have distinct genders, but there is no boy-meets-girl stuff.
“They’re basically bags of gametes. The males just emit sperm,” Allen said. “The sperm drift around on the current, along with chemicals that prime the females. The females release their eggs. Fertilization has a large random element to it.”
COTS sex won’t inspire many poets. And random and crude as the process is, it works quite well: The team’s paper points out that a single mature crown-of-thorns female can produce as many as 100 million eggs each year.
Scientists have found that many of those countless eggs were getting fertilized. Allen explained that advances in technology have allowed researchers to get a handle on the population of crown-of-thorns larvae, which are microscopic in size and drift along with the phytoplankton they eat.
“Through the ease of genome sequencing, you can go out on the reef, take a water sample and see the DNA in the water,” Allen explained.
After reading a couple of estimates of crown-ofthorns larvae population, Allen said he retained one comment in the literature: “‘There is essentially a continuous cloud of larvae over the reef,’” he quoted. “They’re everywhere.”
Above: The crown-of-thorns starfish can grow to a meter in diameter.
Previous page: Rib Reef was a COTS collecting site for Allen and his collaborators that, in the months after this photo was taken, suffered from a COTS outbreak that threatens much of the surviving coral on the Great Barrier Reef. Photos courtesy of Jon Allen
Allen and his collaborators started thinking about larval cloning: What if those baby, microscopic starfish were out there on the reef in their uncounted gazillions, making copies of themselves?
“The phenomenon of larval cloning is well known,” Allen explained. Other echinoderms — even other starfish — reproduce through larval cloning. Even coral larvae clone themselves. “But no one had thought to look at crown-of-thorns before.”
It was an understandable oversight. Sexual reproduction of crown-of-thorns is so successful that larval cloning seemed superfluous. But, Allen and his collaborators were curious enough to begin watching larvae back in the lab at Orpheus Island Research Station in Australia.
They only recently were able to witness an act of crown-of-thorns larval cloning, even though they knew it was happening: “You put one larva in a beaker,” he said. “You come back the next day and there are two.”
They wanted to witness the stages of cloning, and clock the process. Despite their assiduity, for over a year they were unable to see an act of cloning. The watchword in the lab became “A watched larva never clones,” Allen said. Then one day, Allen was in the microscope room with one of the Australian co-authors.
“We were taking photographs and measuring these larvae,” he said. He was wielding his pipette, “And while I was putting this larva on a microscope slide, it just cloned! Right in front of me.”
“And it happened like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. “It explains why we don’t usually see it. It was essentially instantaneous. I was yelping and screaming.”
Allen described the larval cloning process, which he says takes less than a second and starts at the head.
“Well, where the head would be. They don’t have a head. There’s a mouth and an esophagus and a stomach,” he said. “The mouth just pops off. The esophagus and body just float around with no mouth. The mouth part regrows the esophagus and body; and the esophagus and body regrow the mouth.”
They’ve developed an understanding of some of the cues that prompt larval cloning. Chief among them is a correlation with high-nutrient water. Allen said many of Australia’s eastern rivers have become loaded with fertilizer used in growing sugar cane. The rivers bring the nutrients out to the ocean reefs, a process — known as
eutrophication — that he said is similar to what is going on in areas of the Chesapeake Bay.
“Eutrophication of the nutrient-poor water on the coral reefs led to phytoplankton blooms. Increased phytoplankton blooms fed the crownof-thorns larvae,” he explained. “And the larvae had a higher success rate, so there are more of them.”
In abundance, phytoplankton — microscopic algae — not only feeds larvae, but also prompts them to clone. Other larval-cloning echinoderm species were known to respond to high levels of phytoplankton blooms by cloning at higher levels. Allen and his group discovered that the crown-of-thorns had a similar response.
“It makes sense,” he said. “From an adaptive standpoint, if you’re a larva in a low-nutrient environment, you’re not going to want to split your resources. But if you’re a larva, and there’s plenty of food around, well then — bink! You split into two and there’s plenty of phytoplankton here for both of us to eat.”
Allen said the team is moving on to address questions that remain about various aspects of larval cloning. For instance, he believes that there is some plane or hinge below the larval mouth that facilitates the cloning split. He also wants to map out the adaptive cost-benefit analysis of larval cloning.
“Obviously there is a big benefit, which is there are two of you, rather than one of you, but there also are costs,” he said. “For instance, it takes time to rebuild the larval body that you’ve split from.”
Allen said his team’s discoveries pointing to the connection between excess nutrients and crownof-thorns outbreaks can help Australians make decisions that can help alleviate crown-of-thorns predation on the Great Barrier Reef, a source of national pride as well as tourist dollars.
Dr. Jon Allen (above) and Emily Richardson (opposite page) carefully remove gonads from between the venomous spines of the crown-of-thorns seastar in preparation for their experiments on cloning rates in this keystone coral predator. Photo courtesy of Jon Allen
“Making dances is an act of progress it is an act of growth, an act of music, an act of teaching, an act of celebration, an act of joy.”
AILEY
a
ALVIN
Leah Glenn teaching and working with
member of Jazzart Dance Theatre. Photo courtesy of Leah Glenn
A passion for dance and justice
BY KATE HOVING
Dancer, choreographer and anthropologist Pearl Primus declared, “Dance is strong magic. Dance is life.”
Dancer, choreographer and dance professor Leah Glenn wields that strong magic to teach, increase understanding and make all lives better.
And so it is no surprise that in 2012 when Glenn first considered designing a study abroad program to Cape Town, she knew dance would be more than a physical activity to complement coursework.
“I wanted to use dance as a lens to look at social justice issues,” she said.
Dance with a purpose
The connection between dance and social justice has always been a motivation and inspiration for Glenn, her art and her creativity. She has explored the connections and possibilities throughout her prolific career as educator, scholar and choreography and performer.
“As a dance professional — whether it’s teaching or performing — it’s so important to know the other — to understand — and that’s what feeds my choreography,” Glenn explained. “And I look at what’s going on around us, and it’s clear to me that not everyone is comfortable with knowing the other. So I’m interested in using dance to do that, but to also give to those people who may not know much about dance the opportunity to see how valuable movement in general can be.”
When Glenn considered leading a program to South Africa, never having been there herself, like the trained academician and disciplined artist she
is, she did her due diligence. Before submitting a proposal to the Global Education Office at Reves, she consulted Africana Studies Professors Robert T.Vinson and Berhanu Abegaz. Abegaz had initiated the study abroad program to South Africa a few years earlier, so she valued his opinion but wasn’t sure how he’d respond, but he embraced it immediately and enthusiastically.
“I encourage a many-layered approach to the program in order to make it more sustainable,” Abegaz recalled. “Dance is a universal language, so we’re not really ‘advantaged’ in this aspect because African music and dance are a strong part of their culture. It enables our students to meet them on a level playing field. As a result they get more out of the program because it is not a oneway relationship; it is a two-way exchange.”
Glenn’s next step was to look for dance companies with which she could partner.
“I just started researching companies in South Africa, and found JazzArt Dance Theatre,” she said. “It’s the oldest modern dance company, and their emphasis is on social justice.”
JazzArt Dance Theatre was founded in 1973 and is renowned both locally and internationally. Its mission statement says: “Dance is used as a transformation tool to integrate social awareness and cultural inclusiveness that embodies the nature of South Africa’s Bill of Rights. … Through training, performance and inter-disciplinary collaborations with diverse role-players we develop multiskilled performers and create works that promote excellence, innovation and social change.”
ing?
“It’s funny. People ask me that, and I guess as an educator I don’t go into a project thinking that way,” Glenn explained. “I think about how it would be great to have this experience. I think about the things I hope they will get out of it. I don’t go into it thinking, ‘Oh, my goodness, I’m responsible for these people. As educators, we’re responsible for students all the time. It didn’t deter me.”
