Mandy Rispoli leads projects in western Kenya to enhance care access for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Through a community-based approach, Rispoli collaborates with families and stakeholders to co-create solutions tailored to local needs. Her experiences in Kenya also inform her work in Charlottesville, highlighting shared challenges encountered by caregivers and educators across different cultural contexts.
Two University of Virginia medical students were awarded the Kean Travel Fellowship by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene to support their work in tropical medicine and hygiene in the Global South. The award, set in 1998, allowed the students to travel to Tanzania to work on global health projects in the country supporting research in childhood diarrhea, undernutrition, and tuberculosis.
Activists from all over the world converged at the University of Virginia last week to learn from each other in a three-day event titled People Power Academy. UVA Global spoke to Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Democratic Futures Fellow Félix Maradiaga about his work protecting religious freedom in Nicaragua.
The Newcomb Hall Ballroom was bustling with over 300 student presenters as Global Studies celebrated Global Futures: A Global Studies Symposium last week. Students shared research on environmental sustainability and conservation; public health; global politics and economics; justice, identity and social movements; technology, surveillance and ethics; and engaging the global in Virginia.
Pieter Giliomee is graduating with M.S. in the McIntire School of Commerce this year. In a conversation with UVA Global, he shares his international background, his reasons for choosing UVA, and his plans for the future.
The government of Haiti has collapsed, armed gangs have de facto control of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and foreigners are being evacuated as the country continues its slide into chaos. Robert Fatton Jr., the Ambassador Henry J. Taylor and Mrs. Marion R.
South Africa was a major focus for Global Affairs this month with the visit of a pan-University delegation to Cape Town to explore new engagement opportunities, the appointment of a new Director for Global Initiatives who is exploring options for establishing a University office there, and the announcement of a major philanthropic gift that, when complete, will help support need based scholarships for at least 20 undergraduates to study there each year.
Misha Panda is a third-year student at UVA majoring in anthropology with a concentration in medical anthropology, care, and ethics along with a minor in biology. She is drawn to global health and health equity and leads the Doctors Without Borders club at the University. Panda encourages other students to immerse themselves in experiential learning opportunities and adds that community engagement fuels her engagement both within and beyond the university.
The University of Virginia’s Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs has appointed Tina Mangieri as the inaugural Director of Global Initiatives, a post she assumed on March 4. She shares more about her work and her priorities as she starts this position.
Nearly half the world’s population will vote in major elections this year, casting ballots in at least 70 countries for every level of government, from localities to national parliaments and presidential offices. But not all elections are created equal, or fair.
