Stanford University

Summer 2012 Research Abroad Undergraduate Internships in China and Guatemala Orientation

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On February 6, FSI is hosting an orientation for Stanford sophomores and juniors* (in 2011-12) interested in applying for the 2012 FSI undergraduate field research internships.

Three internships are available for Beijing, China, and up to five for the southwestern highlands of Guatemala. The internship program will support two separate multidisciplinary teams of Stanford undergraduates to carry out field research projects that address chronic global underdevelopment. Working with an established research program in each country and supervised by one or more Stanford principal investigators, the undergraduate research teams will spend approximately two weeks on location and four to six weeks planning and completing projects in the U.S. Travel, accommodations, insurance and incidentals will be fully funded.

The program is intended to engage undergraduates in collaborative research designed to:

  • introduce undergraduates to issues of global chronic underdevelopment;
  • promote mentoring relationships between FSI faculty and students;
  • enable undergraduates to contribute to FSI's policy-relevant research; and
  • foster collaboration across disciplines at the undergraduate level

Eligibility and Application

The program is open to Stanford juniors and seniors (in AY 2011-12) with a minimum GPA of 3.3. Students may apply directly via email.

Student applicants will be required to submit:

  • a statement of interest;
  • curriculum vitae, resume, or summary of related experience; and
  • copy of transcript (unofficial copy acceptable)
  • reference letter from faculty member

All materials can be sent to vmarian@stanford.edu

Preference will be given to students previously involved in service learning, poverty alleviation, or similar pursuit. The selection committee will strive to assemble a team of students reflecting divergent academic interests, ideally one from each of the social, natural, and applied sciences.

Final candidates should be prepared to obtain the appropriate visas and vaccinations and to travel abroad on the approximate dates:

  • Guatemala: August 1 - 15, 2012
  • China: June 19 - July 3, 2012

Project Requirements

Members of the student research team will be expected to work collaboratively to:

  • develop, and obtain faculty approval for, a research proposal that will add to or enhance the ongoing research of either Rural Education Action Project (REAP) in China, or the Children's Global Health Program in Guatemala, both programs within FSI;
  • carry out the research over a two-week period abroad under the supervision of both a Stanford faculty member and a graduate student or medical resident;
  • write a project report analyzing and interpreting the team's research findings; and
  • prepare a poster or slide presentation describing the research project that will be presented at FSI's fall 2012 open house.

Financial Support and Resources

The program will provide a stipend of $1,000 per student, plus a budget for the team's research materials and supplies, and reimbursement for air travel, lodging, meals, insurance, visas, and incidentals for work abroad. At Stanford, the team will be furnished with office space in Encina Hall and access to a desktop computer to meet, prepare, and complete the project.

* Highly qualified freshmen with the requisite background and superb language skills may be considered.

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Conferences

Shin and Izatt article explores Korean views of America

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U.S.-Korea relations are stronger than ever, but there has not always been support in Korea for Americans or for the alliance. As Korea has both general and presidential elections this year whose outcome might affect U.S.-Korea relations, it is important for U.S. policymakers to appreciate the complexity of Korean sentiments. A recent article by Gi-Wook Shin and Hilary Izatt in Asian Survey sheds new light on anti-American and anti-alliance sentiments of the 1990s and early 2000s.
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U.S. President Barack Obama talks with President Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea during their meeting in the Oval Office, Oct. 13, 2011.
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China: Big Changes Coming Soon

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In an essay written by Henry S. Rowen, SPRIE co-director and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, discusses the substantial economic, financial, political and social pressures building inside China.

China: Big Changes Coming Soon is published in the latest edition of Policy Review from the Hoover Institution. In the article, Rowen argues that as a result of rapid economy growth, major political and economic changes are possible in China before 2020.

