Topic: Community Engagement
Alum earns Vichrow Award for anthropological research
Selena Jorgensen ‘08 has been awarded the Rudolph Virchow Award for best undergraduate paper, given annually by the Society for Medical Anthropology. The award recognizes works that are deemed to reflect, extend or advance critical perspectives in medical anthropology. Jorgensen, a sociology/anthropology major, is now studying at Harvard Medical School.
In her senior thesis, The Little Clinic that Could: Neoliberalism, Structural Violence, and Community Resistance in Portland, Oregon, Jorgensen details the socio-economic effects of a local health clinic struggling to serve the uninsured. She writes:
“Unable to obtain sustainable funding, the clinic is in danger of being absorbed into the very system its directors had previously resisted. It must adopt bureaucratic policies to qualify for federal funding, which concomitantly entails accepting notions about patient prioritization that prevent the most vulnerable community members from accessing health care. Following the transition of this community clinic into a public entity reveals how the guidelines under which federal clinics function are in opposition to the purpose for which they are created and funded. If these federally funded clinics are unable to provide quality care for the uninsured, then what are they structured to do? How do these federal clinics represent political agendas and long‐standing historical processes which continue to reproduce inequality and enforce normalized standards upon vulnerable patient populations?”
Slideshow: Pamplin Society welcomes seven new members
The Pamplin Society of Fellows formally inducted seven new members in a ceremony on October 20th. This year’s inductees (Rebecca Fitch, Riley Johnson, Dieterich Lawson, Emily Nguyen, Lili Pill-Kahan, Leah Scott-Zechlin, and Alex Simon) joined the ranks of 21 students, more than 70 alumni, and four endowed professors. Membership is extended to seven students each year as they begin their second year at the College.
Members of the Society demonstrate the characteristics outlined by Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, the Society’s founder: an exceptional blend of intellectual talent, dedication to the welfare of one’s community, the habit of physical fitness, and personal integrity. The Society includes members with a diversity of achievements, talents, majors and geographic representation.
The student Fellows determine, plan, and implement a number of programs that the Society sponsors to enhance the co-curricular educational environment of the College. Upon graduation from Lewis & Clark, fellows maintain their membership for life.
Law Student Nick Kahl wins District 49 House race
Law student Nick Kahl attributes his win in the District 49 House race to voter outreach. Kahl, who took in 56% of the votes against his opponent John Nelsen, was not very surprised with his victory: “We ran an aggressive grassroots campaign. I’ve knocked on, I’d say, 14,000 doors. The amount of voter outreach – that was the difference-maker.” Although Kahl was pleased with his win, he stresses that he wants to make a difference in his community first and foremost by revitalizing the sense of pride in Rockwood that he was so used to as a child growing up.
The Gresham Outlook (Gresham, Ore.) Kahl ready to fight for East County in Salem
Lewis & Clark faculty share election expertise
Throughout the election season, members of the Lewis & Clark faculty offered their expert analyses of various political races. Weighing issues of race, culture, and history, faculty members have studied the presidential race, as well as congressional races and ballot measures.
Explore this interactive map to learn more about Lewis & Clark faculty members’ contributions to the national political discourse in various media outlets throughout the spring, summer, and fall. The map provides links to full-text versions of more than 30 articles citing Lewis & Clark faculty experts that appeared in newspapers from Detroit to Denver, Washington, D.C. to Seattle, and throughout the Portland metro area.
Recent updates include:
Robert Klonoff, dean of the law school, in the National Law Journal, November 6
Cynthia Cosgrave, teacher education instructor, in Beaverton Valley Times, October 23
Faculty members featured:
*John Callahan, Morgan S. Odell professor of humanities
*Cynthia Cosgrave, teacher education instructor
*Robert Eisinger, associate professor of political science
*Alejandra Favela, assistant professor of education
*Steven Hunt, professor of communication
*James Huffman, Erskine Wood Sr. professor of law
*Robert Klonoff, dean of the law school
*Robert Miller, professor of law
Callahan and Eisinger discuss the importance youth participation has on politics
John Callahan, Morgan Odell Professor of Humanities, and Robert Eisinger, associate professor of political science, recently spoke with the Seattle Post Intelligencer about the exciting injection of youth participation in Oregon politics this election season.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, Wash.) Obama gets young people back in the race
Four students win Projects for Peace grant
Lewis & Clark students Claire Battaglia ‘10, Jimmie Cotton ‘08, Casey Nelson ‘08, and Betto van Waarden ‘10 won the 2008 Projects for Peace competition with a proposal titled “Cultivating Peace: Empowering the Orphaned Children of Criamar in Ceilandia, Brazil.” Projects for Peace is an initiative sponsored to honor the 100th birthday of Mrs. Kathryn Wasserman Davis. Recipients receive $10,000 grants. Read more here.
Law students honored for pro bono work
The law school made its tenth annual presentation of the Pro Bono Honors Awards and the seventh annual presentation of the Community Service Honors Awards. Twenty-five percent of the law school’s student body received an award this year, and law school students reported 8,990 hours of pro bono work for the 2007-08 academic year—the equivalent of one person working full-time for four and a half years. Read more here.


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