GS student Ana-Maria Szilagyi, who is committed to a career in human rights, was selected as a 2017 Kathryn Davis for Peace Fellow. As one of just 100 recipients of this prestigious award, Szilagyi will pursue an intensive immersion program in German language at the Middlebury Language School this summer. The Kathryn Davis Fellowship provides sponsorship for individuals to receive training in foreign language and policy who have demonstrated interest in international studies, international politics and economics, peace and security studies, or conflict resolution. The Language Schools at Middlebury College are world renowned for language study that offer students complete immersion in the language to improve cultural fluency and linguistic competence.
Szilagyi applied for the fellowship to bolster her ultimate desire to work on refugee resettlement and public policy reform in Germany. In the summer of 2016, Szilagyi volunteered at a school for refugees in Turkey, offering classroom instruction for those previously unable to obtain a formal education. As a senior in the Dual BA Program between Columbia University and Sciences Po, she is pursuing a Joint Major in Economics and Philosophy, and has a long term goal of funding a pan-European NGO that advocates for refugees and disseminates practical ideas for receiving them.
“The organization I envision will help families with the practical steps they must take to register their children in school, which means helping them grapple with a host of alien cultural assumptions. The NGO will also teach local languages, easing immigrant integration and giving children every chance for success in their new learning environment.” Szilagyi said.
Born in Piatra-Neamț, Romania, and having lived in Italy and the United Kingdom prior to her enrollment, Szilagyi is representative of the internationally minded student body the program attracts. “The Dual BA Program gave me the opportunity to study at two institutions with different but complementary intellectual approaches while living in two countries with distinct political and cultural traditions,” Szilagyi said.