That was 2012, and she took 16 students. She returned with 24 students in 2016 and this past summer with 12.
The students in the program are a mix of dancers and non-dancers, which makes the program broader but also require more preparation ahead of time. Glenn welcomes the challenge.
Glenn recognized that there would naturally be some trepidation among the students who had no dance experience, “so I tell them ‘I’m grading you on what you learn from the time you walk in,’” Glenn said. “It’s a more holistic approach to dance. It’s not a typical technique class you’d see
Africa.
“As part of the pre-departure course, I give them some vocabulary,” she said. “We watch quite a bit of dance before we leave and we talk about specific African-American choreographers, especially those who have incorporated or used dance as a means for dealing with social justice issues. And I tell them what kinds of things to look for or think about and give them ways to describe dance as they start writing about their experiences.
“When we get to South Africa, they’re taking class with me and they’re taking class with JazzArt, so I’ll give them a real basic intermediate class. I’ll give those students who have more experience other versions of the same material. But they’re all together.”
Luke Erickson ’22, a sophomore studying finance, went to Cape Town with no prior dance experience.
“I chose this program because I felt that Cape Town seemed like an interesting city with a lot to offer, and I was really interested in observing the remnants of apartheid and learning how
Grace Poreda ‘21, Leah Glenn, JazzArt artistic director Sfiso Kweyama, and Shianne Randolph ‘21. Photo courtesy of Grace Poreda
South Africa was dealing with a history of injustice differently than the United States,” he recalled. “I was really surprised that for our second dance class we were training with a company of professional dancers from a prestigious studio in Cape Town, but they were incredibly welcoming to us and I felt that I really learned a lot from working with them and building relationships with them outside of the class.”
Experiencing the other
Their first exposure to dance after they arrived, however, was a performance of Balanchine’s Serenade by Cape Town City Ballet. It is a professional company, traditionally all-white, but for that night’s performance there were also four black male apprentices.
“I ask them to think about how we use dance as a lens to look at issues of disparity, specifically as it relates to race, education, and resources in general.”
“I wanted them to see the difference between the ballet and modern dance,” Glenn said, “the difference in quality of movement, the difference in focus from one company to the next. One of the things that they learned was that with ballet, you’re always lifting, and a lot of time you’re dancing on your toes. But with modern, it tends to be more grounded. Not that there isn’t a tremendous amount of overlap now. There is. But we had some really interesting conversations about it.”
They also had their first discussion about larger issues, as the students noticed that the only dancers who didn’t come out to bow at the end were the apprentices. They wondered if that were deliberate or for some other reason, or maybe had no specific significance all.
“And then we get to JazzArt,” Glenn recalled. “Our William & Mary group was primarily white students, and they were talking about what it felt like being the minority, and how inclusive the JazzArt atmosphere was in comparison.”
But these were the kinds of discussions Glenn had hoped would occur.
“We’re thrown into these conversations, and what is so beautiful is that the students bonded so quickly, they were able to have these sometimes uncomfortable conversations,” she said. “And they were making those connections between what was happening in front of them and what was happening at home.”
Kinesthetic empathy
When Nelson Mandela died in 2013, people around the world mourned him with tributes, testimonials and quotes from his many interviews, books and memoirs. Outside his home the mourners — his fellow South Africans — gathered and danced. They danced his dance, “the Madiba Dance,” Mandela’s own particular invention — a little bit twisting, a little bit swaying, rhythmic but relaxed, small in movement but expansive in joy. A spontaneous expression of delight that was his signature, instantly recognizable, beloved imitated by South Africans of all ages and a product of his life experiences, his history, his clan and his own sense of joy.
Instead of pretending that differences in culture and experience are not significant, Glenn recognizes and appreciates the differences and uses them to learn and teach and create dance.
“In 2009, I reconstructed a piece by Pearl Primus,” she said. “It’s called Buschache Etude — an African dance — and I didn’t have any students of color in the piece, but it didn’t occur to me to be worried about that, because I just wanted them to have the experience. And they had so much fun. I think they were intimidated by some of the movements at first, so you approach them using a more European way of breaking things down, and then you can show them how other people would perceive the movement.”
And similar conversations and approaches happened in the Cape Town experience.
“We talked about kinesthetic empathy, and I use that term throughout the course because it’s not just about talking to people and sharing stories verbally,” Glenn said. “We can do that through moving. But you can tell a lot about a person by the way they’re walking. By the way that they carry themselves across the road.”
Glenn teaches dance and choreography in the context of the influence of culture and experience.
“You’re going to perform a specific movement based on the experiences that you’ve had,” she said. “So, if you dance every day from the time you’re able to walk, there’s something that’s going to come to you with a certain ease. That beat. That joy. That reminds me of home. If you’ve never done that before, you may love it just as much, but you’re not going to feel the same way about the experience. And when I say feel, I mean kinesthetically, not so much emotionally.”
To explain what she’s describing, Glenn shows video clips she took during the trip of JazzArt dancers and then the William & Mary students dancing the same choreography. Her face lights up as she shows the two videos.
“They’re feeling it emotionally the same way, but they not exactly moving the same way,” she said. “But it’s OK.”
Everyone has something to contribute
Glenn was more than mere chaperone and administrator in Cape Town. She was herself a dancer, mentor, instructor and even student.
“I took class a couple of times with the JazzArt company when Sifiso E Kweyama, the Artistic
Director, taught, and I taught some master classes, so it was a lot of fun,” she said.
Glenn taught a Horton-based modern dance class and a ballet class — two very different approaches — but with both of which she is knowledgeable and comfortable.
“Ballet is an extremely codified technique, and Horton is fairly codified as well.” Glenn said. “But what I love most about Lester Horton’s technique and work is that his philosophy was such that he really valued everyone’s input. Everyone has something extremely valuable to contribute. So he really valued all kinds of dance. His technique was created to prepare you to perform any form of dance.”
Glenn approaches her students similarly — with respect and openness, allowing them to find their own way of expressing the choreography regardless of age, training or ability. With the young learners in Khayelitsha Township Middle School, with whom she and the William & Mary students worked as part of the service learning component of the study abroad program, Glenn began with improvisation and composition activities.
“I told them to choose six characteristics they would use to describe themselves, and they had to create movements inspired by those characteristics. They they tied all those movements together to create a dance phrase.”
From there she moved on to working with imagery.
“For instance, I’d say, ‘Pretend you’re a bird.’ Then, ‘Pretend you’re a bird with a broken wing.’ They would imitate those ideas,” she said. ”And
Above: William & Mary students taking class at Jazzart Dance Theatre.
Opposite: Leah Glenn enjoying the view at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.
Photos courtesy of Leah Glenn
then I’d give them these ‘problems,’ and they would divide into groups to create compositions.
Their composition projects were then performed in three groups comprised of W&M students and JazzArt dancers.
This kind of approach — incorporating everyone’s input — ensured that even experienced dancers were challenged and engaged. Grace Poreda ’21 is a public policy major with a minor in art and art history who participated in this summer’s program. She is also an accomplished dancer.
“I have been dancing for my whole life,” she said. “I began taking ballet classes at the age of 4.” She is a member of Orchesis Modern Dance Company on campus and has participated in other dance projects with Glenn.
“I chose to go to Cape Town because I wanted to experience dance in the context of a different culture,” Poreda recalled. “I think dancers are a distinct group of people, and I was glad to learn that this seems to be the case in Cape Town, too.”
The impact of the experience for Poreda went way beyond a connection among dancers, however.
“One thing that surprised me about Cape Town was that here are so many distinct cultures and subcultures within the city and the surrounding areas,” she said. “There are 11 official languages in South Africa and three distinct racial groups that remain intact in the post-Apartheid era. I came to learn that you could stay in Cape Town for years
and have more to learn about the interesting people living in different pockets of the city.”
