Communique Fall 2015 by Middlebury

ALUMNUS WINS $100K GRANT 5 Alan Lovewell MAIEP ’10 reels in support

AN ECONOMIC AMBASSADOR 13 Alumna helps Minnesota compete globally.

Communiqué FALL 2015

Big Hire, High Stakes Jorge Silva mpa ’11 manages Hispanic media outreach for the Clinton campaign.

to studying Russian and Japanese—and continued with those languages through her undergraduate years at the University of Bologna. Her major? Linguistics, naturally. Irene enrolled at the Institute in 2008. “It looked like it offered very good

the fastest growing group in the American electorate is Hispanic voters, and many pundits believe the results of the 2016 presidential election may rest in their hands. In this political environment, the national media viewed the hiring of Jorge Silva as director of Hispanic media for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign as a sign of the high stakes involved. Jorge, who is credited with developing and implementating Hispanic media strategies in several Western states as the senior strategist for the Senate Democratic Caucus, previously served as senior adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “Secretary Clinton is a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform,” says Jorge, who currently commutes between the Clinton campaign offices in Brooklyn and Washington D.C., where he lives with his wife, Elizabeth Romanoff Silva mpa ’11. He is excited to take on the rigors of a presidential campaign. Jorge is the campaign’s official spokesperson for Spanish-language audiences, and a large part of his job is to help the press and public understand complicated policy issues. “One of the big challenges is appealing to Hispanic communities in both languages,” he says, and the

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Voice of Nations At the UN, every nation has a voice—and sometimes it belongs to alumna Sarah Irene maci ’10. you could say Sarah Irene’s path to the United Nations began early in life. Raised in a bilingual—English and Italian—household, she also learned French at a young age, having lived in Geneva for several years. “I never considered French a foreign language,” she recalls. When Irene reached junior high school, she took

THE VIEW FROM SEGAL

The Value of Multilingualism

Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Institute Jeff Dayton-Johnson.

my expriences as a multilingual international professional have not all been roses and glory. About ten years ago in Mozambique I had just delivered—in “goodenough” Portuguese—a briefing on the growth outlook for Africa to a group of government officials and embassy staff. As I emerged from the meeting, a television news crew thrust a camera in my face and demanded my thoughts on Mozambique’s economic prospects. What I sputtered out in not-at-all-good Portuguese might, I believe, be rendered as: “Grow, Mozambique, grow! Big, big growth!” I consoled myself with the thought that no one would see the interview. The next day, several people stopped me on the

and Caribbean desk at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris for several years. I was the sole American in the group, and my team hailed from a range of Spanish-speaking countries. Our working language was Spanish: meetings, personal conversations, emails, text messages, presentations, briefings, and more all happened en Español, all day long. Moreover, speaking Spanish lent me and my work credibility with a host of counterparts throughout Latin America. To say it was a transformative professional experience would be an understatement, as Institute alumni who have walked the same path can attest. Indeed, many

As this issue’s cover story suggests, the Institute’s world-class, language- and culture-centric programs help our graduates to be successful in positions that require them to think critically and express themselves clearly in multiple languages.

street to say, “Hey, I saw you on TV last night!” My heart sank. Fortunately, Middlebury Institute graduates are more likely to perform well in the spur of the moment, thanks in part to the rigorous, content-based language instruction that is a signature part of our curriculum. And I can bear witness to the powerful role that advanced language skills will play in our graduates’ careers. After my 15 minutes of fame in Mozambique, I went on to lead the Latin America

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current students will be plunged into a similar baptism by fire during international placements in programs such as DPMI and Frontier Market Scouts. As this issue’s cover story suggests, the Institute’s world-class, language- and culture-centric programs help our graduates to be successful in positions that require them to think critically and express themselves clearly in multiple languages—and equip them to say so much more than “Big, big growth!” n

MIIS NEWS

Inaugural Symposium Translates the MIIS Mission “translatability is a process of mutual modification,” suggested new Middlebury president Laurie L. Patton at an October 4 symposium in Monterey celebrating her inauguration as the 17th president of Middlebury. The symposium, titled “The Challenge of Translatability: 21st-Century Practices, Policies, and Possibilities,” opened with Patton’s keynote address, which described translation as an imperfect process requiring change on both sides in order to achieve mutual understanding. Focusing on how to translate the Institute’s mission and narrative for external audiences, Patton noted that its work centers around three themes: language, policy, and social change. The Institute, she said, understands that the power of language is at the core of human relationships. “Language drives change and the more humans can master language, the more social change and the better policies there will be in the world.” Patton’s keynote was followed by a lively roundtable discussion moderated by Vice President and Dean of the Institute Jeff Dayton-Johnson and featuring three Institute professors—Laura Burian mati ’98 (translation and interpretation), Peter Shaw (teaching English to speakers of other languages), and Lyuba Zarsky (international environmental policy)—and Peter Burian, who taught classical and comparative literature and theater studies at Duke University from 1968 to 2015. The symposium, hosted in the Irvine Auditorium, was followed by a reception in the Samson Student Center. n

CNS Director William Potter (center) with the 2015–16 cohort of CNS Visiting Fellows.

