Jennifer A. Keahey
IDSC/M.A. '06

1. Please describe your present professional position? Please include the URL of your organization.

I am a PhD student in Sociology at Colorado State University, where I work as a Research Assistant for the Center for Fair and Alternative Trade Studies (CFATS). I am organizing my dissertation topic around Fair Trade women's organizations in West Africa.

URLS
www.colostate.edu/Depts/Sociology/cfats/index.html
www.colostate.edu/Depts/Sociology/grad.html

2. What do you find satisfying about your position?

That I am able to work closely with a core group of faculty who are focused on Fair Trade and globalization issues.

3. How did the program at Clark University help to prepare you?

Clark gave me a strong grounding in development theories and qualitative research methods. It also prepared me for writing grants and doing research in the field.

4. Why should prospective students enroll in the program at Clark University?

The large international student body at Clark was wonderful. It is a tremendous learning experience to sit in a classroom with people from all over the world, each of whom bring their own standpoint to the discussion.

5. Did you have an internship as part of your Clark education? If so, how did it help to connect you to your current career?

Yes. I did an NGO program evaluation in Ghana, Fulbright research in Latvia, and a Fulbright/UNESCO internship in Paris as part of my Clark education. All of these helped me to gain full funding in my current program of study.

6. What was the topic of your research while at Clark University?

Organic agriculture production and market development in Latvia during the European Union accession period.