Passionate about foreign policy, International Studies major Rachel Park ’21 landed an internship with the Borgen Project, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating hunger and poverty around the world. As an international affairs intern, Park supported national campaigns to make global poverty a focus of U.S. foreign affairs. 

In addition to networking with leaders at the Human Rights Education Institute, Park met with the offices of Pennsylvania Representative Brendan Boyle and Idaho’s Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo to discuss the Food for Peace Modernization Act, which would help the United States Agency for International Development reallocate overhead costs to feed nine million more people. 

Park also spearheaded a “One Mile Campaign,” spreading the Borgen Project’s message on-foot in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The experience prompted Park to select classes at Arcadia geared toward community advocacy, including Associate Professor of Historical and Political Studies Dr. Hilary Parsons Dick’s “Migration Politics” course. 

“[My classes] have shown me the value of community-based research and grassroots campaigning, specifically with marginalized peoples I hope to work with,” said Park, who has since been appointed Dr. Parsons Dick’s research assistant for a project supported by The Frank and Evelyn Steinbrucker Endowed Chair. 

In her new role, Park will help Dr. Parsons Dick examine President Donald Trump’s immigration discourse and conduct an ethnographic study of the U.S. Immigration Policy’s effect on Latin American migrants in Philadelphia. 

The Steinbrucker Chair is held for two years by a faculty member who has a distinguished record of teaching, professional achievements, and service to the University. Projects must fulfill one or more elements of Arcadia’s mission by enhancing curriculum, pedagogy, and/or student-faculty engagement.