{"id":259272,"date":"2017-07-31T15:59:11","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T19:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=259272"},"modified":"2024-10-29T14:21:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T18:21:51","slug":"summer-malawi-student-research-community-259272","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/summer-malawi-student-research-community-259272\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer in Malawi brings student researchers closer to community"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"retro<\/a>
Summer of Research: <\/a><\/strong>Our latest Newscenter series showcases a cross-section of summer research conducted by undergraduates at Rochester and beyond.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTo appreciate the meaning of humanity, it\u2019s necessary to take all people into account,\u201d says Daniel Reichman, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Rochester. \u201cAnd we begin to understand different cultures when we immerse ourselves in their respective communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past 15 years, the University has offered students the Malawi Immersion Seminar\u2014a three-week research experience in the remote village of Gowa, in which students carry out individual projects, living and working among the community members.<\/p>\n

The program is the brainchild of Joe Lanning \u201900, \u201907 (MA). When Lanning was an undergraduate majoring in anthropology, his professors encouraged him to go abroad. He heeded that advice and, in his junior year, went to Kenya for a four-month experiential learning program that involved home-stays in urban and rural areas. That experience inspired him to join the Peace Corps following graduation, where he served two years in Malawi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Malawi Immersion Seminar is a marriage of my experiences in Kenya, U of R\u2019s anthropology department, and the Peace Corps,\u201d says Lanning, who completed his PhD in anthropology at the University of Georgia. \u201cAnd it fulfills the Corps\u2019 principle of bringing the culture of your host country back to the states.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also serves Rochester\u2019s educational mission, which emphasizes both global outreach and hands-on research.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students are there to be trained in anthropological research methods and to learn about a different culture,” says Lanning, who has traveled with the students to Gowa every year since the program\u2019s inception. There are formal instructors, such as Geoffrey Mlongoti, a self-trained engineer and native Malawian, who assists with community mapping, coordinates homestays and other logistics, and helps students with their research. But, as Lanning adds, \u201cTheir teachers are the Malawians all around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"large
Students visit the Chauluka Irrigation Scheme in Ntcheu, Malawi, to learn more about agriculture, engineering, and small-scale irrigation projects. (University photo \/ Joseph Lanning)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"large
Organizers of the Never Ending Food Center teach students about food security, health, and permaculture. (University photo \/ Joseph Lanning)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This summer, Rachel Ellison \u201918 is researching breastfeeding practices and the cultural influences on those practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrandmothers in Malawi like to introduce infants to porridge before six months of age,” she says. \u201cBy contrast, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends staying with breast milk exclusively for the first six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellison\u2019s experience in Gowa should have a direct impact on her for years to come. She intends to pursue a PhD in anthropology and embark on a career in global health care research.<\/p>\n

Megan Runkle \u201918, a Take 5 scholar, is studying food\u2014specifically the varying ways people in Malawi think about food, as compared to the ways people do in the United States.<\/p>\n

For the past 15 years, the University has offered students the Malawi Immersion Seminar\u2014a three-week research experience in the remote village of Gowa. Learn more about how you can participate.<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cMany people in Malawi are subsistence farmers, who raise their own food,” she says. \u201cI’m curious about their attitudes toward food and livestock, even pets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike Ellison, Runkle won\u2019t be pursuing a career in anthropology. But that doesn’t mean the immersion program will be any less relevant to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven’t traveled outside the country very much,” Runkle says. \u201cIn Malawi, I’ll be learning about things from a different perspective, which will be helpful on any career path I choose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lanning concurs. \u201cThe lessons from the immersion program can be applied in their schools, neighborhoods, and travels,\u201d he says. \u201cLearning about different cultures has value, whether it involves someone across the street or halfway around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with Lanning, the students are accompanied by University staff and graduates students, and others Lanning has recruited. (This year, for example, Mike Sweeney, a retired high school teacher from Oregon, is assisting the team.) Once in Malawi, Mlongoti is there to greet them.<\/p>\n

When Lanning started the program 15 years ago, students had to hold fundraisers, like car washes, to help pay for the trip. Now it\u2019s covered by tuition and program fees.<\/p>\n

Having the Malawi Immersion Seminar on a more secure financial basis is good news for Reichman, who says students, without exception, come back with positive things to say about the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe has created a rare level of trust with the people of Gowa,\u201d said Reichman. \u201cAnd that makes it possible for the students to immerse themselves in the community and to understand how we\u2019re all shaped by different cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about the team’s experiences at the 2017 Malawi Immersion Seminar blog<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past 15 years, the University’s Malawi Immersion Seminar has offered students a research experience in the remote village of Gowa, carrying out individual projects, and living and working among the community members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":259442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456],"tags":[21512,19242,18572,16072,41362,20932],"class_list":["post-259272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-culture","tag-department-of-anthropology","tag-global-engagement","tag-research-finding","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-summer-of-research-2017","tag-undergraduate-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSummer in Malawi brings student researchers closer to community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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