Thursday, February 11, 2010

KASIA MARIA LANGER (IEDP PARTICIPANT PROFILE)

IEDP Policy team: Governance

Yr/Program: 2nd Yr MPP / MA in Russian & East European Studies

Area of focus/concentration: I’ve recently come to the revelation that all of my main substantive interests are connected by the concept of human rights (political and civil as well as economic, social, and cultural rights). More specifically, the human rights issues that I focus on tend to be international development, education, and democratization. My thesis topic—Roma education in Eastern Europe—tries to pull a lot of these concepts together. Additionally, I have been trying to build upon my quantitative analysis skills while at the Ford School.

Home State/Country: California

Interests: traveling/exploring, finding out how amazing the world/people can be, volunteering, and leaving the world a little better than when I found it

What excites me most about PH: Even though I’ve had an international focus in my studies since my first year as an undergraduate at Berkeley, I’ve never really studied South-East Asia in any depth. It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to learn so much about the Philippines, add a new stamp to my passport, and—best of all—pick the brains of important local stakeholders. The sight-seeing doesn’t hurt, either. J

Will you try balut in PH? Nope—I’ve been a vegetarian for many years now, and while I’m technically a lacto-ovo vegetarian, balut seems to cross the line. Generally, I rarely eat eggs anyway, even when they aren’t fertilized. I’d love to try any other veggie-friendly, nut-free food while we’re in the Philippines, though my impression of the cuisine is that vegetarianism isn’t exactly widespread…

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