Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / March 20, 2013, edition 1 / Page 6
Part of Meredith College Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
CAMPUS LIFE (Hair Project Continued) Student Activist Marzi Nawrozi’s UN Presentation Rachel Prati, staff writer Kayla Mason, ’13, Tequila Reid, ’14 and Lexie Anne Stephens, ’15. Sharing snippets of stories that ranged from the everyday to the philosophic, the dancers illustrated their own “hair journeys,” and left the audience to contemplate the role of hair in their own lives. Audience members were invited to a reception in the Rotunda of Johnson Hall after the lecture. In addition to catered food, the reception provided a forum for lively discussion. For people who stayed later, there was a surprise flash mob organized by Meredith dance majors. Professor Shapiro is internationally known for her work in dance educa tion, having been published in various countries. “Because my scholarly work is well known internationally in the field of dance education, I have had the opportunity to share my work in places such as South Africa, Brazil, Ireland, Greece, Australia, and New Zealand,” Shapiro described. Other dances Shapiro has choreographed at Meredith include “Eating, Dying to be Thin” and “Body Parts.” Shapiro told the Herald, “I have also used themes drawing upon the ways women are si lenced or silence themselves, as well as themes that delved into how we relate to those who are different than our selves.” Professor Shapiro felt honored to present the Faculty Distinguished Lecture, a Meredith College annual tradition that started with Norma Rose in 1964 and aims to showcase the scholarly achievements of individual faculty members. In an effort to help better trans late the relevance of the liberal arts, this year the Herald staff is conducting faculty interviews across campus. Focusing on the humanities in the fall and the sciences in the spring, we hope to establish a dialogue between faculty and students that il lustrates how knowledge in all fields is useful in the ‘^eal world. ” Our goal is to foster an interdisciplinary dialogics that puts all aspects of a liberal arts education in dialogue, continu ally irforming and ipfluencing each other. This installment in the series is an interview with Dr. Fronde Cyffhey by Sarah Haseeb. -Amy Hruby, Editor in Chief Q: What is your background in your field? A: I have a M.S. in Biology from the University of Louisville and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in Entomology (insects). At the Univer Senior Marzia Nawrozi has had a very busy year. While volunteering with the local women’s organizations WomenNC, she has also been pre paring to present her research to the United Nations at their Commission on the Status of Women, an annual conference which unites thousands of government representatives, nonprofit workers and activists from all around the world. “I came to New York City with my WomenNC team on Saturday March 2nd, 2013. We presented our re search on the 4th. Every day we go to the CSW events, we listen to others’ presentations and we compare it with what we learned from our research in North Carolina.” Nawrozi’s locally gathered research uncovered, as News and Observer reporter Sarah Barr described, “the barriers [that] immigrant and refugee women can face when they are the victims of violence, such as not know ing English, having inadequate access to transportation, and not understand ing the legal system.” She used her experience as a volunteer for Youth for Understanding, WomenNC, and the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor to organize her research and form her UN presentation. It featured women’s organizations InterAct and Kiran as models of effective strategies to solve women’s problems in North Carolina. For her research, Nawrozi chose to uncover information about violence against immigrant and refugee women because, as she said, “it is a very im portant issue facing our world today, and it is very personal to me and af fected my family and community.” Nawrozi discovered many things about these women through her re search: “My research focused on who immigrant and refugee women are and why they leave their countries, places that they face violence such as on the way, reftigee camps and their desti nation countries. My research also discussed the barriers that prevent im migrant and refugee women to ask for help as well as some solutions.” When asked what interested her in the women’s issues which were discussed at the Commission on the Status of Women, Nawrozi shared her personal story along with some of the things she learned about in New York City: “I grew up in Afghanistan where women face many types of violence. At CSW (Commission on the Status of Women) events. I’ve heard about unbelievable facts and statistics from other regions of the worlds. For example, female genital mutilation, fistula, and marital immigrants in Taiwan, as well as situations of women in Philippines who do not have the right to divorce. This conference has taught me that eveiy single person in society is responsible to stop violence against women. I learned that with out women’s engagement in society, politics and economy we cannot have a safe and developed world. I learned that cultures and traditions are two of the major causes of violence against women.” As an up-and-coming women’s DIALOGICS sity of Louisville I studied the effects of an oil pipeline break that spilled crude oil into a creek in Kentucky. I looked at the invertebrate population recovery and constructed computer models. At the University of Georgia I focused on the effects of clearcutting surrounding watersheds on stream invertebrates. My current research focuses on phar maceuticals and personal care products in freshwater and their effects on the Asiatic clam. Q: How did you develop an interest in the area of aquatic invertebrate ecology and what that subject over everything else? A: I was always interested in freshwater issues, including availability and pollu tion. I got involved with invertebrates while working on my Master’s degree. We had a visiting professor from Cor nell who encouraged me to work with insects. From there I found a professor at the University of Georgia who was doing research with freshwater inverte brate communities and got a position in his laboratory. activist, Nawrozi had the experience of a lifetime during this year’s Commission on the Status of Women. Nawrozi stated, “sitting next to wom en who have been working for women’s rights for years made me feel very spe cial. Listening to their stories motivated me to be more active for women’s human rights. Another great opportunity and experience that I had was making con nections with women all over the world. Their smiling faces, enthusiasm, pa tience and tireless efforts give me hope and courage for a better future. I feel like I am connected to this global movement for injustice against women. Participat ing in different events as a speaker and discussion contributor has given me the opportunity not only to share my Wom enNC fellowship research, but to talk about my home country Afghanistan.” When asked how she plans to share her experience in New York City with women in North Carolina, Nawrozi said she plans to tell her story locally, “this program is local to global and global to local. Now that we are back from the UNCSW, we will give presentations in North Carolina about what we learned and achieved. My other fellow fellows and I are going to give one presentation on the 27 of March at Meredith College.” After her graduation in May, Nawrozi plans to move to Washington D.C. Her goal is to join one of the organizations that are working for women’s rights in Afghanistan. Q: Why did you choose to teach at Meredith? A: When I first moved to Raleigh, I taught at NCSU. There I was teaching classes of 210 students. When I got the chance to come teach at Meredith I found I preferred the smaller class size and atmosphere. I attended a small lib eral arts college and believe in this type of educational system for undergradu ate education. Q: Are there any other subjects that you like other than biology? A: I enjoy math and modeling. While working on my Masters I started tak ing math classes on the side (just for something different and fun) at the Engineering school and continued until I left for the Ph.D. position. Q: What are your hobbies? A: I like hiking. I also enjoy reading when I can get a large block of time. Once I start a book I have trouble put ting off finishing it. Q: What do you like to do in your spare time? A: My husband and I like to cook and look for different recipes to try. I also do a lot of crossword puzzles to relax. Q: What is something that you have done that you are proud of, relating to your field? A: I was proud to have my research students invited to an international s)miposium on pharmaceuticals and personal care products in freshwater. The symposium was held at RTI in the Research Triangle Park (so we could easily attend). The Meredith Col lege students were the only undergrad uates invited to attend and participate. They functioned as scribes in various sessions and put together PowerPoint presentations to summarize meeting outcomes for the final wrap-up ses sion. I was very proud of how our stu dents stood up to the task when all the other scribes were doctoral students.
Meredith College Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 20, 2013, edition 1
6
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75