Good Fellows Each year a cohort of professionals bring expertise to the Institute. launched in 1991, the Visiting Fellows Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (cns) hosts five to 12 fellows for a semester to work on an independent research project. While on campus, these key members of the Institute’s diverse and international community share highlights of their expertise and participate in seminars and lectures. Fellows also provide leads and mentoring to students seeking internships. Although the program initially offered training and research opportunities to officials and academics from the former Soviet republics, today’s fellows include faculty, diplomats, and other practitioners from Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mali, Pakistan, South Africa, and Turkey. “We think of our fellows as resident experts in their fields,” says Rachel Christopherson, program manager for the Institute’s Center for the Blue Economy. The center, whose work focuses on using innovative tools to address ocean and coastal resource management issues, currently has two fellows: Mark J. Spalding,

president of The Ocean Foundation, and Dr. Brendan Kelly, a leading researcher on the Arctic. Both will spend time on campus during the academic year delivering lectures and seminars, collaborating with faculty and students, and sharing their expertise with campus colleagues. Fellows at the Institute’s Cyber Initiative help students gain digital literacy via instruction and career guidance, while also conducting research and helping identify funding opportunities. Cyber Initiative fellows include Dr. Linton Wells, former chief information officer for the Department of Defense; Dr. Walter Christman, founder of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies; and Brian Steckler, a specialist in using technology to assist in humanitarian crises. Fellows’ contributions to the Institute range far beyond simply conducting research. They deepen and enrich the experiences of students, faculty, and staff by introducing fresh perspectives and adding to the Institute’s global web of professional connections. n

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Voice of Nations continued from front cover

training, and I liked that there were other disciplines like nonproliferation and international policy at the same institute,” she recalls today. A conversation with French Professor Julie Johnson led to an informal two-week internship working with Sheila Shermet mati ’87, a former MIIS professor and staff interpreter at the United Nations in Geneva. “That experience paved the way for me,” she says. After graduation, she headed to New York City, where she been accepted to the UN’s English booth-training program, taught by an adjunct professor from the Institute, Lynn Visson. The training and testing to be recruited as staff interpreter are notoriously rigorous. Of the several dozen candidates her year, she was one of only four who passed the exam. She describes the final one-hour staff exam as “mentally and emotionally exhausting.” But it was worth it for this selfdescribed “political nerd.” Irene commutes to the iconic UN headquarters on the east side of Manhattan every day from her apartment in Brooklyn. Her work can be unpredictable: “My schedule requires serious flexibility and contingency planning, as it often changes at the last minute.” At the height of General Assembly activity, meetings may begin early in the

I work often on the Security Council, and have seen tensions rise between Russia and the U.S. and Western Europe over the past year or so … Every communication is more charged with emotion, every turn of phrase more significant. I simply cannot get anything wrong—there’s too much at stake.

morning and run as late as midnight. The UN’s several hundred interpreters rotate through on-call weekends and may be called in if the Security Council or another UN body convenes an emergency meeting. Irene, who specializes in Russian-to-English and French-to-English interpretation, is keenly aware of the sensitive nature of the material she interprets, and the thin margin for error. “I work often on the Security Council, and have seen tensions rise between Russia and the U.S. and Western Europe over the past year or so,” she says, “Every communication is more charged with emotion, every turn of phrase more significant. I simply cannot get anything wrong—there’s too much at stake.”

THE ORIGINS OF SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION The three most common modes of interpretation are simultaneous, consecutive, and whispered. Prior to World War II, only consecutive (in which the speaker speaks, then pauses while the interpreter repeats their words to the audience in the target language) and whispered (in which the interpreter sits next to the person requiring interpretation and speaks

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softly into their ear) interpretation was used. The Nuremburg trials in 1945–46 were the first time that simultaneous interpretation using microphones and headphones was employed, thanks to a five-channel system developed by ibm to handle the trials’ four official languages. Simultaneous interpreting has since become the standard for international diplomatic gatherings.

