Wheaton's independent majors
"Independent majors are a wonderful option, as they allow students to create connections and look at issues from multiple disciplines."
MARTHA CORNWELL
Shaftsbury, Vermont
African Development Studies
Mapping the journey
Martha Cornwell spent a summer living in a refugee camp in Ghana, where she taught English to elementary school children. Struck by the number of children without parents or a place to call home, Cornwell helped start an orphanage that served 25 street children. The orphanage has since closed, but Cornwell's belief in the power of individual action lives on.
When she returned to campus, Cornwell blossomed as an activist and leader, getting involved with more than a dozen service-oriented groups, serving on the college's Sustainability Committee, and living in ECCO House, Wheaton's environmentally-oriented residence hall. Her interest in Africa, first sparked by the courses she took in Wheaton's "African Worlds" connection, grew as she created an independent major blending economics, anthropology, history and political science.
Peak experiences
"I feel especially proud of being in the first women's studies capstone seminar, ‘Women and War,'" Cornwell says. Her experience in Ghana made a deep impression on her, and she has focused much of her coursework on the participation of African women in social, political, economic and ideological movements related to sustainable development.
The road ahead
Cornwell and some of her Wheaton friends are working on plans to start a community farm. Someday soon, she also hopes to teach English in China.
