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Meet Our Pathway and Center Students

Connections takes the traditional academic major and makes it even more relevant by linking it to a personally meaningful Pathway or interdisciplinary study, off-campus learning, guaranteed internships and other professional development.

Students intentionally weave these components together around a theme of their own choosing through one of 13 Integrative Pathways or five Centers for Interdisciplinary Scholarship. With this integrated approach, students connect their education to their interests and career goals.

Connections ensures every student graduates with the integrative thinking, problem-solving and leadership skills necessary for a meaningful life and career.

Meet some of our Pathway and Center students:

Connections colored blocks — CONNECTIONARY

A how-to guide for making Connections at Connecticut College

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Hanna Bobrowicz '20

Peace and Conflict Pathway

Hanna is passionate about theater, social justice and history. The Peace and Conflict Pathway allowed her to combine all of her interests into her animating question: Do instances of performance initiate social change? This past spring, she studied the Irish and Scottish resistance movements at the University of Edinburgh, where she also joined a theater club. This summer, the history major and theater minor served as a communications intern for Pacific Atrocities Education, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of the atrocities that occurred in the Pacific Theater during World War II. "I worked to integrate elements of performance into Instagram marketing," Hanna said of her internship. "This included investigating current issues, connecting them to the past and creating content that could be posted on social media. We got a lot of positive responses, and this demonstrates that instances of performances, such as videos and visual content, can be an effective way to inform the public about important issues." In her senior year, Hanna plans to create a performance piece inspired by her honors thesis on social movements in Ireland.

Margaret Davey ’20

Bodies/Embodiment Pathway

After taking courses on the psychology of sleep and the psychology of women, Margaret discovered that she is fascinated by the many ways technology influences different parts of our lives. In the Bodies/Embodiment Pathway, she is learning about everything from the portrayal of female athletes in the sporting world to fashion’s effect on body image throughout history. This led her to her animating question: What are the ways in which the body is influenced by technology? Last spring, she studied abroad in Copenhagen, where she took a course on cyberpsychology, interacted with a host family and used her interest in squash to connect with local residents to get a better sense of their views on technology’s impact on society, sports and the body. This summer, Margaret interned with the Boston-based market research company C_Space, where she worked on ways to use a survey mobile app to get different age groups to best answer questions to get the most effective information. A psychology major and sociology minor, Margaret is devising a senior thesis on the way certain advertisements can be more or less effective on evolving attention.

Cameron Segal ’20

Cities and Schools Pathway

Cameron, an American studies major who was inspired to pursue a teaching certificate by professor Lauren Anderson, joined the Cities and Schools Pathway because he hopes to teach at an independent school after graduation. He is also a hockey player who has, at times, been made to feel like he didn’t fit in with his teammates because of his olive complexion. After a black hockey player for the Washington Capitals was taunted by Chicago Blackhawk fans chanting “Basketball,” Cameron decided his animating question would be: Why is hockey considered a ‘white’ sport? After considerable research, Cameron developed a Learn to Skate Program to introduce Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School students who have recently immigrated to the United States to the sport of ice hockey. Cameron worked with the Dayton Arena rink manager, his club hockey team, the figure skating team, Bennie Dover teacher Rocio Tinoco ’17, the Connecticut College Education Department and Residential Education Fellows students to launch the program. This summer, he was a faculty intern at Loomis Chaffee's Summer Program, where he served as a teacher assistant, coach and residential adviser for students in grades 7 through 12.

Avery Gobbo ’20

Entrepreneurship Pathway

Avery, an economics major and mathematics minor, is passionate about the environment, personal health and nutrition. He joined the Entrepreneurship Pathway hoping to graduate with the skills to start and sustain his own business. Avery's varied interests inspired his animating question: Is there an opportunity in the active outdoors, healthy lifestyle industry to either innovate or invest in products and companies that strive to give back to the environment and/or foster sustainability in their practices? Avery spent last summer working at Kind Snacks, a health food company that prides itself on giving back to the community. The experience allowed him to see firsthand how companies can succeed economically while also having a positive social benefit. This past summer, he again worked at Kind and also joined on with Mill St. Brewery, a Canadian beer company that focuses on environmental and social sustainability.