The students also fulfilled Abegaz’s hope for the program.
“In their final paper for the program, I ask them to talk about their experience as a whole and I ask them to think about how we use dance as a lens to look at issues of disparity, specifically as it relates to race, education, and resources in general. They did so well with them,” Glenn said proudly.
“So many of them talked about not just their own personal growth, but the growth that they saw in each other; the growth that they saw in the students that they got to work with in Khayelitsha; and, how dance and art in general can and was used as a way to level the playing field so that more difficult conversations can happen.”
Glenn’s technique also, prepares her students for any form of dance, any form of future action.
“At the end of the day, the end of the program, what I see from all three groups I took is that students are becoming more aware of their privilege and agency,” she said. “I challenge them at the end of the program: ‘How are you going to use this privilege and agency moving forward?’”
And for herself?
Glenn breaks into a wide grin. “It’s such a great job!”
In ‘Nature’: The role of climate change in armed conflict
BY ADRIENNE BERARD
In the fall of 2016, during the waning months of Barack Obama’s presidency, the White House released a memorandum titled “Climate Change and National Security.”
The memo was a federal mandate to consider the impacts of climate change in the development of national security-related doctrine, policies and plans. It warned that the effects of climate change could lead to “population migration within and across international borders, spur crises, and amplify or accelerate conflict in countries or regions already facing instability and fragility.”
But exactly what size role does climate change play in civil unrest? A new study aims to find out.
The consensus among experts featured in the study is that climate change is often an important contributing factor in the outbreak of armed conflict, but economic, political and social issues often overshadow it.
The experts also say that the impacts of climate change can fan smoldering conflicts into all-out conflagrations. Further, the paper warns that as the negative environmental effects on agriculture, water and other necessities increase, climate change could become a more important cause of armed strife.
The study, “Climate as a risk factor for armed conflict,” was published today in the journal Nature. The paper features analysis from 11 climate and conflict experts from fields such as political science, environmental science and economics. Philip Roessler, associate professor of government at William & Mary and co-director of the Center for African Development, is one of the experts and co-authors on the paper.
The expert elicitation was spearheaded by Katharine Mach at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment with the goal of assembling experts with divergent views to assess
Continuing the conversation: Regina Makomi of Chuka University (far left) and Darrien Spitz ’19 (second to left) interview members of a banana cooperative in Iruma, Kenya about the impact of climate change on their farming practices.
Photo courtesy of Philip Roessler
the impact of climate change on armed conflict to date and over the next century.
“This represents the key innovation of our methodology and contribution,” Roessler said. “It brought together an interdisciplinary group of scholars with different perspectives on this important question.”
The experts systematically read nearly all scholarship written on the climate changeconflict connection and independently assessed the impact of climate change on conflict risk, Roessler explained. Then the group of experts participated in six to eight-hour individual interviews followed by a two-day group deliberation.
While the experts agree that climate has affected organized armed conflict in recent decades, they make clear that other factors, such as low socioeconomic development, the strength of government, inequalities in societies and a recent history of violent conflict, are “substantially more influential” than climate change in driving conflict to date.
“Existing scholarship has tended to study the impact of climate change on conflict in isolation of other conflict drivers,” Roessler said. “This is problematic in assessing the relative effects of climate variability versus other causes of civil war, such as low socio-economic development or group inequality.”
Consider the case of the 2003 outbreak of the Darfur civil war, which Roessler has studied extensively during almost two years of fieldwork in Sudan and analyzed in his book “Ethnic Politics and State Power in Africa: The Logic of the Coup-Civil War Trap.”
“Many referred to the Darfur civil war as the ‘first climate-change conflict,’” Roessler said. “But while climate variability may have contributed somewhat to conflict risk in the western region of Sudan, the most significant drivers of the conflict were ethno-political exclusion, weak state capabilities and inter-group inequality.”
Darfur may be the first, but it’s not the only intranational conflict driven at least partially by climate change: The experts estimate that three to 20 percent of the risk of violent armed conflict within countries has been influenced by climate
over the last century. None of the experts, who all serve as co-authors of the study, ruled out the role of climate in 10 percent of conflict risk.
The study also found that climate change could impact agricultural production, economies, and even inequities among groups, all of which can interact with other conflict drivers to potentially increase risks of violence.
“This is what makes the future scenarios potentially explosive,” Roessler said. “Rising temperatures and irregular rainfall have a direct impact on conflict risk by reducing agricultural yields and increasing the allure of joining an armed group to make a living. But this can also have significant second-order effects, reducing socioeconomic development, further weakening state capabilities and increasing intergroup inequality.”
Roessler says there is an urgent need to identify interventions and policies to prevent the outbreak of war by strengthening communities’ resiliency to climate change. One such intervention is crop insurance. Roessler, supported by a Reves Center Faculty Fellowship, recently returned from Kenya with a group of five W&M undergraduates, where they worked with a research team from Chuka University to study the low number of insured smallholder farms in Mount Kenya.
The project, which the W&M students initiated as part of the Global Research Institute’s Shark Tank competition, aims to better understand how to increase demand and uptake of crop insurance—and its efficacy in reducing climate-induced conflict. It is a topic Roessler and his research team at the Center for African Development will continue to study.
Uncertainty is a key caveat in any discussion about climate change. The mechanisms through which climate affects conflict and under what conditions those mechanisms materialize remains only partially understood, the study states. That said, the paper notes that the experts agree that “intensifying climate change is estimated to increase future risks of conflict.”
Currently, climate variability and change are estimated to have substantially increased risk across five percent of conflicts globally, according to the study. With a global mean temperature increase of two degrees Celsius — the stated goal
level of the Paris Climate Agreement — the increased risk of conflict jumps to 13 percent.
The study predicts the influence of climate on conflicts to increase more than five times, leaping to 26 percent, if the Earth reaches four degrees of warming. That’s the predicted level of warming if societies do not substantially reduce emissions, Roessler explained.
“Worsening climate change will make it more difficult for states to collectively prevent and contain conflict,” Roessler said. “Climate change will
not only increase conflict risk, but sap our capacity to contain and prevent them.”
The other co-authors on the paper are affiliated with the following institutions: Stanford University, University of Exeter, Peace Research Institute Oslo, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, National Bureau of Economic Research, University of Denver, University of Antwerp, Lancaster University, University of Colorado Boulder, Research Group Climate Change and Security (CLISEC), University of Hamburg and Uppsala University.
Changing the world one passport at a time
BY LAMAR SHAMBLEY ‘10
Lamar Shambley was transformed by a study abroad experience in college. He founded Teens of Color Abroad to provide those same life-changing experiences for the next generation.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had an affinity for the Spanish language. Growing up in New York City meant that Spanish was as common as dollar slice pizza. Spanish was in subway ads, my favorite TV shows, the music on my Walkman, the corner bodega. But, as a kid from the projects of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, Spanish-speaking countries like Spain or those in Latin America seemed as far away to me as Staten Island.
So I did the next best thing - I studied Spanish in school. In my junior year of high school, an opportunity to study abroad appeared, but my heart sunk when I saw the price tag. It reinforced the idea that ever going international was not meant for kids like me.
When a similar opportunity appeared in college at William & Mary, I rejected it again without hesitation, telling my advisor Dr. Aday that I couldn’t possibly afford it. He insisted that with my skillset and passion that I belonged on the trip and pledged to support me. Within a week, it was settled. My first trip outside of the U.S. would be a service trip to the Dominican Republic called SOMOS, the Student Organization for Medical Outreach and Sustainability, to support a student-led
Forging partnerships: Philip Roessler (second to left) with research team from Chuka University and W&M during a tour of Chuka University research garden. Photo courtesy of Philip Roessler
public health project in a barrio outside of Santo Domingo.
