Oberlin Shansi Fellows 2009-2011

Eleven Oberlin seniors and graduates have been selected to serve as Oberlin Shansi Fellows in Asia for 2009-2011.  These fellowship recipients will spend the next two years living and working in China, Japan, India and Indonesia as a part of Shansi's effort of Joining Worlds through language learning, cultural immersion, and meaningful engagement with partner institutions.

These Shansi Fellows will experience as broadly as possible contemporary life in Asia while assisting Shansi partner schools.

CHINA

James Barnard and Daniel Tam-Claiborne have been selected for the fellowships at Shanxi Agricultural University, Adam Passmore for the fellowship at Yunnan University, and Mia Signs for the fellowship at Beijing Normal University.

Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, China

James Barnard  graduated from Oberlin College in May 2007 with a degree in East Asian Studies with an emphasis on Chinese Language and Literature.  He spent his Junior year in Beijing on the CET program.  Currently, James is working as an apprentice stonemason in Sheffield, MA and he served as a volunteer in the recent Obama campaign.  He hopes one day to be an engineer with an emphasis on global environmental problems.  James also is currently working as an assistant ESL teacher and swim instructor.  While a student at Oberlin he served as the Asia House/EAS liaison and was a member of OSCA and the OC swim team. He also has an interest in speech & debate.

Daniel Tam-Claiborne will graduate in May 2009 with majors in East Asian Studies and Creative Writing and a minor in Comparative American Studies. He spent the fall of his junior year in Osaka, Japan where he studied language, literature, politics, and Chinese calligraphy at Kansai Gaidai University. Daniel is the Vice President of his class, has volunteered with America Reads, and is co-chair of the Asian American Alliance. As an intern with magazine publishers for the last four summers, he has had articles published in Fortune Small Business and Popular Mechanics magazines. He is very interested in travel writing and international journalism and hopes to pursue a career as a foreign correspondent after his fellowship.  At Oberlin, he worked as a Resident Assistant, a member of OSCA, a DJ for WOBC, and served as co-editor of As I Am (the Asian American literary magazine). As a half-Chinese American, Daniel is excited about the opportunity to teach in China to contextualize his familial roots and better understand how the cultures and histories of China contrast with those of Chinese Americans.

Yunnan University, Kunming, China

Adam Passmore has been offered the fellowship at Yunnan University and will graduate in May 2009 with a major in Psychology and a minor in East Asian Studies. He has been interested in China for quite some time and has taken courses in Chinese thought and religion, cultural psychology, and is in third level Chinese language study. He is a TA in the Psychology Department, an active member of 'Round Midnight (an a cappella group), and a peer counselor with the Oberlin Sexual Information Center. He also has worked in the Mudd Library as a research desk assistant, has volunteered with AmericaReads, and played trombone with Oberlin Community Winds ensemble. He sees this opportunity as a way for him to continue his study of Chinese language and culture.

Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

Mia Signs will graduate in May 2009 with a degree in East Asian Studies with a concentration in Chinese Language and East Asian History.  She is currently in Beijing enrolled in the Associated Colleges in China (ACC) program studying advanced Chinese.  Mia will be the first Shansi Fellow for this partnership that includes Oberlin Shansi, Oberlin College and Beijing Normal University.  This new program is a one-year special student opportunity with some volunteer teaching responsibilities.  Mia hopes to pursue her interests in the study of Chinese language and culture as well as international exchange and education.  Mia will return to the US in December and will be back in Oberlin for Winter Term and her final semester.   In the past, she has been involved in organizing tours in Japan for American students, has served as a Japanese language tutor for EAS, has served as a live in nanny for a family with four children in France, and was selected for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, the ACC scholarship and the J.F. Oberlin Scholarship.  Mia was a Shansi Student Intern for the Centennial Celebrations in May 2008.

JAPAN

Samuel Good and Erika Raberg were selected for the fellowships at J. F. Oberlin University.  

J.F. Oberlin University, Machida, Japan

Sam Good will graduate in May 2009 with a major in East Asian Studies with a concentration in Japanese Language and Literature and a minor in History.  He is currently pursuing an honors thesis in contemporary Japanese literature.   Sam has studied in the Associated Kyoto Program and also spent the summer of 2008 in Japan taking courses at the International Christian University Program.  He twice received the Freeman Foundation Scholarship to study in Japan and serves as the Arts Editor for the OC alternative newspaper.  He has been involved with WOBC as a DJ and has coached tennis with the Special Olympics.  Sam hopes the fellowship will guide him in his academic career.  He hopes to experience teaching, attain fluency in Japanese, and continue to study his passion of inter-War Japanese literature and film.

