Amanda Jessen, a 2005 Los Alamitos High graduate, has been awarded a Boren Fellowship to study in Turkey during the 2013 – 2014 academic year. Jessen is currently a graduate student in the Conflict Resolution Program at Georgetown University. She will study Turkish at Bogazici University and intern at a conflict resolution-focused organization in the city.
David L. Boren Scholarships and Fellowships are sponsored by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), a major federal initiative designed to build a broader and more qualified pool of U.S. citizens with foreign language and international skills. Boren Awards provide U.S. undergraduate and graduate students with resources and encouragement to acquire language skills and experience in countries critical to the future security and stability of the nation. In exchange for funding, Boren award recipients agree to work in the federal government for a period of at least one year. “The National Security Education Program,” according to Dr. Michael A. Nugent, director of NSEP, “represents an essential component of a comprehensive national security strategy to address serious and long-time deficiencies in critical language expertise.”
The Institute of International Education, which administers the awards on behalf of NSEP, received a historically high number of applications this year for both the undergraduate Boren Scholarship and the graduate Boren Fellowship. This year 947 undergraduate students applied for the Boren Scholarship and 161 were awarded, while 526 graduate students applied for the Boren Fellowship and 110 were awarded.
Jessen also received a 2013 Conflict Resolution Summer Award that will support an internship this summer with the Turkish Red Crescent. The Turkish Red Crescent is a sister organization to the American Red Cross that provides humanitarian relief to Syrian refugees who have fled ongoing fighting. She is among six students selected to work with partnering organizations around the world.
In addition to the Conflict Resolution Summer Award, Jessen received a fellowship through Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security to conduct original research while in the field this summer. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the formation of the Institute as she unveiled the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security during an address at Georgetown University in 2011.
Jessen will lead a gender assessment of the programs implemented by the Turkish Red Crescent for Syrian refugees living within Turkey. She will work closely with the Honorable Melanne Verveer, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and current Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues to publish her findings in academic journals and present her research at conferences.
Jessen is the daughter of Kim and Doug Rubien and the granddaughter of Judy Klabouch, all long-time residents of Rossmoor and Los Alamitos.