I remember every sight, sound, and smell from that trip. I remember the airplane buzzing with conversation from we “eager-tochange-the-world” millennials.
I remember being enthralled by Anthony Santos’s “Donde Estará” blaring from the speakers in a local colmado. Most of all, I remember the nervousness realizing I would have to actually use the Spanish I’d only been learning in the classroom up until then. The nerves dissipated quickly as with each conversation, my confidence grew.
That week-long adventure catalyzed something in me — not only would this Bed-Stuy kid see the world, but he would engage with it. My first international trip pushed me to see myself differently. I began to explore all the parts of who I am: my privilege as a Westerner, my struggle as a Black American, and my impact as a U.S. citizen when traveling abroad.
I returned to the United States with a refreshed sense of purpose.
“But, as a kid from the projects of BedStuy, Brooklyn, Spanish-speaking countries like Spain or those in Latin America seemed as far away to me as Staten Island.”
Since then, I’ve taken every opportunity I could to travel, develop my Spanish skills and engage with the world outside of Brooklyn. Thanks to receiving a Gilman International scholarship, in my junior year I participated in the William & Mary Semester Abroad in Seville, taking university-level courses and fully immersing myself in the language. I hiked a volcano outside of Managua, Nicaragua and lived with a homestay family a few hours south in San Juan del Sur. I backpacked solo through Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia, ziplining in the jungles of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, island hopping through the Guna Yala, and dancing on the beaches of Taganga. My language skills grew tremendously, a newfound sense of independence and curiosity enveloped me, and, most importantly, I was able
Lamar Shambley at the 2019 Diversity Abroad Conference in Boston. Photos courtesy of Lamar Shambley
to connect with people from vastly different backgrounds than my own.
These experiences inspired me to become a high school Spanish teacher at a predominately Black school, where I could speak earnestly about my background. I was a Black boy whose life was transformed by studying abroad and whose self-esteem was bolstered by linguistic studies. Currently, only 20% of U.S. K-12 students are enrolled in a foreign language course, an alarmingly low average compared to many European nations whose primary and secondary student foreign language enrollment soars above 90%. As residents of a nation with the second largest Spanish-speaking population, and soon to have the largest by 2050, we need to invest in enriching language learning opportunities for our youth that go beyond the four walls of a classroom. These education abroad opportunities, extensively researched and proven to change the course of a student’s life, rarely include students of color, especially Black/African-American students.
We know that a student’s engagement in learning, their sense of confidence, and their motivation to continue studying a second language at the university level improves after traveling and studying in a foreign country. I decided to start Teens of Color Abroad because I saw myself in many of my students: the drive, the curiosity, the passion, and the need for a chance.
At Teens of Color Abroad, our mission is to provide high school students of color with language immersion study abroad experiences. For our pilot summer program (July 2020), we’re
partnering with Centro Mundolengua to bring a cohort of high school students of color from Brooklyn to Seville, Spain for a two-week language immersion program. Students will take three hours of small group language training daily, live with a homestay family, and participate in culturally immersive activities, including museum tours, flamenco dance lessons, paella cooking workshops, and much more. Upon returning to New York City, students will organize a series of Bingo Nights, conducted entirely in Spanish, with a local New York City senior citizen center, to foster cross-cultural and intergenerational conversations.
There is an incredible opportunity to engage our youth of color with creative language learning opportunities and we must meet their eagerness with these resources. My personal story with travel and language study is not at all unique. Ask anyone who studied abroad how those experiences impacted who they are today, and I am certain the response will be somewhere between a long story of a memorable adventure to a short anecdote of a transformative experience. I believe everyone should have equal access to this opportunity of a lifetime. Everyone, including teens of color. Because they deserve the world, too.
Left: Gabby Gomez (Hampton University c/o ‘23) had big dreams to see the world. Now, with her very first passport, she will.
Right: In his sophomore year in high school, Curtis Paige sat in Mr. Shambley’s Spanish 2 class. Now, he’s a 1styear student at RIT with his very first passport sponsored by TOCA.
Photos courtesy of Lamar Shambley
China trip a lesson in cuisine traditions for Sodexo dining team
BY MIKE BUZALKA
A“friendship bridge” program conceived by the William & Mary (W&M) University Chinese Parents Association sent the university’s Sodexo dining team to visit their culinary counterparts in multiple locations in Hong Kong and The People’s Republic of China over the summer. The team included Campus Executive Chef Timothy Grayson, Catering Executive Chef Craig Stevens, Sadler Executive Chef Gregory Weaver and Commons Executive Chef Stephen Moore.
The goal of the friendship bridge program is to provide Chinese students at W&M a greater opportunity to enjoy authentic Chinese dishes in the current dining program menu mix. The team visited Hong Kong, Shenyang, Shanghai, Beijing, and the Shenzhen and Guangzhou regions of China for hands-on training.
The first stop was Shenyang, where the father of W&M student Haorin Wang taught the team to make filled dumplings and noodles from scratch in Shenyang, a Liobian dumpling restaurant that has been making dumplings in the same location for 160 years.
After a one-day visit to Beijing, the culinary team headed to Hong Kong to meet with Sodexo China, which has 13,000 employees at over 550 sites in 50 cities and serves over a million con sumers daily throughout China. Sodexo Hong Kong is now helping to organize a plan to bring a local Chinese chef in return to visit W&M.
Above: Chef Grayson gets hands-on training in Shenyang at Laobian, China’s most famous dumpling house.
Below: William & Mary chefs with their counterparts at Hong Kong University in Kowloon.. Courtesy photos
International research project reflects mixed news on Kepone
BY DAVID MALMQUIST, VIMS
For Virginians, Kepone is mostly — and thankfully — old news. Industrial release of this insecticide during the 1970s contaminated 60 miles of the James River and led to a decade-long ban on eating its fish, but dilution and burial beneath the riverbed has now greatly reduced the risks from this persistent pollutant.
That at least appeared to be the story until a recent scientific discovery in the French West Indies, where farmers long used the generic Kepone chemical chlordecone to combat banana weevils.
for as long as previously believed, but instead breaks down into a dizzying array of related molecules. These include 10-monohydrochlordecone; 2,4,5,6,7-pentachloro-1H indene; and tetrachloroindene-7-carboxylic acid.
The discovery of chlordecone’s unexpected mutability, plus a shared history of environmental contamination, has now kindled a research partnership between William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Université Paris Saclay and other universities and agencies in France and the French West Indies. Scientists at
VIMS have been monitoring the concentration of Kepone in James River fish since the late 1970s.
The immediate goal for the Virginia-based field research is to investigate whether Kepone’s new ly discovered breakdown products also occur in James River sediments. If so, the researchers plan to seek funding to study how these chemi cals might be impacting the health of the river, its wildlife and the area’s human population.
VIMS professor Steve Kuehl, who recently joined French colleague Oriane Della-Negra to sample James River sediments from VIMS’ new research vessel Virginia, says, “This is a great example of using an international perspective to understand the operation of an important ecological process. The dramatic environmental differences between the James River and the French West Indies provide a natural laboratory for studying chlordecone breakdown processes.”
are so many environmental parameters we have to consider — including the rate of flow and the
Professor Mike Unger, who directs Kepone-monitoring activities at VIMS, says chlordecone’s breakdown products are unlikely to threaten Virginia’s ecosystems to the same extent
“As far as the James River goes, I doubt the breakdown products would accumulate in the food chain as much as the parent compound, because they tend to be more polar and hydrophilic,” says Unger.
Polar molecules — those with a negative charge on one end and a positive charge on the other — tend to remain dissolved in water, whereas non-polar, hydrophobic compounds like chlordecone tend to move into animal tissues and up the food web.
