Student receives first Coverdell Fellowship
April 11, 2012
The fellowship is awarded through the the Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development. It provides funding for indigenous studies doctoral student Jacqueline Rahm’s dissertation work. Rahm is working on a project to help define Alaska Native peoples’ perceptions of health and wellness. In addition, her work aims to explore ways to integrate those perceptions into the health care system.
Rahm volunteered as a teacher, through the Peace Corps, in Nepal from 1987-1989. After she received her master’s degree in community psychology UAF in 1995, Rahm returned to Nepal to research indigenous psychologies and traditional healing.
“My time in Nepal awakened something I carry forward: a vision for a peaceful, healthful and sustainable world,” said Rahm.
Paul Coverdell was a U.S. Senator from Georgia who served as Peace Corps director from 1989-1991 and in the U.S. Senate from 1992 until his death in 2000. The Coverdell program encourages colleges and universities to provide an annual graduate assistantship, a stipend and a tuition waiver to students who are returned Peace Corps volunteers.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is one of 69 universities that participate in the fellows program, which was created to help initiate the third intention of the Peace Corps, for volunteers to share the benefits of their experiences back in the U.S.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Jackie Rahm, 907-388-1395 or jrahm@alaska.edu.
NW/4-11-12/210-12