The work is daunting even in the best of circumstances. On typical day Irene works two three-hour stints in the interpreting booth in tandem with a colleague, with each relieving the other every 20 to 30 minutes. (An infamous 2009 incident saw Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s personal interpreter collapse 75 minutes into the leader’s rambling 96-minute diatribe.) Each interpreting team works in one of six booths designated for the six principal UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. The teams also work in concert with one another, and because the English-language booth serves as a pivot for other languages, her colleagues in other booths are often relying on her. “That may be one of most challenging parts of the job,” she says. “We are perpetually aware that interpreters in other booths may be relaying from us at any time. A colleague in the Chinese booth may turn to the English channel to hear my voice interpreting from Russian, so that they can interpret back into Chinese.” But the unpredictability and stress are worth it. “As an interpreter at the United Nations, I see history unfolding,” says Irene. “Each country has a voice, and I am an integral part of making sure that voice is heard and understood.” n

Future Leaders Discuss Global Issues demonstrating a strong academic record as well as a commitment to the mission of the Institute, 17 members of the incoming fall class were chosen to take part in the first Dean’s Fellows program. The Fellows will participate in the global issues seminar, and will gather for monthly lectures and discussions hosted by Vice President and Dean of the Institute Jeff Dayton-Johnson on a variety of topics. This inaugural group comes from six countries, speaks numerous languages, and has fascinating individual stories to share. Fulbright scholars, a Princeton in Asia Fellow, a foreign area officer, visionaries, entrepreneurs, and seasoned professionals are among them. One nonproliferation and terrorism studies student, Julia Diamond, has interned at the Russian American Foundation in New York, the Small Arms Survey in Geneva, and the Carnegie Moscow Center. Her professional goal is to help improve U.S.-Russia relations through closer cooperation in nonproliferation efforts, and she was drawn to the Institute because of its exceptional Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies and groundbreaking work of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. For Keelie Frisby, who moved to Quito, Ecuador, and took on the task of organizing support services for orphaned children in a language she did not know at the time, the Institute provides the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills through the Master of Public Administration program. She hopes to lead a nonprofit organization that aims to elevate the academic opportunities of youth in Latin American communities. Keelie, Julia, and the other Dean’s Fellows met for their initial group breakfast with Dayton-Johnson on August 20, an event that left the group with a spirit of camaraderie and much more to look forward to in the months ahead. n

From Sea to Table alan lovewell maiep ’10 accepted a $100,000 check from Chase Bank on September 25 after his company, Real Good Fish, was one of 20 winners—out of 30,000 plus applicants—in the 2015 Chase Mission Main Street Grant competition. The grant will support a unique initiative aimed at providing healthy, popular lunches made from local seafood for public school students. As a student in the Institute’s InterNational Environmental Policy program, Alan was saddened to learn that most locals consumed fish imported from China and that local fishermen were having a hard time earning a living. After graduating, he cofounded Real Good Fish, a member-supported fishery connecting local consumers directly with fresh, sustainable catch. From its humble beginnings with 146 members in 2012, Real Good Fish has grown to over 1,000 members. Early in the process, Alan and his team discovered that fishermen were not finding a

market for a large portion of their catch. Most of them fish for black cod but catch up 100,000 pounds per year of other species that have traditionally been discarded because no one would buy them. “That’s a huge inefficiency,” says Alan, who found that many of the fish being thrown away were actually very tasty and nutritious. Real Good Fish then partnered with the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District to set up a program called Bay2Tray, addressing two problems at once by creating a market for the “unmarketable” fish and providing school children with affordable and healthy protein for their lunches. The fish tacos and other meals made possible through this program are very popular among students. The $100,000 check Alan accepted will help Real Good Fish expand this program further. “We feel incredibly lucky and grateful,” says Alan. “This recognition means a lot to our business and our community.” n

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MIIS NEWS

Passing the Olympic Torch

Big Hire, High Stakes continued from front cover

Institute prepared him well. “Working with diverse groups of classmates on policy projects helped me get a better grip on how to talk to people about complex issues,” he says. He also noted that his Institute experiences helped him learn to work with people who have different sets of skills toward a common goal. With notable exceptions, most presidential hopefuls have their own plans to reach out to the Hispanic electorate. It appears that the first big test for Jorge will come on February 20th, when Nevada voters vote in the first caucus in the West. A large youth population and a hitherto low voter turnout make Hispanic voters a key strategic focus for both parties. Jorge says he has full confidence in his team and hopes to continue working with them on long-term Hispanic outreach strategies beyond the 2016 election.

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Before coming to the Institute, Jorge was a lawyer in his native Mexico. He moved to Monterey to be with Elizabeth, then his fiancée, and intended to work at the Monterey Bay Aquarium while she completed her degree. But he soon became so interested in her studies that he enrolled at the Institute as well. Jorge and Elizabeth’s strong bond with the Institute community includes having their great friend and mentor Professor Adele Negro officiate at their wedding. They are also part of a strong network of alumni in Washington D.C., that includes two of Jorge’s friends from the Senate. “It’s easy to become friends with the people you work with, because you all believe in the same ideals,” he says, “but the connection seems to run even deeper with classmates, and we’re able to rely on each other for connections, tips, and information.” n