Oliver M. Holmes ’20

Eye of the Mind Pathway

An aspiring doctor on the pre-health track, Oliver is interested in the ways in which a liberal education can enrich the field of medicine. His animating question is: What is the distinction between professional and other courses? More specifically, what does a doctor need to know generally and for psychiatry? Oliver loved his Eye of the Mind thematic inquiry course, which he describes as dozens of courses in one. “From philosophy to astronomy, I felt as if I was receiving a very multi-faceted and well-thought through series of courses, all in the span of one semester,” he said. Oliver, a psychology major and biology minor, volunteered last summer in the Emergency Department at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland. This past summer, he returned to AAMC to intern for the hospital's mental health coordinator, observing the mental health unit and working closely alongside staff to understand how the mental health system works. He also continued his work with the Emergency Department, examining the ways in which his liberal education helps him think critically in a medical setting.

Viangely (Vivi) Asencio ’20

Global Capitalism Pathway

Vivi, a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, says the Global Capitalism Pathway allows her to fully integrate her three majors—government, Italian studies and sociology—and apply what she has learned to issues in her communities. Her animating question is: How do subsidized housing programs perpetuate the culture of poverty? Vivi volunteered at the New London Homeless Hospitality Center and interned at the same facility to get a better understanding of how various systems work for and against those experiencing homelessness. She studied abroad in Florence, Italy, and is completing a comparative case study on the subsidized housing in the communities of New London, Connecticut, and Miami, Florida. This past summer, she was a research fellow at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where she conducted additional research about subsidized housing programs.

Sharon Van Meter ’20

Power and Knowledge Pathway

It all started with a theater prop: For a performance in the musical “The Cradle Will Rock,” Sharon made a protest sign—inspired by a quote by Maximilien Robespierre—on which she wrote, “Knowledge is Power.” A year later she joined the Pathway with almost the same name. Her interest in theater and media, combined with a desire to understand what makes us who we are (which she regularly explores as a history major and religious studies minor) led her to her animating question: What role do corporations play in forming our concepts of childhood well-being? Last spring, she studied at Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she took a Broadcast Analysis class about the media’s role in producing knowledge. Currently, Sharon is studying how Times Square's transformation into a site associated with family friendly entertainment and well-being is associated with the roles that gender performance and class play in the entertainment it provides. Outside of the classroom, Sharon explores the production of narratives through her involvement in Wig & Candle, Conn's student-run theater organization, and The College Voice, Conn's student newspaper. She hopes to translate these interests into a rewarding career in publishing, museum work or education.

Ted Kasper ’19

Public Health Pathway

Ted has always been interested in health care. He came to Conn thinking he wanted to be a doctor, but quickly discovered he had more of a knack for public policy than chemistry and decided to major in government. He joined the Public Health Pathway and discovered a passion for health care administration. Inspired by guest lecturer Dr. Michael Wagner ’81, then-CEO of Tufts Medical Center, Ted began to research his animating question: How does a multibillion-dollar healthcare company make decisions about race, privilege, access and socio-economic status? He completed an internship in business marketing and development with Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Communities Division, where he got a firsthand look at hospital research, patient data analytics and health care policy. After learning that simple tooth pain is one of the top five reasons patients go to the emergency room in Baltimore city, Ted completed a semester-long senior project examining access to dental care for underprivileged populations and its impact on health systems and hospitals. This fall, Ted is pursuing a master's degree in healthcare administration from Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies.

Marissa Domantay ’20

Social Justice and Sustainability Pathway

Marissa’s interest in the representation of diverse stories and bodies in media led her to join the Social Justice and Sustainability Pathway. A Posse Scholar who founded and chaired the South and Southeast Asian Alliance at Conn, Marissa drew on her own experiences for her animating question: What do the experiences of intersectionalized bodies in higher education look like and how can people—incoming students, undergraduates and administrators—learn from these experiences? “I reflected on my preparedness in transitioning to college and realized that a lot of booklets and guides on the subject do not consider intersectionality,” she says. Last spring, Marissa, an art major and mathematics minor, studied abroad in Ireland, taking courses on media studies and different platforms for storytelling. In her free time, she also conducts research in the field of Filipino-American studies. “As a Filipina, I am passionate about learning my own history and how that history shaped my experiences today,” she says. After graduation, Marissa plans to continue pursuing her passion for representation within education and media; she is considering career paths ranging from art professor to writer and illustrator.

