Learning at Middlebury is not restricted to the classroom and laboratory. Every aspect of campus life is designed to create an environment that encourages students to experiment and take intellectual risks. The College is committed to enhancing the constellation of programs, facilities, and technological resources required to create and maintain that environment. To that end, Middlebury recently launched the Project on Creativity and Innovation in the Liberal Arts to foster creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial experimentation outside the classroom.
“I attend about two lectures a week—not only for the
information the speaker has to offer, but to learn how he or she advocates
for a position. I think public speaking is one of the most important
qualities a person needs to develop at college if you really want to
mobilize people. I always leave a lecture thinking about the message
and what the speaker did to get it across.”
— Lemar Kurt-Haydn Clarke ’08
Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica
Major: International Politics and Economics
Mentor: Nadia Horning, assistant professor of political science
“I’ve had three classes with her and presented with her at the College’s research symposium. She’s a stickler for good writing, which was my greatest difficulty. She met with me, helped me through the entire process, and showed me the writing tools she uses herself. It was great finally to get an “A” on one of her papers.”
Making Globalization Work, by Joseph E. Stiglitz Stiglitz illustrates how trade agreements, intellectual property rights, foreign investment, and multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank favor developed countries. Stiglitz proposes solutions to balance the unequal playing field so that globalization works for all.
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, by Jeffrey D. Sachs Sachs’s book, which mirrors Stiglitz’s somewhat, illustrates the diverse expressions of poverty in different world regions and details a set of steps that could be taken to make poverty a solvable issue.
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins Perkins’s book walks us through the journey of an economist consulting with multinational organizations and international financial institutions. Perkins shows how intervention into foreign countries by multinational corporations is profit-motivated and self-seeking, often leading to poorer nations’ continued dependence.
Life and Debt, directed by Stephanie Black A documentary about Jamaica’s relationship with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Life and Debt shows those organizations’ exploitation of Jamaica’s economy. It reveals the stipulations imposed on Jamaica that have harmed its economy and its people.
Lemar Kurt-Haydn Clarke ’08 loves politics and economics—high-stakes concerns in his home country of Jamaica. Recent statistics show about 17 percent of the Jamaican population living at or below the poverty line, conditions that can bring politics to a flashpoint.
Jamaica
in Brief
- Population: 2,660,000 (2005 est.)
- Currency: Jamaican dollar (as of July 2008 71.50 JMD = 1 USD)
- Slavery formally abolished: 1834
- Government: Independence from Britain achieved in 1962. Government is a parliamentary democracy.
- Main political parties: the People's National Party and Jamaica Labor Party
- Current prime minister: Bruce Golding, Jamaica Labor Party
- Major social concerns: Poverty and crime
- Gross domestic product per person: $3,658 (2005 est.)
- Major economic sectors: agriculture, mining, manufacturing, tourism, and financial and insurance services.
- Energy sources: Petroleum, 100% imported
“Jamaica is known for partisan, violent elections,” Lemar notes. “Violence can surge 50 percent higher then.”
Lemar’s ambition is to return to Jamaica after he completes his education and to try to improve conditions there as a political leader. That explains his choice of a major: international politics and economics.
Although
his academic schedule has been intense, Lemar says that some of his
key Middlebury experiences took place outside of the classroom, working
with student organizations. “At first I thought, ‘I’m
an international student, so my impact is limited,’” he
recalls, but his mentor, Assistant Professor of Political Science Nadia
Horning, encouraged him to think otherwise.
Lemar chaired the Ross Commons Council and, after returning from a fall semester in Mexico, joined with three other students in organizing Synergy, an off-campus retreat for 40 leaders of student organizations. “Most of the student leaders assumed they knew what the other organizations were about, but when they read the mission statements of the other groups, they discovered new depth and commonality,” he explain
One
result of the Synergy retreat is a greater interest in combining the
energy and resources of different groups to pursue common interests.
For example, a number of organizations recently took part in a campus-wide
fundraiser to supply African households with mosquito nets. “We
hope we can save some of the 3,000 children who die every day of malaria,” says
Lemar.
Last year, visiting lecturer Van Jones opened Lemar’s eyes to issues of environmental justice. “Jones showed how important it is that burgeoning ‘green’ industries include people of color,” he recalls. To gain experience in “green” and international financial markets, Lemar planned to work for a Wall Street firm after graduation. That could be a good launching pad for a political career. After all, he observes with a smile, “Five of the last six Jamaican prime ministers were ministers of finance.”
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