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Henry S. Rowen, SPRIE Co-director
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Stanford publications contextualize China's development

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After 10 years of rapid growth, China will undergo a major leadership transition later this year. Two recent Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center edited volumes -- Going Private in China and Growing Pains -- put China’s development into context as the country prepares for the next decade of its future.
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Escalator to lower observation deck at the Shanghai World Financial Center, Aug. 2008.
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Global Nuclear Security Governance Building through the Nuclear Security Summit Meeting

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About the topic: Given the increased threat of nuclear terrorism by non-state actors, current global mechanisms addressing nuclear security have revealed serious limitations. As a result, after President Obama’s speech in 2009 at Prague, the first Nuclear Security Summit Meeting was successfully held in Washington D.C. Based on its success, the second Nuclear Security Summit Meeting is scheduled to be held in March 2012 in Seoul, Korea. In addition to the ongoing issues, the Seoul Meeting will deal with new issues such as nuclear safety in reflection of the recent Fukushima accident. The meeting may also take on other issues such as the framework agreement, further institutionalization of the Nuclear Security Summit Meeting and sustainable financing. Ultimately, this process should reinforce the effectiveness of global efforts to tackle nuclear terrorism and related issues.

About the Speaker: Professor Suh-Yong Chung is an international expert on international governance and institution building. His recent research interests include governance building in global climate change, Northeast Asian environmental cooperation institution building and nuclear security governance building. Dr. Chung has recently participated in various national and international conferences and seminars on nuclear security, such as the ROK-US Nuclear Security Experts Dialogue, and the WMD Study Group Meeting of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP).

Dr. Chung is the Associate Professor of Division of International Studies of Korea University, an Adjunct Professor of The Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the General Secretary of CSCAP Korea. Dr. Suh-Yong Chung holds degrees in law and international relations from Seoul National University, the London School of Economics and Stanford Law School.

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Suh-Yong Chung Associate Professor of Division of International Studies of Korea University Speaker
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Documentary looks at media coverage of Nixon's visit to China

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Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China reshaped the global balance of power and opened the door to U.S.-China relations. The media coverage of this event is as important as the details of the diplomacy, and is brought to life through the new documentary: Assignment: China. Shorenstein APARC will screen the film on Feb. 7, followed by commentary from the film’s reporter and narrator Mike Chinoy.

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Health insurance no guarantee for diabetes care in developing countries

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As incomes rise around the world, health experts expect a more troubling figure to increase as well: the number of diabetics in developing countries.

In China and India – two of the world’s most populous nations with fast-paced economies – the prevalence of diabetes is expected to double by 2025. Between 15 and 20 percent of their adult population will develop the disease as household budgets increase, diets change to include more calories and new health problems emerge.

But China, India and other developing countries are not fully prepared to deal with the rising trend of diabetes. And a growing number of diabetics aren’t getting the care they need to prevent serious complications, Stanford researchers say.

Even with insurance, many diabetics don’t have essential medications that could help them manage their conditions. In many cases, people are spending a great deal of their household incomes to pay for their treatment, said Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, an assistant professor of medicine who led the research team.

“Public and private health insurance programs aren’t providing sufficient protection for diabetics in many developing countries,” said Goldhaber-Fiebert, a faculty member at Stanford Health Policy at the university’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. “People with insurance aren’t doing markedly better than those who don’t have it. Health insurance and health systems need to be re-oriented to better address chronic diseases like diabetes.”

Findings from the study are online and will be published in the Jan. 24 edition of Diabetes Care, the journal of the American Diabetes Association. The journal article was co-authored by Jay Bhattacharya, an associate professor of medicine and Stanford Health Policy faculty member; and Crystal Smith-Spangler, an instructor at Stanford’s Department of Medicine and an investigator at the Palo Alto VA Health Care System.

Failure to adequately manage diabetes will lead to more severe health problems like blindness, heart disease and kidney failure. It also harms the otherwise healthy, Goldhaber-Fiebert said.

Diabetes often strikes people at an age when they’re taking care of children and elderly parents. To sideline these primary caretakers as dependants will lead to a heavy burden for communities and create an obstacle for economic growth, he added.

Using responses to a global survey conducted by the World Health Organization in 2002 and 2003, Goldhaber-Fiebert and his colleagues examined data from 35 low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe to determine whether diabetics with insurance were more likely to have medication than those without insurance.

