Letters from Alumni
By Jeff Nelson
BPhil, Economics: Currently employed at the American Institutes for Research’s Center for Analysis on the Longitudinal Data in Education Research.
Biking through rice paddies on a rainy day in Vang Vieng, Laos.
My experience at the University of Pittsburgh began in 2010, when I transferred from a small, Midwestern liberal arts college in a very small town surrounded by corn fields. With little idea of what Pitt offered and undecided about my major, I initially felt lost in a vast sea of students. Within my second week at Pitt, I met with Elaine Linn, an Assistant Director and student advisor at the Global Studies Center (GSC). We talked about the various opportunities at the GSC, and I was immediately drawn to the BPhil option. I realized I could pursue a self-directed and interdisciplinary curriculum, while becoming fully proficient in Spanish, with the ultimate goal of travelling abroad. Best of all, I could create my own research project and eventually write the equivalent of a masters thesis on a research topic that really interested me.
Elaine directed me to the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), where I learned about a summer travel opportunity in Argentina offering financial support that would completely cover my travel and in-country expenses. I applied for and was accepted to the CLAS Field Trip to design and conduct my own research. I spent the following semester learning about academic research and developed a project to carry out in Rosario, Argentina during the summer of 2011. Even though the trip fulfilled my study abroad and language requirements for the BPhil, I craved more. The CLAS research project ignited my interest in Latin America (my GSC regional focus), and I wanted to learn how economic research could support further development in the region.
When I returned to Pitt for the next fall semester, I chose to take Portuguese - the language spoken by half of South America - to develop a more intimate understanding of the region. I enrolled in several development-based economics courses that semester. The following semester, I studied abroad in Brazil at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, a business- and economics-oriented university in São Paulo. There I fulfilled my Global Studies requirements taking an array of interdisciplinary courses, including “Marketing for Low Income Consumers” and “Brazilian Culture and Politics,” which combined economics and politics and allowed me to advance both my academic and professional goals.
Over the summer of 2012, I stayed in Brazil to conduct original field research that would serve as the backbone of my BPhil thesis. With the generous support of the University Honors College, I travelled to the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and Fortaleza to complete a research project focused on the Bolsa Família Program – Brazil’s innovative social welfare program designed to spur economic development. I investigated whether the program affected electoral patterns during the country’s 2010 presidential election. To collect data, I interviewed (in Portuguese) over seventy residents living in the major favelas of these three cities.
|
|
| Bengal tigers outside of the city Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. |
The language skills and cultural knowledge that I acquired through my academic studies and research aided me in earning a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLASF). The FLASF made it possible for me to dedicate my entire senior year to advancing my knowledge of Latin American language and culture, while conducting serious economic research. By the end of April 2013, I had successfully presented and defended my thesis. I then decided to undertake one more international experience before joining the workforce.
In June and July 2013, I traveled throughout Southeast Asia. With no plan, an open mind, one carry-on bag, and a guidebook, I boarded a plane to Bangkok. My travels in Latin America gave me the confidence to travel to a completely unknown region alone. I successfully navigated myself throughout Thailand and Laos, meeting and travelling with both locals and other backpackers from all over the world. I learned to scuba dive, biked through rice paddies, played with tigers, and rode elephants.
I am currently employed and living in Washington, D.C. I work at the American Institutes for Research’s Center for Analysis on the Longitudinal Data in Education Research. While interviewing for the position, I was consistently asked about the research I had conducted at Pitt. My BPhil thesis research helped immensely during the application and interviewing phases of my job search. The BPhil project enabled me to speak about conducting original research and the statistical programming skills I needed to complete it.
I am now working on several interesting projects, including major research investigations for the Gates Foundation and Teach for America. The Global Studies Certificate and program gave me the foundation for doing interdisciplinary academic work, independent research, and related travel – all components in getting a job I love – a job any Ph.D. candidate would covet.
Click here to read Meredith Hutchinson's article
Click here to see other Spring 2014 GSC Newsletter content