Month: May 2016

Interim Library Open

Mzuzu University recently opened an interim library. We are now working to ship several palettes of books to Malawi that we have collected via the Mzuni Library Initiative.

The Mzuni Library Initiative

In May 2016, Mzuzu University opened an interim library.  The former students’ dining hall has been remodeled into a small, but functional, university library. Some book donations have already been received from individuals and organizations in Malawi, the UK, and other countries, and more will soon be sent from the US. However, many of the specific titles needed for student’ course work are missing. Click HERE for more information about how you can help.

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Selma’s Commencement

This morning I had the pleasure of hooding Selma Elouardighi, who successfully defended her PhD in Planning, Governance, & Globalization in April. Since Selma’s family were not able to travel from Morocco to the CAUS Commencement Ceremony, I recorded a video of the event for them through Google Glass. The video below captures my perspective of the ceremony and includes some fun behind the scenes moments.

Novnit Kashyap (IITK-VT Scholar)

I’d like to thank Ricky Cox and Theresa Burriss for hosting this visit to Radford University’s Selu Conservancy. This was an excellent way for Novnit Kashyap and Charles Chirwa (two visiting scholars from India and Malawi, respectively) to learn about Virginia’s culture and history.

IITK-VT Partnership on Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure

Novnit Kashyap, a student in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur, has arrived at Virginia Tech as a visiting research scholar. He will be working under the guidance of Dr. Ralph Hall in the School of Public and International Affairs for a period of two months (May and June, 2016).

Novnit will work on creating proposals for short term professional development courses to be offered at Virginia Tech’s India ICTAS Innovation Center. Accordingly, he will carry out research to study the nature of professional development courses that are needed in India and engage with prospective faculty at Virginia Tech.

In India, his research focuses on the sustainability parameters for urban water resource infrastructure in the context of smart cities.

The images below were taken during a recent visit to Radford University’s Selu Conservancy, where Novit and visiting scholar Charles Chirwa (from Mzuzu University, Malawi) were able…

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2016 International Development Studio Presentations

Today marked the end of the 2016 International Development Planning Studio. This year we continued to advance the quality of the proposals being developed by students, in large part due to the support of a number of international development experts at Virginia Tech. These experts worked closely with the students to help shape their ideas and refine their application of specific tools such as logical framework analysis. This semester, I also used a formative assessment framework to help guide the structure of the studio, which I will discuss in a future post.

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I have listed below the titles of the student proposals to provide an indication of the range of subjects covered this semester.

  • Implementation of Sexual Health Programs within Iran
  • HIV Prevention Program in Bujumbura, Burundi
  • Reducing Child Mortality in Burkina Faso Through Breastfeeding Education
  • Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
  • Planning a Bus Rapid Transit System in New Delhi, India
  • Gudri and Tantnagar Open Defecation Pilot Project
  • Mobile Clinic and Educational Bus Bucharest, Romania
  • Domestic Violence Support and Awareness in Guyana

In the final two studios, students formally presented and defended their proposals to a panel of international development experts. I would like to thank the following individuals for serving on these proposal review panels: Sophie Wenzel, Hannah Menefee, Maria Elisa Christie, John Browder, Bill Anderson, James Foreman, and Van Crowder. I greatly their time and the important contributions they make to student learning.

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