institute professor Bill Weber, who is the chief interpreter at the Olympic Games, is preparing to hand that role off to another member of the Institute community, Alexander Ponomarev maci ’00. Both will work the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. The Institute’s long involvement with the Olympic Games began in Los Angeles in 1984. Weber, then dean of what was the Graduate Division of Translation and Interpretation, arranged an academic internship for 32 translation and interpretation students, thus making the Institute the “official supplier of translation and interpretation services.” The students provided both written translation of documents and simultaneous interpretation in English and French at the main press center. Weber, now an adjunct professor, has played a role in providing language services at the Olympics ever since and has served as chief interpreter at 14 recent summer and winter games. He notes that Maureen Sweeney mpa ’94 has also been involved with the Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta Games, serving as a key consultant for the International Olympic Committee and working with the local organizing committees in areas including language services and venue protocol. After 32 years, he says he will “retire from the Olympic scene” following next year’s Rio de Janeiro games. But the MIIS tradition will continue when Ponomarev takes over as chief interpreter in Rio, where a number of current students are also expected to serve as language-services volunteers. “It has been a tremendously rewarding experience to play a role in the Olympic Games for all these years,” concludes Weber, “and I’m so proud to see the Institute community continuing that tradition.” So are we. n

On the Front Lines the new ambassador corps program has a term for the delicate balance of drive and humility they look for in candidates: controlled fearlessness. Judging from the enthusiastic way the 12 students who made up the first cohort have described their experience—calling it “transformative” and “eye-opening”— the program chose well. Launched this summer by the Institute’s Center for Social Impact Learning (csil), the Ambassador Corps is an intensive summer internship program designed to provide students a frontline work experience with social entrepreneurship organizations around the world. In collaboration with the Middlebury Center for Social Entrepreneurship and the Middlebury C.V. Starr Schools Abroad, the Ambassador Corps team took care to place each student with a host organization and in a position that matched their interests. Students worked on a variety of projects ranging from community storytelling in the Philippines to monitoring and evaluating micro grants in Rwanda. “The Ambassador Corps places dedicated university students at the forefront of grassroots development in the most underserved regions of the world,” says csil Director Jerry Hildebrand. “This experience had an impact on my vision of what I want to do in my life, especially why, where, and for whom I want to work in the future,” says Middlebury student Grecia de la Orca, who spent her time in Chile working on curriculum design for a course on social responsibility. csil Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives Annie Makela Midd ’11, who is leading efforts to expand the program nationwide, explains that the Ambassador Corps is not for everyone. “It’s for a very specific type of learner,” she explains, “one who learns best by doing, is excited by ambiguity and long work days, and has a high emotional intelligence.” n

New Face of Terrorism Kathryn Smart manpts ’15 explores the role of women in North Caucasus militant groups. in 2003 the united nations referred to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya and epicenter of two wars with Russia, as the most destroyed city on earth. After years of reconstruction, Grozny is home again to more than a quarter million people. It’s also where Kathryn Smart is studying the Chechen language and conducting research. “And walking so much I know the city better than the taxi drivers,” she adds. Her interest in Chechen culture developed over time. Growing up in Michigan, she loved going to ice hockey games with her father. Her favorite player was Russian, which spurred her choice of Russian as her language of study while an undergraduate in international relations at Michigan State University. She studied abroad in Volgograd not once, but twice, the second time enrolling in an advanced Russian language study program. During the latter trip she worked as an English tutor for a Chechen family in Moscow. Kathryn came to the Institute intending to pursue a career in the

nonproliferation field, but switched her focus to terrorism studies after taking Professor Gordon Hahn’s course on Islamism in Russia. Through the Institute’s Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies, Kathryn has been researching the role of women in Chechen culture at Grozny State University to better understand how culture and politics play into women’s decisions to join militant groups in the North Caucasus. “I think it is very important to learn Chechen to fully understand the culture.” Traveling into the countryside, Kathryn has discovered the limits of modernity in Chechnya. Once you’re outside the capital there is no running water, there’s limited electricity, and young women have restricted freedom of movement. She plans to continue her research until January, when she will move to neighboring Georgia for five months to continue her Chechen language studies, supported by a prestigious Boren Fellowship. It’s a long way from the ice rinks of Michigan but exactly where her heart now lies. n

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MIIS NEWS

MIIS in Brief Recent news and announcements from members of the MIIS community around the world. SIGHTINGS Wesley Laine MAIPS ’14, currently a law student at Sciences Po in Paris, spent the summer as a legal fellow at the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, based in Boston. After returning from a fact-finding mission on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, Laine made the local news in Boston while working to draw attention to the plight of some 200,000 Dominican Republic residents of Haitian descent who have been stripped of their citizenship. Those remaining in the country are “having to leave their homes, seeing their homes being burned down, being harassed by soldiers, policemen, even their neighbors,” according to Laine. n The second annual retreat organized by the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP), operated by the Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), welcomed over three dozen senior diplomats and nongovernmental experts. The June 14–15 retreat in Baden, Austria, focused on analyzing the outcome of the 2015 Review Conference of the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and featured guests including International Atomic Energy Agency

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Director General Yukiya Amano and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo. The workshop was the first major event hosted by new VCDNP Executive Director Laura Rockwood. Her predecessor, Elena Sokova Mpa ’00, now deputy director of CNS in Monterey, also participated. n Over the summer, Cristyn Elder MATesOL ’00 shared a fun moment from an overseas assignment that found her in Panama for 11 weeks working on revising the curriculum for Panamá Bilingüe, one of Presidente Juan Carlos Varela’s initiatives. After introducing herself to President Varela during his visit to the school where she was working, she asked permission to take a selfie with him, and he gladly obliged. n The summer edition of Study in the USA magazine featured a profile of Esra Bozkurt ESL ’15, a student in our English as a Second Language program. Ezra is from Turkey and is preparing to pursue her PhD in the U.S. this fall.

