Interdisciplinary Studies at NC State

Happy Finals Week! Best of luck to all students on your exams! We hope everyone does well and we wish everyone a happy winter break as well, from the IDS Office!

Meet Anthony Ramsey, one of the CHASS students who earned the Boren Award to Study Languages Abroad!

Anthony is an International Studies major with a minor in French. He plans on studying in Rabat, Morocco for Arabic Language and Culture.

Some advice Anthony share is “It does not matter the major or the person, if you want to increase your linguistic skills and cultural competence, apply!”

Guest speaker, Dr. Omer Adballa Omer, will be giving a public at NC State to share his work and experience with the USCRI. This is open to all IDS majors & minors.

DATE: NOVEMBER 2ND, 2023
TIME: 10:15AM-11:30AM
LOCATION: Biltmore Hall (Room 3018)

Come out and join Ambassador Dr.Hicham Hamadan as he focuses on the topic of “Post-Conflict Peace-Building”!! 📣

Date: September 6th
Time: 6:00-7:15PM
Location: Caldwell G107

📢 Don't miss the 2023 Buchdahl Lecture in Science, Technology and Human Values with Shobita Parthasarathy on Thursday, Feb. 23rd! 🌍🧬

Join us as Dr. Parthasarathy, professor of public policy and women’s and gender studies and director of the University of Michigan’s Science, Technology and Public Policy program, delivers a thought-provoking talk on "Are Innovation Systems Stacked Against Equity?"

As innovation continues to exclude marginalized communities, Dr. Parthasarathy, a pioneer in inclusive innovation, argues that a fundamental reimagination of our approach to innovation, innovators and technical expertise is necessary to produce significant positive change.

Join us for this important conversation on equity, justice and the political economy of innovation this Thursday!

Big Congratulations to our Spring '22 graduate, Abdlh Antabli, for being named a Patterson Fellow!

Our Spring 2022 Bob Patterson Interdisciplinary Studies Fellow, Abdullah Antabli, graduated with a B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literature, with a concentration in Arabic Studies. Abdullah grew up in Damascus, Syria. In 2014, Abdullah was just beginning his first semester at a university in Damascus, having won a prestigious fellowship to study international law. Yet, Syria’s civil war caused his family to flee to the U.S., specifically North Carolina on the recommendation of a relative. When he arrived in Raleigh, Abdullah knew very little English, but determined to pursue an education, he enrolled at Wake Tech and poured all his energy into his studies. Two years later, he transferred to NC State, where he continued to excel academically and socially, all while working full time to support himself and his family.

According to faculty members who recommended him for the award, “Abdullah’s is an American Dream story,” and “Wherever he goes, Abdullah naturally makes meaningful connections with others across continents, languages, and cultures. He dreams of building bridges between the United States and the Arabic-speaking world through international diplomacy…He is incredibly hard-working, academically top-notch, and possesses a natural leadership in the classroom.”

Congratulations to the Fall 2022 Bob Patterson Fellow, Sabrina Hurtado!

Our Fall 2022 Bob Patterson Interdisciplinary Studies Fellow, Sabrina Hurtado, graduated in summer 2022 with a bachelor’s in Arts Studies, with a concentration in Visual Arts, and also earned a minor in Arts Entrepreneurship. She was a Caldwell Fellow (a program focused on service and leadership) and part of the University Honors Program. She was co-founder and president of the University’s Arts Club. Following her graduation, Sabrina became the Manager of Teen and College Programs at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

According to the faculty member who recommended her for the award, “Sabrina is energetic, empathic, creative, offers her skills and service freely, across many contexts, and does it all with exceptional poise and generosity. As the first person in her family to attend university, she arrived ready to engage at NC State. Her family and Latinx heritage provide a foundation for her diverse and interdisciplinary research in both her individual and community work.”

To all of our IDS students who are graduating, congratulations on your hard work! And to those IDS students continuing to study, we are looking forward to seeing you again next semester. Enjoy your well-earned break and the holiday season ahead.

The Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) has connected NC State students with global communities, spurring interest in additional study abroad experiences. The program can be a great and affordable start to expanding global awareness and competency as a student, an important skill for many employers! Read the full story here: https://provost.ncsu.edu/news/2022/11/global-collaboration-for-online-education/?spMailingID=47651480&spUserID=MTM4MTg0NTQ2NDAxNAS2&spJobID=2342482948&spReportId=MjM0MjQ4Mjk0OAS2

Two of our students gave their accounts of their experiences in Amman, Jordan, and the work that they achieved. Aisha Mahmood, studying genetics and international studies, and Anthony Ramsey, double major in international studies and foreign languages & literatures, both used their interdisciplinary backgrounds to intern and study in Jordan. Read about their journeys here: https://chass.ncsu.edu/news/2022/11/10/one-place-three-perspectives/

Dr. Amanda Kennell explains how the Great Resignation impacted both Japan and the U.S. in the past year, providing a cross-cultural insight into this multi-disciplinary issue embedded in economics and healthcare. Read her short story here: https://chass.ncsu.edu/news/2022/11/10/the-great-resignation/

Don't forget this upcoming event on Friday!

Mark your calendars for this IDS social gathering! There will be pizza and games and you will have a wonderful opportunity to meet each other, our amazing student ambassadors, and faculty members. Ambassadors and I will deliver a short presentation about IDS as a unit and our Student Ambassador Program.

Please be sure register for the event by November 9th:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PAfyenmgeDvo6uXDJAlmgZpnhwX-pko0YcdmOAnuwHo/edit

Mark your calendars for this IDS social gathering! There will be pizza and games and you will have a wonderful opportunity to meet each other, our amazing student ambassadors, and faculty members. Ambassadors and I will deliver a short presentation about IDS as a unit and our Student Ambassador Program.

Please be sure register for the event by November 9th:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PAfyenmgeDvo6uXDJAlmgZpnhwX-pko0YcdmOAnuwHo/edit

North Carolina State University’s Park Scholarships Class of 2024 will host the Gerald H. Elkan Distinguished Lecture in Science and Society on Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Talley Student Union Piedmont/Mountain Ballroom. Dorothy Roberts, an American sociologist and law professor has been nominated to present the lecture.

Published by the NYTimes and in the Washington Post, alumnus, John DeMarsico, has credited his career achievements to the undergraduate experiences he had at NCSU before graduating with a film studies degree in 2009.

Read about his latest work:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/sports/baseball/sny-mets-diaz.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/11/edwin-diaz-entrance/

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/08/the-new-york-mets-are-great-theyre-also-great-tv.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/diaz-entrance-goes-viral-trumpeting-143017320.html

Come for the Broadcast, Stay for the Mets Game SNY already had some of the best announcers in baseball. John DeMarsico, the network’s director, has made every game feel like a trip to the movies.

Check out the latest article about our initiatives working with the UN Sustainable Development Goals at NC State. Co-authored by director of undergraduate programs in IDS and director of International Studies, Dr. Seth Murray, read the article here: https://www.iienetworker-digital.com/iieb/0222_fall_2022/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1822402

Also, take a look at the courses offered at NCSU in the SDG course catalog here: https://sustainability.ncsu.edu/curriculum-research/sdg-courses/

Congratulations to international studies and business administration major, Krupa Bharodiya for being awarded the Inaugural Obama-Chesky Scholarship! Read the story here: https://news.dasa.ncsu.edu/bharodiya-johnson-selected-for-inaugural-obama-chesky-scholarship/

Congratulations to Africana Studies Major, Kelis Johnson, for being awarded the Inaugural Obama-Chesky Scholarship! Read the story here: https://news.dasa.ncsu.edu/bharodiya-johnson-selected-for-inaugural-obama-chesky-scholarship/

Join us on Instagram for our very first takeover looking into Jeanine Ikekhua's life as a double major in Communication and International Studies! Follow us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/ncstate_interdisciplinarystudy/

Congratulations to our very own alumna, Hannah Fletcher, for being awarded the U.S. Air Force Cadet of the Year! Read more about her story here: https://www.mae.ncsu.edu/2022/09/16/nc-state-alumna-named-u-s-air-force-cadet-of-the-year/

Hazing | The Deadly Ritual at Fraternities and Sororities Filmmaker Byron Hurt, a member of a fraternity himself, explores how hazing rituals reflect our desire to belong—even if taken to sometimes deadly lengths.