They also wanted to know whether insured diabetics have a lower risk of “catastrophic medical spending,” a term the researchers define as spending more than 25 percent of a household income on medical care.

“Surprisingly, diabetics with insurance were no more likely to have the medications they need than uninsured diabetics,” Goldhaber-Fiebert said. “They were also no less likely to suffer catastrophic medical spending.”

There are many reasons why health insurance may not protect diabetics in developing countries against high out-of-pocket spending. In some cases, there’s a lack of sufficient medication – such as insulin – that regulate glucose levels. Without those drugs, there’s a greater risk of complications that often lead to more hospitalizations and more expenses.

In other cases, co-payments and deductibles are too high. Sometimes, drugs and medical services to prevent diabetes complications are not covered. And doctors and hospitals don’t always accept insurance.

“Better policies are needed to provide sufficient protection and care for diabetics in the developing world,” Goldhaber-Fiebert said.

Without medications to manage diabetes and prevent secondary complications, the condition will worsen and the burden of catastrophic spending will increase, he said.

“It’s important to get ahead of the curve and prepare so there’s an infrastructure in place to deal with these health and cost issues,” he said.

While preventing diabetes in the first place would be ideal, programs and policies must be established to care for the many cases that will surely continue to exist.

“There isn’t a single country that’s managed to entirely arrest or reverse the trend of diabetes,” he said. “Programs that focus on primary prevention are extremely important, but the reality is that the developing world faces hundreds of millions of diabetes cases that are unlikely to all be prevented.”

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Fangcheng Yuan

Walter. H. Shorenstein
Asia-Pacific Research Center
616 Serra St C332
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

(650) 725-0938 (650) 723-6530
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Visiting Associate Professor
YuanFangchen_WEB.jpg MA, PhD

Fangcheng Yuan joins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) during the 2011–12 academic year from the Institute of Political Science at Central China Normal University where he serves as an associate professor.

His research interests encompass Sino-foreign local governance; current reforms and innovations in contemporary rural China; and a comparative study of rural governance in Mainland China and Taiwan. During his time at Shorenstein APARC, Yuan will conduct research on community reconstruction: current reforms and innovations in China’s rural primary-level management system. He will contribute to a forthcoming research report on the subject.

Yuan is an editor of the Journal of Socialist Research, and contributes articles regularly to publications including CASS Journal of Political Science and Journal of Public Administration. He is also the author of Making Service Work (2008); Breakthrough: Xian’an Reform and the Transformation of China's Rural Grass-roots Governance (2009); and Working in Grass-Roots: A Close Observation of the Reforming of Rural China (2011).

Yuan holds a PhD and an MA in Chinese and foreign political systems from the Institute of Political Science at Central China Normal University, and a BA in political science from Wuhan University.

Strategies and Support for a Global Open Internet

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Kathleen Reen is the Vice-President for Asia and New Media Programs with Internews. Reen leads media and information development programs across Asia, and a global Open Internet programs with a team of 12 international and local partner organizations. She has worked for Internews on a variety of assignments from Bosnia and Serbia, founding Internews’ program in Indonesia in as well as projects in Thailand, Cambodia, Timor, Pakistan and China. As Country Director in Indonesia she managed a project developing and implementing media legal reforms, training and productions, Internet access, and local media NGO-building efforts. In late 2004 she led Internews first humanitarian media efforts in Aceh after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

A journalist and documentary producer by background, Reen worked in Eastern and Southern Europe and Southeast Asia before joining Internews. In 2005 she was a co-founder and first Director of the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD). In 2006 she was selected as a fellow of the Asia Society’s “Asia 21″ program. In 2008 she became a fellow of the Flowfund, which supports the development of US domestic and global philanthropy with a focus on social entrepreneurs. She has helped establish several national and regional organizations in Asia that are devoted to media development and information. She represents Internews to the GNI – the Global Network Initiative, a multi-stakeholder initiative that seeks to improve freedom of expression and best practices for companies with NGOs and human rights organizations around the world.

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