Faculty report (Donna Kerner)

This year long project entailed providing background research for a book manuscript I am preparing for publication that uses a case study approach to critique the popular model of micro-finance to solve a multitude of underdevelopment issues.  Over the course of the year I delivered two papers at professional conferences, one in Puebla Mexico at the Universidad Benemérita Autónoma to the Anthropology faculty and one at the American Anthropological Association annual meetings in New Orleans.

The research assistant position for this project entailed in putting  my bibliography into Zotero, searching for articles and books I needed for background research, and finding new databases and websites of interest to the project.  Michelle met with me on a weekly basis to bring me new materials and commentary on the sites I requested.  I think the learning opportunity for her, aside from learning to work with a new set of critical analytical concepts and frameworks, was in finding the most useful ways to summarize and present large amounts of data and to suggest trends over time.  Her work was meticulous and really helped to move the project along.  I think the topic also fit well with her interests in development and public policy and most of the case material she was assigned to deal with derives from Africa, which is her culture area of concentration in both majors.  I look forward to working with this talented young (Presidential) scholar this summer in Tanzania and after she completes her junior year abroad.

Student report (Michelle Van Akin)

When I first found out that Professor Kerner wished to hire me as her research assistant, I was honored and, to be frank, nervous.  I had no idea what being a research assistant would entail or if I would be up to the job.  These fears were dispelled once I dove into working with Professor Kerner on her upcoming book on microfinance.  Working as a research assistant, especially for Professor Kerner, has been one of the best experiences I have had at Wheaton to date.  Through this job, I was given the opportunity to learn about microfinance and its global implications, develop research skills, and also to grow as a student and anthropologist.  My work varied from crafting her bibliography, searching for books she wanted to read to support her own book, researching the Millennium Development Goals and reading articles she was using for her book to give her a second opinion and writing memos on them.

I found this work to be both challenging and rewarding.  Challenging because I had to read, analyze, and interpret articles on a deeper level than what I was used to; something about trying to help a professor research for a book that would then be published made it more challenging than reading for classes.  However, this work was also rewarding because I realized that this level of analysis was achievable not just for my work as a WRP but also for all of my classes.  I developed research and analytical skills that I could apply to my academic work.  Furthermore, working for Professor Kerner was one of the most rewarding experiences; she was an excellent boss and truly encouraged me to do more than I thought was possible.  Professor Kerner gave me an outlet to explore new ideas and allowed me to bounce ideas off of her.  I felt as if  I really had an impact on her book and facilitated her writing of it.  I can only hope that I will have another chance to be a research assistant at Wheaton, especially for Professor Kerner, because it was an incredibly fulfilling experience.

Original proposal

Student research partner is sought to provide bibliographic (print and web based) research and editorial assistance for book manuscript in progress. Donna Kerner is working on a book project that critically analyzes micro-finance and micro-credit approaches to poverty alleviation in the Third world. The student assistant can arrange hours flexibly and, under the supervision of Professor Kerner, would be responsible for maintaining an up-to-date database of micro-finance projects world-wide, retrieving useful case studies from different regional locations, checking bibliographic references, following the progress of the UN's Millennium Development Goals. This position is best suited to students with a keen interest in global development issues and who have good library and web-based research skills. Some familiarity with cultural anthropology and this discipline's approach to development will also be an important factor for recruitment.