Opposite page: The parent chlordecone molecule contains 10 atoms of chlorine, 10 atoms of carbon, and 1 oxygen atom. Photo by PubChem/NIH
French West Indies: Guadeloupe and Martinique, islands in the French West Indies, lie in the Lesser Antilles, the chain of Caribbean Islands that run southward toward South America. Their contamination by chlordecone, the generic chemical of Kepone, has led to a research partnership between researchers in France and at VIMS. Google Maps image
The researchers are now dating and chemically analyzing their sediment cores, a painstaking process that will take several months. They are not at all sure what they might find.
“We don’t know if we’ll find higher or lower chlordecone concentrations, or any of the previously identified breakdown products,” says Della-Negra. “And might we find some others? There
But in the French West Indies, it’s a different story. Banana plantations — which constitute more than 25% of cultivated acreage in Martinique and 10% in Guadeloupe — used chlordecone for more than 30 years (1964-1993), leading to heavy and widespread contamination of soils, freshwater habitats and the coastal zone.
“In Martinique,” says Unger, “they are exposed to really high concentrations relative to those in the James. Also, all our exposure was through the aqueous environment, getting into the river and then accumulating in fish, whereas in the islands, they have high concentrations in soils and plants, and the entire food chain has been contaminated. It’s a different and much more alarming scenario.”
Della-Negra concurs. “Chlordecone has even been found in Guadeloupe’s tap water,” she says, and “more than 90% of Guadeloupean and Martinican people are contaminated.”
A socio-ecological conundrum
In an irony with painful echoes of the islands’ colonial past, chlordecone accumulates most readily in the root crops traditionally grown by subsistence farmers on Guadeloupe and Martinique, and least readily in fruits — including bananas — which are mostly grown on foreign-owned plantations and largely exported overseas.
The socio-political aspects of chlordecone contamination in the French West Indies are the focus of Malcom Ferdinand, a social scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.
Ferdinand, who recently spoke at VIMS about his work, says the islands’ contamination “finds an acute resonance with their history of colonialism and slavery.” Particularly troubling is that use of chlordecone continued in the French West Indies until 1993, long after it was banned elsewhere. The U.S. stopped producing the chemical in 1975, shortly after the Kepone disaster in the James River. The chemical was banned in mainland France in 1990, but an exception was made for its overseas territories.
The delay between regulation of chlordecone in France and the French West Indies, a high incidence of prostate cancer among the islands’ male
population, and prohibitions on farming and fishing in large areas has led to political unrest among island residents, which peaked during a 2018 visit by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The good news about the unrest is that it has led to renewed efforts by the French government to manage and remediate the contamination, including funding of research to better understand its movement through the islands’ soil and water — what Della-Negra calls “the contamination pathway.” It has also led to increased efforts to educate the island’s population on how they can minimize their exposure.
The troubling news is the consequent discovery of chlordecone’s many breakdown products, and the lack of understanding concerning their potential threats to the environment and human health.
“Our research brought about a paradigm shift,” says Della-Negra. “It shows that chlordecone naturally degrades into soils, and that its transformation products represent a previously unsuspected pollutant.”
Unger says this issue isn’t unique to these chemicals, or to the French West Indies.
“Our monitoring work in the James River is driven by regulations specific to Kepone,” says Unger. “When we started in this business a long time ago, we used more general methods to look for unknowns, and we’ve gotten away from that. Now, if something isn’t on a regulatory hit list, we won’t find it. When we look at an environmental sample, it can contain hundreds of thousands of unknown compounds.”
“We have all these breakdown products, but we don’t have any idea about their toxicity,” says Kuehl.
“Our goal now,” adds Della-Negra, “is to better understand the degradation mechanisms so we can find ways to improve them. We also have to learn more about the toxicity, stability, and biodegradability of the transformation products, and their concentrations in different habitats. Another big question is the potential consequences of human exposure.”
Environmental activist Greta Thunberg strikes to disrupt the system. Hong Kongers celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with protests and a new anthem.
Parliament is prorogued in Great Britain, and allegations are made that the Queen has been lied to. In Italy, politics become personal amid charges that candidates lack dignity and integrity and possess overweening ambition. And in the United States, the Speaker of the House declares that the nation is in a constitutional crisis.
and asked speakers about the role of constitutions when protests appear to represent uncontrolled animus and chaos and whether checks and balances against unfettered power are alive and well or missing in action.
On September 13, constitutional scholars from around the world gathered to debate these and related issues at a symposium sponsored by the Law School’s Center for Comparative Legal Studies & Post-Conflict Peacebuilding (CLS/PCP) and generously supported by the Reves Center for International Affairs. Over the course of eight hours, they considered a range of current events in Europe, Asia, Latin America, West Africa and the United States and debated whether common trends are related and indicative of fractured global democracies – or separate and proof that democracy is alive and well, although restless.
Symposium Chair Professor Christie S. Warren, Director of the CLS/PCP, began with a quote from Justice Stephen Breyer: “Democracy is messy,”
Sanford Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School, had an immediate answer. “Yes, we are in the middle of a constitutional crisis. The constitution is the crisis.” In support of this bold statement, he proposed revisions to our constitutional order in the areas of the electoral college, life tenure for Supreme Court justices, and representation in Congress. Parliamentary systems offer more accessible options for removing executives from power, he said, than presidential systems do since they provide for the availability of no confidence votes. By contrast, impeachment processes have become thoroughly politicized over the years.
Marian Ahumada, Professor of Constitutional Law at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, concurred and argued that current social and political events in Spain are directly linked to its post-Franco constitution, which allocated substantial autonomy to the various regions in the country but which may not be enough to hold
L-R: Christie S. Warren; David Law; Sanford Levinson; and Marian Ahumada. Photo credit: David F. Morrill.
the country together in the face of a strong separatist movement. “The Spanish constitution was created in a non-inclusive way immediately following the fall of Francisco Franco. It has been disavowed by youth and rejected as a national symbol of oath-taking by various public officials. It is time for a new constitution that reflects Spain as it currently is.”
Louis Aucoin, who has worked on constitutional processes in several West African countries, presented examples of constitutional developments such as land ownership, the role of civil society, and movements to abolish or extend presidential term limits, which appear to be prevalent in many countries in Africa. Surprisingly, he noted, protections for and participation by women in Liberia are especially strong.
Zachary Elkins, Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin and Co-Director of the Comparative Constitutions Project, also addressed the persistent problem of executive overstay of term limits in Latin America. He presented a series of data on presidential lawmaking power in the Americas, proposing that executive prerogatives have a strong effect on the ability of executives to pass legislation. Elkins’ analysis of constitutions of the Bolivarian countries of the Andes was especially novel, suggesting that those countries have in fact broken new ground with respect to recognizing new interests and providing new forms of citizen access.
Augusto Lopez-Claros, former Director of the World Bank Global Indicators Group and former Chief Economist and Director of the Global Competitiveness Program for the World Economic Forum, expanded the program’s scope by proposing implementation of opportunities and safeguards in the United Nations Charter that have remained unrealized and which would improve global governance policies. International organizations, he stated, have significant roles to play in supplementing domestic constitutions that may not adequately address issues of importance to today’s youth, including climate change, nuclear proliferation and income disparities.
The symposium’s most lively exchange took place during a presentation by David Law, Sir Y.K. Pao Chair in Public Law at the University of Hong
Kong and Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California Irvine School of Law. Analyzing the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and the 1997 Basic Law enacted by the People’s Republic of China to fulfill its treaty obligations, and linking his analysis of current protests in Hong Kong to lessons learned during similar protests in 2014, Law stated that protesters have concluded that they must support each other – whether fellow protesters are violent or non-violent. “Because neither the Hong Kong nor Chinese governments made any concessions at all after the 2014 protests, the protesters this time decided that they must be willing to tolerate violence and remain totally united, no matter what. They expect that the government’s strategy is to try to divide them, and they feel that if they do not win something now, there is no hope for the future.”
