CHILE CEDEUS - CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT Shamsa Derrick, Lady Margaret Hall, Masters-level student, MSc Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, Remote working Work Projects I conducted a literature review of over 20 low-income settlements in and around Santiago, Chile. My work involved reading many academic papers and other publications and summarizing them in a database that logs each source. The goal was to create a spreadsheet that codifies all of the published research on these settlements. The organization will eventually publish its report on the settlements. While this was year two of a four-year project, I was able to do some of the key leg work to ensure that it goes smoothly in the future. I received a lot of support from my supervisor who is leading the project. He included me in all of the team meetings and met with me one on one to make sure that I was up to speed and understood my tasks. He made himself available for questions via email and WhatsApp. Daily Life Since my internship was remote, I tried to designate a certain area of my house as my workspace so that I could focus. Each day I set a goal for how much work I was going to get done. It was helpful to take a walk after work after sitting for so many hours. It was also important to make sure that I actually took a lunch break! I made sure to make time go see friends and family too. Lasting Impressions I was surprised by how much this project related to the research I had done for my undergraduate thesis. It was fascinating to learn about the politics of urban poverty in a different region. I also gained a lot of practice analyzing academic papers. Reading and writing in Spanish and attending group meetings in Spanish definitely improved my language skills. It was a great experience! Thank you CEDEUS!
25
