Caprill Hacker and LaShunda Hill, both members of the University Honors (UHON) Program, have been accepted to the Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute at Princeton University for the summer of 2008.
Princeton’s PPIA Institute is part of a national consortium of the top public policy and international affairs graduate schools in the country. The program seeks undergraduate students who have demonstrated a strong commitment to solving economic, political, social, and environmental problems on a national and global scale. The seven-week program includes academic coursework, seminars, and extracurricular activities designed to prepare professionals for careers in public service, with an emphasis in those areas of government related to foreign affairs. The goal of the Institute is to train future leaders for government service and other public service careers.
Caprill Hacker, pictured last year during UHON
trip to Spain.
Hacker is a senior political science major, with a concentration in International and Comparative Studies, and a second major in philosophy and minor in Spanish. She interned with The Washington Center (TWC) in the summer of 2006 where she worked for the World Sindhi Institute, a non-profit organization that promotes human rights in Pakistan through non-violent means. Hacker returned to Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2007 as an intern with the U.S. Department of State, working with asylum cases and researching human rights issues for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Hacker has just returned from Egypt, where she was enrolled since August as an exchange student in the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo. In addition to learning Arabic and studying the culture, history and politics of the Middle East, Hacker volunteered several hours each week teaching English to female Pakistani refugees.
“Based on my exposure to human rights issues, I am interested in the development of civil society programs,” Hacker said. “I plan to pursue advanced degrees in Middle East studies and public and international affairs with a Middle East focus.”
LaShunda Hill exploring the rainforest in Ghana. Hill
spent a semester at the University of Ghana during
spring 2008.
Hill is a senior pursuing an International Studies concentration in both political science and humanities, as well as a major in English. In the spring of 2007, Hill served an internship in Nashville, working with House Majority Leader Gary Odom. She followed her State internship at The Washington Center (TWC) as a summer intern with Constituency for Africa (CFA), a non-profit Africa advocacy organization in Washington D.C. Hill also worked with the African Union Ambassador to the United States to garner support for the African Union’s programming and efforts in both Africa and the United States. She received a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad and completed her spring 2008 semester at the University of Ghana in Accra. While in Ghana, Hill interned with the WEB Dubois Institute and volunteered at a local refugee camp.
Hill plans to enroll in a joint Ph.D./J.D. program following graduation and wants to pursue a career in international diplomacy and development, working to help provide infrastructure to the world’s poorest countries.
Each student is fully funded to receive room and board on Princeton’s campus, all courses and textbooks, full access to all University facilities, and travel expenses. In addition, each is awarded a $1,500 stipend for the 7-week program.
