This is just a sample. If you are an alumnus or an alumna, we want to know your news! Please send an e-mail to Rosalind Shaw. Your news (and, if possible, your photograph) will be included in the new Anthropology website and in the next newsletter.
Arminda Guillama (2005), who developed a strong interest in culture and communication while at Tufts (and after completing multiple internships), is working at a leading Hispanic advertising agency, The Vidal Partnership, in New York City. Outside of the office, Arminda can also be found participating in various community service projects throughout the city, a love that grew from her experiences at Tufts. Originally from South Florida but now residing in New York, Arminda is currently engaged to her longtime boyfriend.
Avanti Taneja (2005) is working as Curriculum Fellow at “Common Cents,” a non-profit organization in New York City. Common Cents is dedicated to youth development and philanthropy, and promotes service learning curriculum in New York schools. Avanti’s responsibilities include content writing, program evaluation, teacher training, and conducting a pilot research project to increase student leadership in the program. She credits the field experience she gained during her research project on Somerville’s Latino youth programs for her public anthropology course (“Urban Borderlands”) with giving her the "fit" for this position.
Nebulla Stephen (2004) is working in a public health consulting firm in Boston. There she works on a Minority AIDS Initiative Evaluation Project and coordinates trainings for the Region I Family Planning Title X program. When her contract is up, she wants to enroll in a graduate program combining medical anthropology and public health.
Lila Vega (2002) is completing a Masters Degree in International Development Studies at the International School for Humanities and Social Sciences, a branch of the University of Amsterdam. She is currently conducting her fieldwork for this degree in Nicaragua where she is studying the role of parent participation in primary education under the education system's Autonomous School Project.
Sally Abbott (2001) spent two years in the Peace Corps in Mali,West Africa, and is about to begin her second year in Tufts’ Nutrition School’s Masters Program in Food Policy and Nutrition. Sally spent the summer of 2005 working as an intern with UNICEF in Patna, northern India, evaluating a child nutrition project called “Dular.” Together with two other Tufts students, she conducted a mini-survey and anthropometric measurements to assess levels of malnutrition, and assessed the role of socioeconomic factors.
Leah Black (2001) took the Columbia Publishing Course in New York the summer after her graduation, and went on to work at a book publicity firm for two years, working with authors to promote their books. In 2003 she was accepted to the graduate school of journalism at New York University and received her master's degree in newspaper writing in 2004. She's worked at such publications as Food Arts and Museums Magazines. Currently, Leah is a producer at New York Magazine's website. She lives in Long Island with her husband Jason Mayo, a fellow Tufts graduate whom she met in her freshman year! They were married in June 2005.
Naomi Moland (2001) teaches at a bilingual charter school called Tertulia Pre-College Community.in central Phoenix, working with 4th-8th grade students on current issues such as events on the US-Mexico border. Naomi and her colleagues take their students on university expeditions so that they can learn about colleges. She plans to apply for a PhD program on International Education, blending her passions for anthropology and education. While in the Tufts-in-Ghana program and during her field research in Zimbabwe for her Senior Honors thesis, she became especially interested in bilingual/bicultural education systems. She writes: “The very most salient experience for me in Ghana and Zimbabwe was watching teachers and schools trying (or not trying) to ‘Africanize’ the British education system that persists from colonial days.”
David Trilling (2000) traveled extensively in the Caucasus and central Asia following graduation, photographing and teaching photography. In Georgia, where he conducted fieldwork for his senior thesis, David photographed the Rose Revolution in late 2003, reporting for various western and European magazines. He became Country Director for the “Internews” organization in Afghanistan, where he worked on a project to build 30 radio stations and train journalists. This project is designed to provide local news to Afghans in order to assist them in making their own informed decisions as their country emerges from 23 years of war. David is now looking toward resuming work as a photographer in South Asia and attending graduate school. He begins a Masters program in Iranian Studies at Tehran this Fall.
Joellen Easton (1999) has worked as a radio producer, writer, and consultant for national, local and international public radio organizations, including WGBH Boston, Public Radio International, NPR, and the BBC World Service. Her reporting and production interests focus on cultural trends and social uses of technologies. She has recently completed MIT's Masters' Program in Comparative Media Studies, where she developed her understanding of radio's role in the new media environment, with emphases on digital distribution, new and accessible modes of production, and changing interactivities for consumers and citizens. Joellen is now a Public Insight Analyst for the Public Radio show Marketplace in Los Angeles, working on their new Sustainability desk.