PRESENTATIONS In June, Anthony Iacono BAIS ’14 traveled with Dr. Philip Murphy and classmates Jeffrey Zeitz MAIPS ’15 and Will Heilbut MBA/ MANPTS ’15 to a conference

hosted by the International Network for Social Network Analysis in Brighton, United Kingdom. Zeitz, Iacono, and Murphy presented twice at the conference, in one case basing their presentation on a research project that the two students had worked on for one of Prof. Murphy’s courses. Omar Salem MAIPS ’13 was the coauthor of a third paper presented by Professor Murphy at the conference. n Current nonproliferation and terrorism studies student Farah Al-Mousawi MANPTS ’16 was selected to present her research on extremism in Iran and the Islamic State at the September 25–26 ISAWest (International Studies Association) conference. In addition, Al-Mousawi chaired a session on innovations in teaching and learning that featured Gigi Gokcek MAIPS ’97 on the discussion panel. Gokcek teaches at Dominican University and was AlMousawi’s advisor during her undergraduate studies there.

ACHIEVEMENTS The United Nations announced prestigious new appointments for two alumnae over the summer. Michelle Keating MATI ’93, the new chief of the languages service at the UN’s division of conference management, has worked in language services in international organizations for 17 years, most recently at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Deirdre A. Durrance MACI ’86, the new chief of the UN’s contractual translation unit in New York, has worked on four

continents as a conference interpreter for numerous international organizations, and on diplomatic assignments for over 20 years. n While following up on the above item, we learned that Dawnielle Jacobson MAT ’14 Middlebury MA French ’06 and Aaron Hebenstreit MAT ’14, both of whom previously interned at the UN, recently passed the organization’s freelance test and have been offered contracts to support this fall’s meeting of the UN General Assembly. n On June 16 the campus community gathered at the Samson Student Center for a celebration marking the Institute’s 60th anniversary. The Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies was founded on June 9, 1955, by language instructor Gaspard Weiss, who envisioned a graduate school that would promote international understanding through the study of language and culture. Vice President and Dean of the Institute Jeff Dayton-Johnson encouraged the faculty and staff who attended “to renew our commitment and enthusiasm for the principles of this remarkable institution.” n Professor Philip Murphy was named the recipient of the 2015 Leslie Eliason Excellence in Teaching Award in an announcement that praised his “innovative, generous and collaborative approach to teaching.” Murphy’s specialty is network analysis, and during the 2015 January term he led a policy analysis class to Peru to carry out a field research project they had designed. An assistant professor in

the International Policy and Development program, he is also a cofounder of the META Lab. n Congratulations to Carmen Paraison MAIPS ’14, who was awarded a FulbrightClinton Fellowship, which places fellows as advisers in foreign government ministries. Carmen will be working in the Ministry of Finance in Cote d’Ivoire. Congratulations also to Nate Maynard MAIEP ’14, who will be staying another year on a Fulbright Scholarship in Taiwan. n Patricia Szasz MATESOL ’06, director of the Institute’s Intensive English Programs, was recently named president-elect of EnglishUSA: the American Association of Intensive English Programs. She has also served on the board of California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL). n Last issue’s piece about two members of the Institute community who were honored at the California Healthcare Interpreters Association (CHIA) meeting inadvertently omitted a third. The “Friends of CHIA Award” went to the UCSF Interpreting Services Department, whose members include Mateo Rutherford MATI ’03. Congratulations to Mateo, who has worked as the supervisor, administrative director, and project manager in the department and is currently managing the UCSF remote interpreting initiative. He also freelances as a conference interpreter specializing in life sciences and information technology. n Molly McKeon MAIEP ‘16 marveled at the opportunity she had in June to speak one

on one with government leaders at an international aid conference in Japan. “There I was, talking trade-offs between sustainablity and development in French over lunch with legislators from Togo.” Molly was invited to participate in the conference as part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Pacific Forum Young Leader Program, which brought 30 young leaders from around the world to discuss issues related to aid and development with politicians, experts, and young parliamentarians.

