Recipients - 2007
Professors Jean Wu, Joan Lester, and Francie Chew
From left to right: Elaine Shapiro, Elise VonDohlen, Emily Griffifth, Danielle Weisberg, and Aaron Shapiro
From left to right: Elaine Shapiro, Elise VonDohlen, Emily Griffifth, Danielle Weisberg, Aaron Shapiro and Professor Deborah Pacini (Director of American Studies)
Professor Jean Wu and students
Professor Jean Wu and Danielle Weisberg
Peter Afton Funk, a junior studying this entire year in the Dominican Republic, will use his award to study the Dominicans in Boston, New York City or Lawrence, MA, and to learn more about their integration into the American scene. He has taken several courses while he was away and at Tufts that he feels have prepared him to view the Dominican culture objectively and with respect.
Emily Griffith is a junior majoring in American Studies with a minor in Communication and Media Studies, who hopes to create a media project on eating disorders. The film will be based on her own narrative, reflecting the struggle she endured and the knowledge she has gained from her firsthand experience. She hopes to add to social awareness of the seriousness of anorexia nervosa and related eating disorders.
Leah Staub-Delong, a junior majoring in American Studies, is presently studying in Ecuador. She will use her Ted Shapiro award to travel to Brazil in May and June, 2007, where she will immerse herself in Afro-Brazilian music and culture. She has been studying the Portuguese language in preparation for this travel. She hopes to produce a photo-documentary of her experiences.
Elise von Dohlen, another junior majoring in American Studies, plans to create a documentary that develops an historic narrative of the politics of Chinatown Boston. She has been inspired by her courses in American Studies and she has become very active with the Asian American community at Tufts and in Chinatown. She hopes that her documentary will contribute to improving the circumstances of many residents of Chinatown and enrich their history.
Danielle Weisberg has returned from her fall semester studying in Rome. A junior majoring in American Studies and English, Danielle is applying for an internship with ABC, NBC, or CBS network news and also with one of the Condé Nast magazines (there are several to choose from). Her work on the Tufts Daily as a news and features writer, and her focus on and coursework in journalism will be assets to any network. She actually was awarded a Ted Shapiro last year and landed an internship with a news network, but due to unforeseen circumstances, could not take advantage of it in the summer of 2006. She will find out in April what network/magazine she will be associated with.