Saadya Chevan ’19

Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology

As a first-year student, Saadya attended two concerts at the Ammerman Center’s biennial symposium on arts and technology. He was impressed by the innovative artists and scholars in attendance and quickly decided this was a community he wanted to join. A philosophy major and music performance minor, Saadya is interested in the cross-section between art and political systems, as well as in arts journalism. After joining the Ammerman Center, he began to write music and theater reviews for The College Voice, Conn’s student newspaper, eventually serving as arts editor and managing editor. As a junior, he studied abroad in Vienna, Austria, and completed two internships there, conducting research with a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, and working as an assistant editor for the record company Paladino Media GmbH. His senior project, “Stamitz: Reimagined Concerto for Clarinet and Audience,” was a performance in the idiom of classical music where audience members influenced its outcome. He performed the piece as part of his Music Department senior recital. “It’s given me the opportunity to improve my programming skills both for live performance and internetbased applications, while also allowing me to gain more performance experience.” Saadya plans to consider career opportunities in both journalism and the performing arts.

Delilah Fairclough-Stewart ’19

The Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment

Delilah wants to talk trash. Not enough people do, she argues. “Most people in the United States know that we discard a lot of trash, but they are blind to the actual amount we produce, what it consists of, where it goes, its environmental effects and its social implications,” she says. After studying abroad in France and interning with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the French and environmental studies major embarked on a two-part project to study Amazon’s use and distribution of cardboard and to conduct a waste audit of three Connecticut towns—Stonington, East Lyme and New London. By looking at both the industrial and production sides and the consumer and residential aspects of waste production, Delilah gained a much better understanding of the possibilities for long-term solutions for waste reduction and management. “I want to shed light on the hyperconsumerism and mass waste production in our society,” she says. “I plan to use this study as an explanation of human behaviors: our consumption habits and our tie to material objects, and how that has an effect on our society and natural environment.”

Rachael Lieblein-Jurbala ’19

Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy

Rachael is interested in the ways in which dance can be used to help those who have experienced trauma, and in the relationship between gender socialization and intimate partner violence. The summer after her sophomore year, the dance and sociology double major interned with the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence to develop a movement curriculum for children and teens affected by intimate partner violence. She then partnered with Gibney Dance to host a workshop at Conn about Gibney’s model for addressing sexual violence through the arts. In 2018, a politically charged dance piece Rachael choreographed, “…and I will never, ever let you down,” was performed at the National College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. For her senior integrative project, Rachael looked at the ways in which gender socialization contributes to the potential for gender-based violence. “Children constantly receive gendered messages through speech, toys, media and books, and through observation of the people around them. These messages contribute to early understandings of power and control, forming the building blocks on which we may conceive of the phenomenon of intimate partner violence in later life,” she says. Last summer, she interned with the Sasamani Foundation in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, where she had the opportunity to lead classroom discussions with secondary school students about gender and gender roles. Since graduating in May, Rachael has accepted a position as a performing arts specialist with Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where she will be teaching dance and directing performing arts productions.

Olivia Domowitz ’19

Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts

Olivia’s interest in the international community led her to study abroad in Morocco, where she learned about the country’s large migrant population. An international relations and French double major, Olivia was fascinated by the stories of Francophone-African migrants who were leaving their home countries for Europe by way of Morocco. After conducting significant research, she interned at the Fondation Orient-Occident in Rabat, Morocco, where she worked on a project with the International Organization for Migration to help migrants who were victims of abuse and trafficking. In one particular case, she was part of a team that helped an 18-year-old Nigerian woman voluntarily return to Nigeria. “Seeing this young woman from the beginning of her experience at our organization to her return helped me better understand the system of migrant aid,” Olivia says. She also conducted field research and anthropological interviews in French for her senior project, “Migration of Francophone Africans to Europe, through Morocco.” Olivia was awarded a 2019 Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to teach English and conduct research for a year in Côte d’Ivoire. Following her Fulbright fellowship, Olivia will pursue a master’s degree at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Connections

P: 860-439-2899 E: eofri@conncoll.edu

Mailing Address

Connecticut College
Fanning 206
270 Mohegan Ave.
New London, CT 06415

Contact

Libby Friedman '80
Assistant Dean of the College for Connections

Office

Fanning Hall 206