Highlighted during the SDG@3 talk on Sustainable Development Goal #4: Quality Education, Dr. Haddy Njie's Gambian Girl Project strives to create a strong and lasting support network for girls in the Gambia throughout their academic endeavors. Dr. Haddy Njie, Gambian native, has done some profound work to uplift young girls seeking education and uses the slogan, "I CAN" to enhance on the values of respect, love, teamwork, character, and problem-solving.

Currently, Dr. Njie is planning a book drive to build up and repair the Gambian Girl Power schools' library. More details coming soon!

Great work, Dr. Njie and thank you for all you do as a role model and empowerment leader!

Jeanine Ikekhua, our very own double-major in Communication and International Studies, has landed a very exciting internship at local radio, WUNC. Jeanine Ikekhua is a Park Scholar who was reluctant to try communication at first but found that, in conjunction with International Studies, the two were a great fit to her interests.

She says, "Communication teaches me how to interview people, which in turn, enables me to tell stories; and international studies literally provides me with the background information I need to tell stories as a journalist."

Read more about her story here: https://chass.ncsu.edu/news/2022/08/17/student-intern-takes-to-the-airwaves/

Anthony Ramsey, double major in International Studies and Foreign Languages and Literature was recently interviewed about his experiences learning Arabic in Amman, Jordan. Anthony Ramsey was funded by the Critical Language Scholarship.

When asked why Anthony Ramsey paired two majors across disciplines and departments, Ramsey gave this response: "I wanted a breadth of knowledge to draw from as I move forward in my life and to learn about the world from the perspective of the human lens. What this means is gaining knowledge that informs you about racism, social instability, the history of why certain areas are the way they are, and so on. To me, it was all about how I could learn more about society, its issues and the systems that cause those issues to persist."

Read the entire interview here: https://chass.ncsu.edu/news/2022/08/11/living-and-learning-in-amman-jordan/

Jeanine Ikekhua, a double major in communication and international studies, took to the airwaves this summer through an internship at North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC. Learn more about her experience at WUNC's Youth Reporting Institute: http://ow.ly/gv9M50Ks6yV 🎙️

Kudos to our very own Dr. Blair Kelley!!!

Two Professors Named National Humanities Center Fellows Two Humanities and Social Sciences professors will work on individual research projects during yearlong fellowships at the National Humanities Center.

Meet our visiting Fulbright scholar, Dr. Amanda Franco, from Portugal!

Dr. Franco is researching a faculty development program offered at NC State in order to understand how critical thinking can be developed in students and faculty. Dr. Franco first learned of the work happening around critical thinking at NC State at a conference in Valencia, Spain about the TH!NK program, which convinced Dr. Franco to pursue a Fulbright fellowship in Raleigh. Dr. Amanda Franco encourages NC State students interested in the Fulbright program to contact our Fellowship Advising Office: “Do it if you’re thinking about it, if you feel like it’s the right timing. Just go for it. It’s a privilege for you to go to another country, be in touch with another culture, meet people from all over, and struggle with the language.” Dr. Franco admits that she’s had a wonderful time living in Raleigh, and has learned to love the southern accent, "even when people call me ma’am.” Throughout her time in North Carolina she’s learned to become the “designated ambassador of Portugal” at NC State, and she has made connections with faculty, peers and students from all over the world.

Thank you, Dr. Amanda Franco, for the wonderful research and cultural insight you bring to NC State!

Hear more about the journey of International Studies alum and Park Scholar, Jada Hester, into journalism:

Double Parked - Park Scholarships Kelly Marks ’00 and Jada Hester '20 are recipients of two prestigious scholarship programs: NC State's Park Scholarships program and UNC's Park Fellowships graduate program.