Ke Tang, a Visiting Scholar from China who is spending a year at the Law School, vigorously challenged some of Law’s statements during the program but afterwards expressed satisfaction with the symposium and his opportunity to participate. “This conference validated my desire to study in the United States. The opportunity to directly engage with eminent scholars and have my opinions respected and responded to is not easy to find in Chinese universities. Programs in China do not allow sufficient time for scholars to give well-developed presentations that can be endorsed or challenged by audiences. I was deeply impressed by the debate that took place during this symposium.”
Warren also expressed satisfaction with the program. “We are an academic institution, exactly where new ideas should be proposed and different approaches and opinions debated. Universities and law schools are where experience and analysis elevate knowledge and inform policy. We are grateful to have scholars and practitioners of the caliber of these speakers who are willing to share their perspectives with our community.”
A CONVERSATION WITH
In Their Own Words
Board Chair Barbara Pate Glacel ‘70
and Judy Davis
Editor’s note: In this issue we feature two extraordinary women, Barbara Pate Glacel and Judy Davis, whose roles at Reves will change this year. Glacel is rotating off the Reves Board in the spring 2020, and Davis will retire at the end of 2019. They have been integral and indispensable to the success of the Reves Center. But they also exemplify Harry Truman’s aphorism, that it’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit. Neither seeks the limelight or praise and yet as you will see from their conversation, they are two of the smartest, most talented and most admired members of the Reves family and will leave a legacy of excellent management, strategic thinking and grace.
Q: How did you come to the Reves Center?
BG : I knew when the Reves Center was created 30 years ago because of Jim Bill, although it’s interesting I never met him. I had been on the faculty of the University of Alaska in Anchorage, and my department chair there had been a colleague of Bill’s earlier in their careers. She was very excited when William & Mary brought him on to campus and told me I had to go meet him. Somehow that never quite worked, but I knew about Reves. I thought it was a wonderful new place to put international at that time.
I didn’t go on the board until 2001. I’d been on the Alumni Board and I’d been
on the Annual Fund Board, and when I went off those, I was looking for someplace else to get involved, and Mitchell Reiss asked me if I’d join the Reves Board.
It was an exciting time then, because I think there were some incredibly high-powered people on the board: Harriet Fulbright was the chair; Tony Zinni, retired marine general, who was very active in international relations in Indonesia and the Middle East; Dick Stoltz, who was very well known – or maybe not so well known, given his clandestine work – from the CIA. I think more became known about Dick’s work after he died a few years ago. Joe Prueher was a member. His
BARBARA PATE GLACEL ’70
Chair of the Reves International Advisory Board
JUDY DAVIS
Advancement & Protocols Manager at the Reves Center
Left: Barbara and Bob Glacel in Paris (courtesy photo)
Right: Judy Davis in the Reves Room. Photo by Kelly D. Spence
wife Suzanne is a William & Mary graduate [Class of 1968], and he had been a Navy Admiral and Ambassador to China [1999-2001].
I was just excited about coming to board meetings and being in a room with those people and talking about what was going on internationally, and how we could do things at William & Mary with our students and our faculty to get them involved. So, that was the beginning of my time.
JD : I came to Reves in 2007. When I started at William & Mary, I worked in Central Advancement with Lesley Atkinson in Donor Relations, and that was my first introduction to advancement. I had worked in academic and administrative offices at Virginia Tech. I left Central Advancement in 2006 to work for Carolyn North, who was then William & Mary’s first international major gift officer. When she left the university, her position was not filled. Laurie Koloski, Reves Center Director at the time, said to me, “Come to Reves. Karen [Dolan], the business manager, is retiring next year. You can still do advancement work. You can train to do her job, and then when she retires, you can take her position.”
Q: You two have had a very productive relationship. What makes for a successful board relationship with an organization? What qualities work or don’t work?
JD : I think from my perspective, of all the board chairs, I’ve had the closest relationship with Barbara. What do you think, Barbara? Is it a “woman power” thing or do we just gel well together?
BG : Probably a bit of both, I think. I think the other thing is that I’ve taken a much more hands-on approach with the board than any of the previous chairs, and so I think sometimes that can be a force multiplier, and it really helps us to get things done. There may be times when it feels a bit intrusive to the Vice
Provost and Director of the Reves Center and to the staff that supports us. I don’t know. I try to make that a happy balance, but I think that because I’ve taken a more active role, that you and I have had a chance to get to know each other well and figure out what works for each of us. I think we each understand the different jobs we do, and we couldn’t be effective if we didn’t understand the roles of one another.
JD : I’ve enjoyed playing the role of the conduit, which is, I guess, what my role really boils down to. Just being the person to help Steve work with Barbara, and help Barbara work with Steve and all the other board members, and keep things going as smoothly as possible.
Q: Barbara, you invited Judy to join regular meetings with Steve Hanson. What prompted you to do that?
BG : Steve has an incredible area of responsibility that goes beyond what the board pays direct attention to. I see Judy as the main conduit or messenger, the person who on a more regular basis is keeping tabs on how the board is going to operate. For instance, she’s the liaison to the governance & nominating committee that keeps the bylaws.
Q: What do you think is the role of a board? What are some of the things you’ve been proud of having accomplished during your tenure?
BG : Well, I used the expression a few minutes ago of a force multiplier. I think a board can be a force multiplier. And I think if you have an active board that is invited to give input and is valued for their input — and I think we are — then we can bring into the academy what’s happening out in the real world. I’ve been a professor, so I understand the dynamics within the university, and there is a different pace — a different orientation — in the academy than there is out in the world, or in this case in international relations in the world. I
think the board can bridge that and can maybe speed things up a little. Maybe make things more practical. Certainly help with opportunities for students. One of the things I’m proudest of –and this doesn’t have a direct relationship to my role on the board — but I wouldn’t have thought of it if I weren’t on the board — is that when [my husband] Bob and I lived in Brussels and he was the management counselor at the U.S. Mission to NATO, we were able to create internships for W&M students. I wouldn’t have even thought of that had I not been involved with the Reves board. They were actually implemented with the Cohen Center in conjunction with Reves, but it’s one of those wonderful collaborative examples where we brought the international world into the university and we provided real-world experiences for students. Over the course of the eight years that we had interns in Brussels, we had two dozen W&M students who came, some of whom lived with us, all of whom we found places for, and these kids — I still call them kids — now are out having wonderful careers, but they have come back to us on multiple occasions and said it was their experience at the U.S. Mission to NATO that got them a security clearance, that got them their first job, that set them on the path to whatever career they’re pursuing today. So, the board can make those opportunities that aren’t available through just the academy.
Q: How has the character and membership of the board changed over the years?
JD : All the boards of William & Mary are striving for a 50% representation of women, and at Reves we’ve been working really hard on the governance & nominating committee to achieve that. That is one of the things that we consider as we’re looking at nominations and inviting new members.
Q: Have you tried to recruit young members?
JD: Barbara prepares a spreadsheet of the characteristics of the board — how many are alumni, how many are friends, women, men, the areas they represent, the years they graduated, etc. She compiles those statistics every year so we can have a look at where we are and what types of members would benefit the board.
BG : Kira Allmann ’10 is the youngest person on the board. Kira was a Rhodes Scholar, so she’s one of the folks we’re very proud of. Kira was also an intern at US NATO and was very impactful when we had her over there. We have quite an age range, but I do think it’s good to bring in the younger alumni. They’ve grown up in a different world than we more experienced folks have, and we need to see their world view.
The other thing I really think is important is that we have some members of our board who are non-alumni. We’re very lucky right now. We have five, very involved non-alumni. They come to our meetings. They offer opportunities for jobs and speakers and internships, and they really provide an incredible value to our board. It makes us less insular. They come from other universities and other experiences that allow us to think a little bit outside the box.