COLLABORATIONS In collaboration with the Mexican Foreign Ministry, CNS conducted its second annual summer school on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation in Mexico

City July 13–17. Participants included young diplomats from 25 Latin American countries, along with university students and representatives from international organizations. CNS Director William Potter and Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova MAIPS ’07 served as lead instructors at the school, which also featured U.S. Special Representative for Nonproliferation Ambassador Adam Scheinman and other senior officials, as well as CNS staff members Melissa Hanham, Miles Pomper, Laura Rockwood, and Dr. Nikolai Sokov. n On July 22, founder/ editor Kate Daniels Kurz announced that the Women’s International Perspective (The WIP, a web-based platform for journalism written by women), has ceased publication of new material. Active since 2007 at thewip.net, The WIP

has published work by many Institute students, faculty, and alumni and in 2014 became a publication of the Middlebury Institute. The site’s eight years of published material will live on in what Daniels calls “The WIP 3.0,” a searchable archive of resources that promises to “preserve this piece of history in the most effective and valuable way for readers and researchers worldwide who value women’s voices and perspectives.”Daniels and a group of MIIS graduate assistants are currently working to make this transition a reality. n International Environmental Policy Program Chair and Center for the Blue Economy (CBE) Director Jason Scorse took a month-long trip to Asia this summer that included lecturing on “the Blue Economy 2.0” and meeting with staff and researchers at

IRAN FORUM : “As someone who was skeptical of this administration’s ability to negotiate a good deal, I have

to say—they negotiated a pretty good deal,” said Dr. Jeffrey Lewis (left) at an August 31 public forum on the proposed multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran. Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and Dr. Avner Cohen (right), professor of nonproliferation studies, participated in the Irvine Auditorium forum cohosted by Congressman Sam Farr.

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MIIS NEWS the Chinese National Marine Data Center and the Korean Maritime Institute to discuss increased collaboration. Scorse said the trip “exceeded my expectations,” as both groups expressed interest in collaborating with the CBE on future international symposia, the CBE’s Journal for Ocean and Coastal Economics, and new research initiatives. n Dave Schmerler MANPTS ’15 collaborated with Dr. Jeffrey Lewis and Melissa Hanham of CNS on a fascinating analysis of a May missile test staged by North Korea, presenting

visual evidence from publicly available sources supporting their conclusion that the test, purportedly from a submarine, had actually been launched from a submersible barge. n A three-way collaboration among Middlebury community members in Monterey, Washington, D.C., and Vermont resulted in a successful ”Careers In Environment” panel at the Middlebury In D.C. office this July. The panel featured Christine Chau MAIEP/ MBA ’09 and Nick Rome MAIEP ’08 and was enjoyed

by audiences participating by video conference from Monterey, the School of the Environment in Middlebury, and Washington, D.C.

PUBLICATIONS Monterey County’s thriving agricultural industry contributes $8.1 billion to the region’s economy, according to a new report coauthored by Middlebury Institute professors Fernando DePaolis and Jeff Langholz. Commissioned by the county’s agricultural commissioner, the new report found that

MIIS MEMORIES December 17, 1966. Faculty, staff, and students at the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies gathered in the Segal Building to sing holiday songs in many languages. The bookshelves in the photo still stand today in the office of the vice president for academic affairs and dean of the Institute.

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the agriculture industry and related supporting industries provide the equivalent of 76,000 full-time jobs to the region, representing more than one in four jobs in the county. Release of the report received wide coverage in the local media. n The April-June edition of Peace Review, a peerreviewed journal focusing on the nexus of gender, conflict, and natural resources, featured articles by two alumni. Adrienne Stork MAIEP ’09 wrote about Ivory Coast and Sudan, while Brittany Ajroud MAIEP ’14 focused on Liberia and Timor-Leste. n The Washington Examiner published an opinion piece authored by International Trade and Economic Diplomacy Program Chair Robert Rogowsky titled “Trade politics and the decline of American leadership” on June 17. In the piece, Professor Rogowsky suggests that advances in technology have cost more American manufacturing jobs than freer trade has. n Professor Philipp Bleek had two opinion pieces published in The National Interest over the summer: “Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Fuel Bank: A New Nonproliferation Tool” on June 23 and “Iran Deal Buys Time: Now America’s Real Work Begins” on July 18. n In the course of reviewing web analytics, staff members were touched to note that a May 2011 blog post by the late Dr. Peter Grothe titled “A Message to Graduating Students” was viewed more than 100 times over the summer. The memory of longtime staff member and adjunct professor Dr. Grothe lives on. n

