PLACE Student Fellows:

The PLACE Student Fellows are a pilot part of the PLACE program for the 2013-2014 year. These fellows are nominated by the Linfield Faculty and chosen by the PLACE Faculty Fellows. They collaborate with the PLACE Faculty Fellows to bring ideas, discussions, events, and speakers to campus, and function as ambassadors between these events and speakers, the students that attend, and the faculty that organizes many of these visits. Each fellow is charged with the task of creating and running an event relating to the program's theme, striving to interest the student body and inspire conversations across the disciplines at Linfield.

This year's "Legacies of War" PLACE Student Fellows are as follows:

Megan Schwab:

A junior International Relations Major, Schwab is also working towards minors in History and Gender Studies. Heavily involved as an officer of the Linfield Debate team, she has won and placed in multiple British Parliamentary Debate competitions and with her Persuasive speech in Individual Events. She traveled with select members of the team under the umbrella of the International Debate Education Assocation (IDEA) foundation to China, where she led workshops teaching debate to beginners and took second in the subsequent international debate tournament. Schwab recently took first place in the Frederick Douglass Speaking Competition on campus, and was also just appointed Co-Student Director of the Linfield Writing Center.

In addition, Schwab took first with her partner at a demonstration debate the previous year at the Salem Penitentary, where she returned this summer to teach the beginning inmate debate class. A collaborative research grant funding 10 weeks of study with advisor/professor Patrick Cottrell has filled her most recent summer days, in which she is examining issues surrounding the lack of accountability in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in countries such as Haiti. A passionate advocate for the value of the liberal arts education as well as an active engager of the community, Schwab hopes to utilize her leadership, persuasive speaking, research, and teaching skills to incite student interest in the PLACE program.

Breanna Ribeiro: 

A senior Religious Studies Major at Linfield College, Ribeiro also is seeking minors in Political Science, Sociology, and Gender Studies. She recently finished an internship at the State Capitol with the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s lobbyist, where she had the opportunity to support policies in favor of social justice. She is actively engaged on campus as a student leader in various clubs including the Interfaith Committee, Student Advocates for Gender Equality, Chaplain’s team, and the Alpha Phi sorority. This past March, she had the opportunity to present a research paper on Morocco and Tunisia’s Personal Status and Family Laws at the Middle East Studies Center Undergraduate Conference.

Her accomplishments include receiving the Multicultural Excellence Award in 2013, being inducted into the Order of Omega Honor Society, and achieving the Dean’s List four semesters during her career at Linfield. She is currently a research assistant for Professor Dawn Nowacki, exploring the ways in which women have shown agency in the midst of societal violence in various MENA countries post-Arab Spring. She is thrilled to be a part of the PLACE program and seeks to enhance its presence on the Linfield campus in order to promote interdisciplinary learning opportunities for Linfield students.

Tyler Schiewe:

Tyler is a sophomore double-major in Physics and Mathematics at Linfield. Although the sciences are of particular interest to him, he is also interested in subjects as diverse as philosophy, literature, education, and computer science. Tyler’s broad range of interests is what interested him in a liberal arts education at Linfield and also in the PLACE program.

He believes that PLACE’s multi-disciplinary approach towards learning, which allows him to use all of the perspectives he has gained from his interests, as well as those from other students and faculty, is the only way to truly explore a large idea in depth. His responsibilities in PLACE include coordinating events, encouraging multi-disciplinary discussion, and representing the perspectives of the sciences toward the PLACE theme.

PLACE will be seeking two additional student fellows to add to the 2013-14 pilot program. Nominations or questions about how to become a candidate can be directed to Megan Schwab at mschwab@linfield.edu.