College of Mount Saint Vincent Leaders in Service Travel to Vietnam and Thailand
1/7/2015
Riverdale, N.Y. – Two University of Mount Saint Vincent students are acting on their belief in a better world. In return, they are experiencing meaningful involvement with a community that genuinely needs them, and the kind of learning that comes only from doing.
While many Mount students work with leading service organizations throughout the United States, these students—Karen Cantor ’15 and Todd Gable ’15—are currently overseas, working with IPSL and other global-reach organizations to develop and promote international service-learning—a method of study that combines classroom instruction with meaningful, hands-on community service.
“The value of service learning is difficult to overstate,” says Omar Nagi, Director for the Center for Undergraduate Research and Associate Professor of Sociology. “Students apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-life situations in communities where their contribution is sorely needed. This gives them a sense of competence and efficacy in the world, teaches them how to interact with people of diverse cultures and lifestyles, and prepares them to be leaders. It’s a richly layered opportunity that our students really embrace.”
Karen Cantor, a senior nursing student in the Honors Program, is furthering the Mount’s tradition for international field research by undergraduate students. Ms. Cantor’s research is focused on the traditional use of opiates and other pain medication for terminally ill patients. She is spending a month in Hanoi, Vietnam, working with a local interpreter and host as she conducts a series of interviews with traditional herbalists who often act as primary health care providers in that country. Additionally, she will be doing site visits and interviews in local hospitals and clinics.
“My goal is to examine not only the method and form of pain medication in the traditional setting, but to also study the cultural context for administering health care,” says Ms. Cantor. While in Vietnam, she also plans to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay in Quảng Ninh Province. Her trip is sponsored by IPSL, the group’s local partner in Hanoi, the Center for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS), and the Center for Undergraduate Research at CMSV.
Todd Gable, a senior with a double major in English and teacher education, is spending seven weeks working with a system of 32 non-profit schools in Mae Sot, a district in western Thailand that shares a border with Burma. He will be working with the non-profit Community Schools Project to help design and implement curricula throughout the programs, teach English, and conduct participant observation research.
About the University of Mount Saint Vincent
Founded in 1847 by the Sisters of Charity, the University of Mount Saint Vincent offers nationally recognized liberal arts education and a select array of professional fields of study on a landmark campus overlooking the Hudson River. Committed to the education of the whole person, and enriched by the unparalleled cultural, educational and career opportunities of New York City, the College equips students with the knowledge, skills and experiences necessary for lives of achievement, professional accomplishment and leadership in the 21st century.