All in the Family New $10,000 Legacy Scholarships available to alumni and family members for Institute degree programs. “the adventurous, curious, socially conscious nature of Institute alumni seems to run in the family,” said Institute Executive Director of Enrollment Management Rebecca Henriksen. “We deeply appreciate the support our alumni have provided over the years, and the Legacy Scholarship is a small way to give back.” It’s also a great opportunity for Middlebury alumni and their family members to advance their education with a master’s degree from the Institute. Alumni of all Middlebury degree programs and members of their families are eligible for a $10,000 Legacy Scholarship toward the Institute’s internationally recognized degree programs. The scholarship extends to the spouses, siblings, parents, children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews of alumni—defined as those who graduated from, or were enrolled in, any Middlebury undergraduate or graduate degree program, including the College, the Language Schools, the Bread Loaf School of English, and the Institute itself. Those who participated in a Middlebury non-degree program are not eligible for the Legacy Scholarship, but may be eligible for other scholarships. Applicants for the Legacy Scholarships who are admitted to one of the Institute’s 13 degree programs will automatically receive the $10,000 scholarship. They will also be considered for additional merit and need-based scholarships to assist in their graduate studies. For more information about the Legacy Scholarship, visit www.miis.edu/legacy or call the Institute’s Office of Admissions at 831-647-4166. n

A World of Words Portuguese translation Professor Cris Silva never stops learning. when formula one test drivers in the UK needed to demonstrate car features via walkie-talkies to dealers in Brazil, they called Cris Silva. Since she was 10 years old, Cris knew she wanted to be a translator and interpreter. “I was one of those kids who loved reading dictionaries and was always fascinated with words and languages,” she says. Today Cris teaches Portuguese translation for students in the Institute’s Translation and Localization program. “Our program is growing steadily, along with the Brazilian economy,” she says with her characteristic joie de vivre, which she describes as one of the happy circumstances of her profession. “Our brain is always engaged and learning fascinating new things about life—it’s just beautiful!” Cris is currently translating a

children’s book. “There is never a boring day in my job.” She first came to the United States as part of an Institute of International Education program, and she ended up getting both her undergraduate and graduate degrees here. At the time there were no translation programs in her native language so her language of study was French. Today she is proud to be a member of the faculty at the only educational institution in the U.S. to offer Portuguese translation at the graduate level. Cris also enjoys the pioneering element that comes with building a new program and working with smart and innovative faculty. “The Institute attracts a lot of focused and determined young people,” she says. “It is a joy to get to show them the ropes in the profession I love so much.” n

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ALUMNI NEWS

Teaming up in Taiwan A pair of TESOL alumnae launch the Fulbright English Teaching Forum.

Water World Alyssum Pohl maiep ’12 documents water quality and plastic waste on a trip down the Mississippi River. “i was looking for ways to demonstrate that the health of our oceans concerns all of us,” explains Alyssum Pohl on a call from her kayak in the middle of the Mississippi River. “Our rivers, streams, lakes—it’s all connected!” Near the end of the two-year fellowship she secured with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) before graduating from the Institute, Alyssum began thinking about how she could share her deep passion for ocean conservation with people who don’t live in coastal areas. Not one to waste time, she created her own research project and is now paddling the length of the Mississippi River, from Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Every 100 miles along the 2400-mile route she collects a water sample and sends it to a lab to be tested for microplastics. She is also collecting water-quality samples for a paper she wants

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to write with John Sullivan, who previously paddled the river collecting samples. “I have been blown away by the beauty of this area,” Alyssum says. During the first few weeks she saw very few people— it was only after two months of paddling that she entered more populated areas with commercial river traffic. Along the way Alyssum, who had no serious kayaking experience before embarking on her project, says she has been blessed by many of the helpful people who live along the river and invite paddlers in for a meal and a shower, and sometimes to camp in their backyards. Alyssum aims to finish her journey by late October. And while she looks forward to completing her project, she says the main reward is that “Every day is a new adventure.” n You can follow Alyssum’s experience and research on her blog at alyssumpohl.weebly. com/paddle-on.

it’s a story familiar to anyone who has ever experienced the tight-knit community and life-long professional support system that is an essential element of the Institute’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (tesol) program. The newest installment involves a pair of alumnae—both Fulbright scholars—teaming up to do academic research in Taiwan. Sarah DeMola matesol ’12 majored in international relations as an undergraduate, but when she volunteered to teach English to refugees, she knew she had found her calling. “I find tesol to be the perfect combination of my interests in international education and education.” While enrolled at the Institute, she twice went to India to work with Tarana Patel matesol ’01 at S.K. University in Gujarat, where she collaborated with classmate Maggie Steingraeber matesol ’12 on developing curriculum and teaching courses. After graduation, Sarah received a Fulbright scholarship as an English teaching assistant in Taiwan, investigating her program’s impact on students’ listening skills, as well as their attitude and behavior towards learning and using English. Her job involved supporting English teachers throughout Taiwan, which offered the opportunity to learn about the diverse cultures of each region. For her second year in Taiwan, Sarah was joined by Emily Quade matesol ’13, and together they developed and hosted the first annual Fulbright English Teaching Forum. Emily had served in the Peace Corps in Central America as part of the tesol Peace Corps Masters International program. Emily also finds the most remarkable part of her experience to be the perpetual support and camaraderie of the tesol community of faculty, students, and alumni. n