Q: You’re both at a transition point. Judy, you’re retiring this year. Barbara, are you going off the board completely?
BG : I’m going off as chair and board member next summer. I’ve been on it now for 18 years. It will be 19 years when I go off. It’s time for some fresh, new blood and new thinking.
Q: Do you have any hopes or ideas for Reves in the future? I know Judy would like a new roof, since we’ve been having roof problems…
BG : I want to think bigger than a new roof! I want a building!
JD : Steve will be happy to hear that!
BG : I think that whereas we do a good job now we don’t do a great job in terms of collaborating and sharing information around the myriad of international programs that are available. One of the things that the university can be proudest of is the Global Research Institute,
and they’re over on Scotland Street in a little house that they love, but wouldn’t it be nice if we were all housed together? If you think about the way organizations work, think about the information that is shared just by proximity. People learn by osmosis as they’re walking up and down the hall or at the coffee machine. I would love to see international initiatives as a whole have their own building at William & Mary.
JD : I have worked very closely with Dianne [Alleman] over the past several years to try to make sure that there was continuity when I could see my retirement on the horizon. I know that she will continue to provide great support and work together with the new board chair as well as Barbara and I have.
Q: Judy, have you ever traveled for Reves?
JD : Several years ago, I went to London. There was an alumni event at the Drapers’ Company. I have worked a long time with the Drapers’ Company
in relation to the Sullivan-Fildes Scholarship. I communicate with the Head of Charities several times a year, so it was nice to meet him. I really enjoyed that event. I actually met [board member] Ian Ralby ’05 on that visit. Members of the GET (Global Engagement Team) –we call ourselves “Go-Getters” – don’t often travel. As I am normally a behindthe-scenes person, it was wonderful to have that experience.
Q: Was it a highlight of your time at Reves?
JD : Well, yes… but really just seeing the board become energized has been a highlight. To go from a time when we weren’t meeting regularly to get to now, when we’re having two meetings each year and a touch-base call in June is so satisfying. I like things orderly and organized, so Barbara and I work very well together.
Q: Barbara, was that your sense of it, too?
BG : Yes. Steve Hanson deserves a lot of credit for reviving the Board. After he got his feet on the ground as the new Vice Provost and he figured out what was going on, he said, “OK, we’ve got to get this board resurrected and see how we can use it.” To me, that’s the whole point of having a board: to see how you can use it. So when Tim Dunn came on as chair, and I came on as vice chair 5 years ago, both of us independently, unbeknownst to the other, said, “We’re only going to take this leadership role if you really let us make something out of it.” So, kudos to Steve for saying, “Yes, I want to do that.”
JD : I think that’s what most of the board members would say. The message that I’ve heard is, “We want to DO something. We don’t just want to be a name on paper. “
Q: Barbara, any other high points for you?
Glacel with NATO interns from William & Mary.
BG : The NATO internships were a real high point for me. During those years when Laurie Koloski was the director, she came over and stayed with us in our home in Brussels, and we had a great time together sightseeing. But she also made a huge splash when Bob took her over to NATO Headquarters. These were unpaid internships. The kids had to find their own funding, and although Bob had worked hard to get transportation funding, it was in jeopardy, and Lori came over and just impressed ev erybody so much, that the powers that be said, “Of course we have to pay for the William & Mary kids’ travel!”
Another really fun thing to remember is at the time that Ann Marie Stock was the interim director, she sponsored (as she still does today), trips to Cuba. Dick and Betty Stoltz and Elizabeth Reiss and I were on one of the trips with Ann Marie, and we had a great, wonderful time together. It was my first introduc tion to Cuba. To me it’s those kinds of interpersonal connections that energize folks later to give back… whether it’s giving back in money or giving back in time or giving back in expertise. Those interpersonal relationships motivate me to want to be a part of that.
upstairs. And now I think you’ve outgrown that.
JD : That was one of my larger projects, overseeing the expansion down that long hallway, taking those dorm spaces to add more office space and creating the conference room. It was a long project, but the extra space was much-needed. We’re bursting at the seams once again.
that we have, and I know what size the flag is and whether it has fringe or not. If an international dignitary is coming to campus and we don’t have that country’s flag, then I’ll order it. Steve Tewksbury has trained us well on precisely how to display the flags.
BG: You also have to make sure it’s hanging right side up. Bob just told me a funny story about a visit of Prince Charles to NATO or the U.S. where the British flag was hanging upside down…
JD : Not at William & Mary! Because Steve Tewksbury would NEVER have let that happen.
BG : No, no. It was at NATO or in the U.S. some place. NOT at the Reves Center.
JD : I just want to thank Barbara for just being such a great person to work with. I feel such rapport, and I know that she will give it to me straight if I’ve messed up or if she expects something and I didn’t realize it. So I just want to thank YOU, Barbara for all your work.
JD : Another thing that comes to mind in terms of my time at Reves is we how the staff has grown and the services that the Reves Center provides have increased tremendously. What we do for the university and for the students has really just amplified. There was one summer (maybe 2010) when there were only eight of us. And now there are 20plus Reves staff. Yet, in many ways, we are under-staffed.
BG : The other thing about that growth is the space, because when I came on the board, the Reves Center wasn’t the whole building. It was half of the first floor and then and it became the whole first floor, and then it went up to part of the upstairs, and now it’s all of the
BG : When you mention all of those things I think about the way Judy and I communicate so often between board meetings: “Is this happening? And what about that? And have we arranged the other?” It’s all these logistical things, but when those things don’t happen, then people notice it. When those things do happen, they just take it for granted.
JD : I think that’s true for any organization with someone who works a lot behind the scenes. They make sure everything is running smoothly, and it needs to look seamless. I think that’s the goal of someone in my position — to make things look seamless and run like a well-oiled machine.
We have a flag repository at Reves, and every now and then Steve Tewksbury, Executive Director of University Events, will send me an email and say, “‘Do you have a flag from… wherever?” I keep a spreadsheet with all the flags
BG : Well, you’re very welcome, and I can’t remember if I have ever given you anything straight that you have messed up, so now I’m going to worry about that… Well, I told Judy that she could not retire until my final year of chairmanship was over, and she disobeyed. So maybe that’s one of the things that I had to give her a talking to about. And I know who’s boss, because she’s still leaving.
my childhood, watch the Cuaron movie, Roma. He captures Mexico City in the 1970s perfectly. And yes, it’s my hometown, though I am always threatening to leave…. Why did you choose to attend William & Mary?
I wanted a small liberal arts college on the East Coast. It came down to Swarthmore or William & Mary, and I chose Williamsburg for three reasons: the students seemed happier; the campus was gorgeous; and the weather was a lot better for an American raised in Mexico who came to Virginia via Los Angeles and Texas. In other words, I wasn’t ready for a Pennsylvania winter. Even as it was, I still stumbled down the steps to the Morton building whenever it snowed, much to the amusement of my fellow students.
What was your major?
I majored in the dismal science, a.k.a. economics. But when I got to econometrics, the math gave me hives, so I spent most of my senior year in the English department. I found English easier than economics, and a kindly professor one day approached me and said, in a half-compliment, half-rebuke, “Where have you been the past three years?” The combination of writing and economics served my career as a journalist.
Alumnus Abroad
A Q&A WITH DAVID LUHNOW ’90
Did you study abroad while you were a
I didn’t need to, since I was raised abroad. My time at William & Mary was my time to experience Americana. But I think studying abroad is vital for American students. The USA is an amazing, dynamic and indispensable country with much to admire, but, given its size and might, it can be blinkered and provincial and cruel to both other countries and many of its own citizens. It is also, thanks to television news, far too scared of the rest of the world. Viewing the country from the outside gives people valuable perspective. I’ve never met anyone who lived outside the U.S. that wasn’t grateful for the experience.