Erika Raberg will graduate in May 2009 with a major in English and a minor in Comparative American Studies. She has studied the Japanese language for two years and traveled with a Winter Term program lead by OC Instructor Ikuko Kurasawa to Japan. She works as a writing tutor in the Politics Department, has worked as an ESL instructor for the Immigrant Worker's Project, and has traveled to Guatemala with the OC Human Rights delegation. She is a member of OSCA and the Oberlin College Choir and instructs an EXCO course in "Beginning Swedish Language and Culture." She is fluent in Swedish and Spanish and also has a strong interest in photography and contemporary art, and hopes to further explore the two during her time in Japan. She hopes one day to pursue a career in international relations, diplomacy, translation or journalism.

INDIA

Jenna Lindeke has been selected for a fellowship to Jagori and Kelly Lloyd for the fellowship to Lady Doak College.

Jagori Rural Community Program , Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India

Jenna Lindeke will graduate in May 2009 with majors in Mathematics with a Pure Mathematics focus and East Asian Studies with a Japan focus.   She was in Japan on the Kansai Gaidai program in the spring of 2008 and has worked as a live-in camp counselor for the Concordia Language Villages where she taught basic Japanese, taiko drumming, tea ceremony and kimono construction to students 7-18. She also has served as an individual math tutor here at Oberlin. She is a member of the Oberlin College Orchestra (oboe) and the OC Choir.   She is an active member of the Oberlin Christian Fellowship where she has served as the Publicity Coordinator and Web Designer, Treasurer, and as a Small Group Bible Study Leader. She is interested in the Jagori program because of India's rapid development into modernity in relationship to the numbers of people living in poverty. She is quite interested in human rights issues and volunteering in a program that seeks to empower woman.

Lady Doak College, Madurai, India

Kelly Lloyd  graduated in May 2008 with majors in African-American Studies and Studio Art (Honors) and a minor in Environmental Studies.  She is currently a volunteer for Advocates for Environmental Human Rights in Washington, D.C.  As an undergraduate, Kelly was an Andrew Mellon Library Fellow and a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellow.  She was a Ceramics Teacher and Environmental Justice Facilitator with EXCO and was a member of OSCA, where she co-coordinated the OSCA Committee on Privilege and Oppression.  During her junior year she traveled on the New York University, University of Witwatersrand Program for a semester abroad to Johannesburg, South Africa.  She also served as Design Editor for OC's Black Literary Magazine (NOMMO) and as a Teaching Assistant in the Studio Art Department.  She is particularly interested in pursuing the connections between India and Africa with regard to movements of social justice and identity and community formation. 

INDONESIA

Brittany Jordan has been selected for the fellowship at Gadjah Mada University and Patrick Hung and Sarah Willis for the fellowships at Syiah Kuala University.

Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Brittany Jordan will graduate in May 2009 with a Double Degree - a BA in History from the College and BM in Music History from the Conservatory.   She spent her spring semester of her junior year in Hyderabad, India with the CIEE Study Abroad Program.   She has served as Advertising Manager for The Oberlin Review, is Secretary of the Oberlin Musicologist Society, is a member of the Collegium Musicum and OSCA, and has worked extensively with World Artists Experiences, a non-profit organization that uses music and performing arts to bridge cultural differences. She had some experience teaching as an English tutor during her time in Hyderabad and has been a violin teacher. She is extremely interested in the rich fine arts and music offered in Yogyakarta and is especially looking forward to her experiences in the Center for Religious and Cross Cultural Studies.

Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Patrick Hung will graduate in May 2009 with majors in English and East Asian Studies with a China concentration.  He hopes to pursue graduate studies in comparative literature and a career in education and journalism.  He serves as an Illustrator for Wilder Voice , a student magazine, and was a staff writer for the Oberlin Review.  He was an active member of OSCA, has been an ESL tutor for students from China and served as Secretary of the Asian American Alliance. He is interested in helping the residents of Aceh rebuild and recover the community after the devastation of the tsunami in 2004 and beginning Arabic language studies in Indonesia.

Sarah Willis graduated from Oberlin's Conservatory of Music in May 2006 with a major in Classical Trombone Performance.   She is currently enrolled in a Master's Program at Queens College-CUNY in Musicology (Music History). She will complete this program in May 2009.   She works part-time as Reserve Circulation Assistant in the Queen's College Library and as a Childcare Provider.   She recently volunteered for the Obama presidential campaign and has been volunteering to teach low-scoring high school students how to prep for the SAT.   She also plays in various ensembles and orchestras in the New York area. At Oberlin, she worked in the Orchestra Library and was a member of the stage crew for Conservatory Concert Productions. She is interested in Indonesia because of the arts community and also because of her interest in non-governmental organizations.