An Economic Ambassador Kathleen Motzenbecker maips ’97 helps Minnesota businesses compete in the global marketplace. “you always go back to the touchstone of being inspired,” says Kathleen Motzenbecker maips ’97. “I would not be where I am without my experience at the Institute.” Kathleen was honored earlier this year as one of Minnesota’s Top 50 Women in Business. The St. Paul Business Journal described her as the “state’s economic ambassador,” a role she “shines” in. As the executive director of the Minnesota Trade Office, she is the chief strategist for the promotion of the state and its companies in the global marketplace. “Minnesota is a global place,” says Kathleen who lists 3m, Cargill, and the medical device industry as major economic presences in the state that cnbc ranked at the top of its annual America’s top states for business list. In her current position, she has created a foreign direct investment program and is overseeing the establishment of four offices overseas.

She recently returned from a trade mission for the governor in Mexico, where she used the Spanish language skills she developed while a student at the Institute. After graduation, Kathleen headed for the East Coast, starting in New York along with classmate André Gutierrez maips ’97. They’ve remained close friends ever since. “Staying in touch with someone who knows you from grad school and can help you strategize about your career is profound,” she says. Next she moved to Washington D.C., where she worked for the Council on Foreign Relations as D.C. deputy director, served as executive director of the U.S. Committee of the UN Development Programme, and participated in election monitoring for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. In her hometown of Chicago, where Kathleen then moved to be closer to family, she worked with Mayor Richard Daley on public diplomacy issues and was

Staying in touch with someone who knows you from grad school and can help you strategize about your career is profound… My global career started with the training I received at Monterey. —KATHLEEN MOTZENBECKER

responsible for Asia relations at the Illinois International Trade Office. In 2008 she became the founding director of the Center for Global Peace through Commerce at Dominican University in Oak Park, Illinois, where she also helped create a program for mba students interested in anti-poverty business solutions. “Then I fell in love with a Minnesota man,” says Kathleen, “and moved to this wonderful, progressive state.” All the while, her experiences at the Institute have helped shape her professional choices. “My global career started with the training I received at Monterey,” she says, adding that she is very happy with the merger with Middlebury and the recent name change. “Combining the two schools increases their global connections and the Institute is now very well positioned for the future!” n

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ALUMNI NEWS

On the Horizons How Ewandro Magalhães maci ’08 gained a language and a global network. ewandro magalhães had already published a book on professional interpreting and built a successful career as a translator and interpreter in Brazil when he came to Monterey as an advanced entry student in the Conference Interpretation program in 2007. “I was presenting myself as an expert without having the right degree,” he says, adding that he expected to finish his master’s degree and go back home to continue his career where he left off. “My experience at miis changed everything,” says Ewandro. Because the Institute does not have a Portuguese interpretation program, Ewandro picked English as his A language and Spanish as his B language. In addition to adding a new language to his interpretation repertoire, Ewandro developed professional skills that would become use-

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ful in the next phase of his career—such as consecutive interpretation of longer passages often used in diplomatic and other formal settings. More than anything, though, he says “miis expanded my horizons.” Not only has he gained the added prestige and recognition he sought when he enrolled at the Institute, he now belongs to a network of influencers and like-minded professionals in the field. Hired immediately by the U.S. Department of State after graduating and passing the professional exam, Ewandro and his family moved to Washington D.C. High demand for qualified Portuguese interpreters led to an exciting three-year period of work on high-level negotiations, conferences, and summits for various international organizations.

In 2010 Ewandro, his wife, and their three children moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he was recently promoted from his role as chief interpreter in the United Nations system in Geneva to head of conference services at the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency, and transitioned from interpreting to managing interpreters. “You really have to be an interpreter to do that job well,” he says, adding that he enjoys the opportunities he has to help shape the profession. He is active in exploring new technology and training young professionals. Laughing when he describes the adjustment his family went through moving from the 24/7 culture of D.C. to the slower-paced life in Geneva, he says life is good but he still misses Monterey and hopes to have an excuse to return soon. n

Communiqué EDITOR

Jason Warburg ASSISTANT EDITOR

Eva Guðbergsdóttir DESIGNER

Paul Dahm PHOTOGRAPHERS

Robert Ellis, Eva Guðbergsdóttir, Jon Roemer, Randy Tunnell, Elena Zhukova ILLUSTRATOR

Yevgenia Nayberg VICE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING

Bill Burger

CALL FOR CLASS NOTES

A new position, relocation, baby, publication, marriage? We want to hear from you. Send your update via the alumni website at alumni.miis.edu or email it to alumni@miis.edu.

The Road Back to Monterey institute alumni from around the world made their way back to Monterey October 2–4 for a fun and engaging alumni reunion, where they enjoyed a briefing from Vice President and Dean of the In-

stitute Jeff Dayton-Johnson, speed networking sessions with current students, a Student Council-sponsored reception, a community showcase, a gala dinner, and, of course, sightseeing activities. n

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