Did you have a favorite course while you were at W&M?
My favorite econ course was stabilization policy, which taught us how governments try to stabilize the economy to allow steady growth. It sounds boring, but it’s an essential thing to know and explains why things like the Federal Reserve exist and why deficits matter (despite current thinking). In my career as a journalist, I’ve covered financial crises in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and elsewhere, and seen the suffering and poverty that result from poor macro-economic decision making. I’ve glimpsed, too, where populism leads (hint: nowhere good).
I also loved Development of the Modern Democratic State, largely thanks to the professor’s vivid descriptions of history and the smells of European cities in the middle ages, and cosmology, which taught me an endless fascination for the story of our
universe. Everyone should learn how a star works.
Do you have a favorite memory of your time at W&M?
My first day I took a loaf of bread from the cafeteria and went to the duck pond and began feeding the ducks. They all started following me back to my dorm, Yates. I remember trying to shoo them back into the pond with little success. A few other students joined in, and we started talking. It made me feel at home, and to this day I am very grateful for the friendships I made at the school. It was my friends who taught me to be a better person, and to aspire to help the world and not just myself. On a less serious note, I also have fond memories of dancing to “Come on Eileen” at my fraternity, Sigma Nu.
What career path(s) have you pursued?
My senior year, I had a job interview for a position with a bank in Virginia. I really hit it off with the interviewer and we talked about everything from the fall of the Berlin Wall to poetry. At the end of the interview, she saved my life. She said, “I’m not going to hire you, and I’ll tell you why. You’re going to be bored to tears at my bank. Go explore the world and find out what it is you want to do.” So I did. And shortly after, having spent the summer traveling in Europe and watching World Cup soccer in Italy, I was reading a copy of The Economist when I came across a story about U.S. politics that began with a poem by William Butler Yeats, whom I developed a fascination with during my senior year Modern Poetry class. This short article combined economics, politics and poetry, and
when I finished reading it, I decided that I wanted to become a journalist.
In the years since, I’ve had the good fortune to cover life’s rich pageant, first for the British news agency Reuters and then for The Wall Street Journal. I’ve lived in Panama, Mexico, Scotland, and London for my work, and traveled to countless countries. I’ve met peasants and presidents, covered coups, armed conflicts, and currency crises, and tried to make sense of why some countries make it and others don’t. I went to Baghdad for the first months of U.S. occupation after the Iraq War in 2003, I met wonderful and crazy Egyptians during the Tahrir Square rebellion in 2011, and was once kicked out of the offices of Northern Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein for asking questions about the IRA they didn’t like. And, throughout, I’ve tried to explain Latin America to the outside world and to itself. It is a region crippled by its history, and often tragic for its violence and inequality. But it remains funloving, inspiring and beautiful. Kind of like the world at large.
Do you have any current projects/ passions you’d like to share?
My big project last year was trying to explain why Latin America was the world’s most violent region and what can be done about it. In coming years, I hope to focus more on the global environment and explain the issues in a clear and unbiased way.
Apart from work, my passion is my family. We are a globalized family. Like me, my wife was born and raised in Mexico but to British parents instead of American. My kids have three passports: US, UK and Mexico. And we have all three cultures at home. We watch baseball, eat salsa with our tacos, and drink tea.
I also play way too much tennis, love books and British detective shows, and hiking and gardening. My colleague says he’s going to take away my American passport unless I stop gardening and drinking tea.
How do you think your experience at W&M has affected your life and decisions you’ve made?
W&M taught me how to learn. I was the youngest of three overachieving kids. My older brothers went to Stanford and Penn, and had perfect grades. They were smarter, better looking and better athletes than I. But it wasn’t until halfway through William & Mary that I realized I, too, was smart, and that with a little luck I might someday even be wise, which is better than smart. William & Mary gave me the self-confidence to know I could learn and achieve almost anything. It also taught me a love of nature and history that endure to this day. For a kid who grew up in a smoggy city of millions, walking under the shade of sun-dappled trees near a building designed by Sir Christopher Wren was a life-changing experience.
Do you have any advice for current students?
Careers often narrow a person’s interests, so before you leave school, take all the different classes you can. Who cares if you get a C? Get the most out of it, because your future boss is probably not going to know much about literature, biology or history. And get to know the professors. They are often incredible people with so much wisdom to share. In fact, one of my economics professors — I forget his name but he was a riot — once told us he was smarter than his wife because he married someone smarter than he was. I never forgot that, and now I’m smarter than my wife, too.
Is there any advice you wish you’d received?
Don’t take accounting, you will hate it! Take more history classes instead. Oh, and learn to laugh at yourself. It took me a while, and my life has been so much better ever since!
Do you think international experience as a student is helpful in future life and career?
Of course. Much of the U.S. economy is linked to the rest of the world, and knowing how to navigate other cultures and countries is a huge plus. But beyond the utilitarian calculus, there’s also something deeply human about leaving your home culture and comfort zone, and getting to know the rest of humanity. Our country and our leaders could use a little humility sometimes, and traveling the world gives you that in spades. It also leads to some excellent food!
Anything else you’d like to add?
Gratitude. I’m grateful I got to go to William & Mary. The U.S. is such a rich and privileged place, that we sometimes don’t appreciate fully enough our many blessings. Many teens in other parts of the world would dearly love to have a chance to study at a place like our wonderful university.
Your Gift Matters.
With the support of private donors, the Reves Center awards a number of scholarships to international students each year. These scholarships help alleviate financial hardship, make educational opportunities possible, recognize achievement, and allow W&M to attract top students from around the world.
To learn about making donations to the Reves Center International Scholarship Fund or to other Reves Center Scholarships, contact Kate Barney at kabarney@wm.edu.
LAURA SCHWARTZ ‘20
SUMMER INTERNSHIP: POLITICAL AFFAIRS AND ECONOMIC SECTION, U.S. EMBASSY IN ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY
This past summer, I interned with the State Department with the support of a Reves Center Summer International Internship Scholarship. I was in Asunción during a particularly eventful time; the Paraguayan president was facing a strong possibility of impeachment. I helped my section track the party-affiliation composition of the Paraguayan congress. Essentially, we attempted to do the political math to determine the likelihood of impeachment and worked to keep Washington updated on the situation.
One of my goals was to come out of this summer with improved Spanish, and now I can confidently say that I am professionally proficient in Spanish. I learned a lot about how the U.S. government operates and saw first-hand the nature of foreign service officers’ work. I am grateful for this experience and the generosity of those with whom I worked.
My summer work experience was transformative, giving me valuable insights into my career trajectory and what I value in the workplace.
200 South Boundary Street
Williamsburg, VA, 23185
Telephone: 757-221-3590
Fax: 757-221-3597
The world awaits . . .
STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS
Summer Faculty-Led Programs
Australia: Adelaide
Botswana: Gaborone/Molepolole
Bhutan: Takse
Brazil: Rio de Janeiro
China: Beijing
Czech Republic: Prague
England: Cambridge
France: Montpellier
Germany: Potsdam
Ghana: Accra
Greece: Athens/Nafplio
India: Bengaluru/Goa
Ireland: Galway
Italy: Florence
Italy: Rome/Pompeii
Mauritius: Pamplemousses
Russia: St. Petersburg
Rwanda: Kigali
Scotland: St Andrews
South Africa: Cape Town
Spain: Cádiz
Spain: Santiago de Compostela
Winter Programs
Beijing (2020)
Geneva (2020)
Oman (2020)
W&M-Sponsored Semester Programs
Argentina: La Plata
England: Oxford
France: Montpellier (currently suspended)
Spain: Seville
Undergraduate Exchange Programs
Australia: University of Adelaide
Austria: Vienna University of Economics & Business
