EUGENE, OR (November 21, 2013) The Freeman Foundation has announced that it will renew a $100,000 grant to support undergraduate and graduate students conducting internships in East and Southeast Asia.
The funds, administered by the UO’s Center for Asian and Pacific Studies (CAPS), provide UO students with grants of up to $6,000.
The grants allow students to choose an internship in Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, or Vietnam.
“The renewed funding we have received for this program is a direct reflection of the high standard of excellence that previous fellows have set,” said Professor Jeff Hanes, director of CAPS. “We have good reason to be proud of the impressive international engagement of our students.”
Among those UO students to have conducted an international internship is Hallie Rosner, a family and human services major, who is interested in a career in non-profit administration and international development.
She interned with Holt International in Cambodia this summer. For Rosner, her international internship was a humbling and robust training experience.
“Learning about Cambodian culture and the poverty that so many families are experiencing was heartbreaking. However, it made me realize that I often focus on material things, when what really matters is my relationship with other people” said Rosner. “Through my internship I was also able to do administrative tasks such as writing a funding proposal, redesign my internship's website and work with clients that I would have never been able to do in the U.S.”
Architecture major Tina Wong is Freeman Fellowship recipient who interned in Xian Dai Architectural Design Company in Shanghai, China this past summer. Wong is conducting research on housing design in China and hopes to eventually find work there as a designer.
She was impressed by the diversity of work done by Xian Dai and how cultural context influences solutions and design choices.
“Sometimes architectural solutions that are appropriate for buildings in the U.S. may not necessarily work in China or may be more effective than we previously realized. It was a valuable learning process for both me and my colleagues because this opened up new ways of thinking about design and generating creative ideas,” explained Wong.
Last year CAPS awarded 17 grants for UO students seeking an international internship in Asia. Vice Provost for International Affairs Dennis Galvan hopes the program increases in visibility as a key institutional resource.
“The partnership between CAPS and the Freeman Foundation gives UO students hands-on international work experience—the kind of practical training that makes UO grads increasingly competitive in the globalized job market,” said Galvan. “CAPS leads the way in innovative means to enrich the student experience, a core mission of the Global Studies Institute, of which CAPS is an integral part.”
IE3 Global Internships offers UO students many options to intern abroad and a total of 29 internships in East and Southeast Asia, including internships with Elephant Nature Foundation in Thailand, Shure University in Japan, Women’s Aid Organization in Malaysia, and Holt International in Cambodia.
To be considered for a Freeman Internship Fellowship, candidates must submit a completed application by the following deadlines: December 1, 2013, February 1, 2014 and April 1, 2014.
Find the right international internship at IE3 Global Internships.
To speak with an advisor about an IE3 Global Internship and the Freeman Internship Fellowships, please visit Study Abroad Programs in 333 Oregon Hall.
About the Freeman Foundation
The Freeman Foundation's major objectives include strengthening the bonds of friendship between the United States and countries of East and Southeast Asia. Through education and educational exchanges, the Foundation hopes to develop a greater appreciation of Asian cultures, histories and economies in the United States and a better understanding of the American people and of American institutions and purposes by people of Asia.
About UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies
The Center for Asian and Pacific Studies is a research and outreach center devoted to promoting understanding of the Asia-Pacific region. It is one of seven component units in the Global Studies Institute in the Office of International Affairs. Its primary aim is to foster collaborative and individual research engaging Asia-interested scholars from the UO, the nation, and around the world. The Center is distinctive in terms of its geographic scope with programmatic focus on East Asia, South East Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific Islands.
About IE3 Global Internships
IE3 Global Internships provides opportunities for students to grow personally, professionally and cross-culturally. Students integrate their academic experience into professional practice through high quality, affordable and rigorous international internships that help them develop the global competencies employers seek: intercultural competence, adaptability, creativity, global awareness, stewardship and job skills. To date IE3 Global Internships has placed more than 2,000 interns in over 97 countries worldwide.
Chakris Kussalanant
Director of Marketing and Communications
Office of International Affairs