CHaSS Grad Named 2015 Humanity in Action Fellow

Utah State University College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ 2013 valedictorian, Anna Maria Guadarrama, is a recipient of a 2015 Humanity in Action Fellowship.

Guadarrama, who was also Logan High School’s valedictorian when she graduated there in 2008, was a CHaSS double major in Spanish and international studies. She received a coveted Fulbright U.S. Student Award to teach in Mexico the summer following her graduation from USU.

After her summer teaching intermediate level English at the Universidad de Guanajuato, Guadarrama spent time traveling in Brazil before moving to Washington, D.C., where she interned for the White House Domestic Policy Council. Most recently, she has been back in Guanajuato, Mexico, working on a writing project “depicting differences and/or similarities between U.S. and Mexican culture and society.”

“Anna Maria is an excellent example of the quality of students in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences,” said CHaSS Dean John C. Allen. “She is an outstanding ambassador for our students and faculty. I am envious of the opportunity that she is undertaking.”

Guadarrama is one of 43 American recipients of this year’s Humanity in Action Fellowships. The 2015 American fellows will join students and recent graduates from universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine to participate in the Humanity in Action Fellowship in Europe.

The fellowship takes place in Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Paris and Warsaw May 25-June 28.

Guadarrama was chosen from among 688 student and recent graduate applicants at 253 colleges and universities throughout the nation. Highly competitive, the fellowship is awarded according to academic standing, active civic participation in human rights issues and outstanding recommendations.

“The fellowship will be challenging,” Guadarrama said via email. “It will be intense and perhaps transformative in who I am as a person. I would not have exposure to such vital experiences without a college education. USU has been the field of my personal and professional development, which continues to impact my life’s journey.”

As an American Humanity in Action Fellow, Guadarrama will participate in an orientation worship in Washington, D.C., from May 25-28. The orientation will focus on American civil rights, Holocaust education and European security and political issues. Sessions will also help fellows learn how to build careers in the field of foreign affairs.

Once abroad, fellows will take part in daily lectures and discussions with renowned academics, journalists, politicians and activists, as well as site visits to government agencies, nonprofit and community organizations, museums and memorials.

The program seeks to highlight different models of action to remedy injustice relating to diverse societies.

This year’s fellowship experience culminates at the Sixth Annual Humanity in Action International Conference in The Hague June 25-28. There, fellows from all program cities will convene to explore the city’s unique promotion of international peace, justice and reconciliation.

Since 1999, Humanity in Action has engaged more than 1,500 fellows in its distinctive transatlantic programs aimed at helping them make a difference in public service, journalism, medicine, law, education, the arts, business and grassroots action.

Related links:

USU College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Humanity in Action

Contact: Ryan Gayman, Humanity in Action, (212) 828-6874 x4, r.gayman@humanityinaction.org

Writer: Kristin Middaugh, CHaSS communications director, (435) 797-0267, kristin.middaugh@usu.edu