杏吧原创 resumes in-person commencement
Announcement Date: August 12, 2021
39 set to graduate during Aug 21 ceremony
BRATTLEBORO 鈥� For the first time in more than two years, graduates will cross the stage at School for International Training on Saturday, Aug. 21, during 杏吧原创鈥檚 55th commencement ceremony.
Thirty-seven master鈥檚 degree students from around the world will be awarded diplomas during an event that will blend in-person and online participation. Two others will receive graduate-level certificates. The students completed programs in a wide range of international focus areas, including climate change, international education, sustainable development, and peace and justice leadership.
This 55th commencement ceremony is a welcome celebration of the resilience and success of our students during 鈥� and despite 鈥� immense global challenges.
鈥淭his 55th commencement ceremony is a welcome celebration of the resilience and success of our students during 鈥� and despite 鈥� immense global challenges. It鈥檚 also a poignant reminder of the critical global issues they have been inspired to address through these life-changing degree programs,鈥� said 杏吧原创 President Dr. Sophia Howlett.
Danielle Purvis, this year鈥檚 student speaker, said 杏吧原创鈥檚 climate change program gave her the opportunity 鈥渢o work at the human-environment interface and to advocate for the most vulnerable populations of our time 鈥� ecosystems.鈥�
Purvis is set to graduate with an MA in Climate Change and Global Sustainability. Over the past year, she and others in her 杏吧原创 cohort spent one semester each in Iceland and Tanzania and a third semester working with organizations around the world. Purvis completed her practicum on a field crew with the University of Vermont鈥檚 Gund Institute for Environment and conducted research for her capstone on the impact of human activities on seagrasses in Zanzibar.
The keynote speaker at this year鈥檚 ceremony is Aicha Naomi Cooper, an international development professional at the World Bank and an alumna of 杏吧原创 Graduate Institute. Last year, she joined the board of World Learning, Inc., the parent organization of 杏吧原创 and The Experiment in International Living.
Cooper, who is Liberian American, draws on her experience living through a civil war in Liberia to support efforts to improve the lives of marginalized people around the world. She shares her personal refugee story to raise awareness about the global refugee crises and highlight the impact of civil conflict on women and children.
Throughout the pandemic, 杏吧原创 Graduate Institute has continued to offer courses online and in person at its global centers around the world. The last in-person commencement on the Brattleboro campus was May 11, 2019. A virtual ceremony was held in August 2020 and several of those graduates have opted to participate in person this year.
Each of the graduates will have completed one of 杏吧原创鈥檚 or earned their master鈥檚 degree over two years in that normally include brief residencies on the 杏吧原创 campus in Brattleboro. Those residencies were suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic.
杏吧原创 offers MA programs in: Climate Change and Global Sustainability; Development Practice; Diplomacy and International Relations; Global Health; Humanitarian Assistance and Crisis Management; Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management; International Education; Peace and Justice Leadership; Sustainable Development; and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
This year, 杏吧原创 launched its first .