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Applications for Hill to Hill Program Open on September 25

Hill to Hill, the Goldfarb Center’s signature JanPlan internship program in Washington D.C. is back from its pandemic hiatus! Applications open on Monday, September 25. 

This internship program is open to any student at Colby and we encourage you to apply. Reach out to Erica Buswell, [email protected], with any questions or make an appointment to talk, or attend Goldfarb office hours on Wednesday’s from 11:30-1:30 during the application period.

Visit our internships and programs page to learn more and apply.

Evan Gershkovich to Receive Lovejoy Award for Courage in Journalism

Colby is pleased to announce that Evan Gershkovich, the American journalist who has been jailed in Russia for nearly 150 days, will receive the 2023 Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for Courage in Journalism. Gershkovich, who writes about Russia for the Wall Street Journal, has been detained in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison since his arrest in late March.

The presentation of the Lovejoy Award will take place at 4pm on Friday, October 20 at Colby’s Gordon Center for the Performing Arts and will include a discussion of the winners’ work with the Wall Street Journal’s World Coverage Chief Gordon Fairclough and Lovejoy Selection Committee Member Mindy Marqués Gonzales, vice president and executive editor at Simon and Schuster and former editor of the Miami Herald. President Greene will offer remarks and present the award. Evan’s parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, will accept the Lovejoy Award on his behalf. The public is invited to attend the free event.

2022-23 Annual Report

As summer comes to an end and Colby begins a new academic year, we are excited to give you a flavor of what we have been up to, share Executive Director Alison Beyea’s reflections on her first six months, and engage the community around what’s coming next.

Read the Goldfarb Center’s 2022-23 Annual Report here.

‘23 Franko-Maisel Prize Announcement

We extend our hearty congratulations to Angie Sohn, winner of this year’s Franko-Maisel Public Policy Prize. Named for two, long-serving Colby Faculty Members – Patrice Franko and Sandy Maisel – the Franko-Maisel Public Policy Prize is awarded each year to a graduating senior who exemplifies a commitment to public affairs and is planning to pursue a career in public policy. As an aspiring public servant and diplomat, Angie will be pursuing a master’s degree in international relations and will then join the US Foreign Service as a Pickering Fellow. In her application, Angie described her vision to “help transform the diplomatic corps to be truly representative of our nation’s diversity, and in doing so contribute to shaping a stronger and more nuanced foreign policy apparatus.” Read more about Angie’s plans for her future in Colby News. Throughout her time at Colby, Angie has demonstrated a deep commitment to public affairs and policy both on and off-campus. We wish her all the best of luck in her future endeavors.

Overture Vol. 3

Volume 3 of Overture, Colby’s annual Journal of International Affairs, is now out! Published with support from the Goldfarb Center, this year’s edition includes content authored by Colby students covering issues such as gender-based violence and the cartel landscape in Central America, IMF loan interventions, sovereignty in post-war Europe; nuclear-test-ban treaties; and extra-territorial sanctions. Dig in and read all of the content here. Thank you to editor Joshua Brause ‘23 for supporting the publication of the Overture Journal since its inception.

2023 Freedom of Expression Symposium Winners

Congratulations to this year’s Symposium winners and participants! Michelle Bechtel, Justin Kim, and Helen Wang placed first in the competition for their proposal to address the shortage of rural physicians by removing barriers to and adding incentives for increasing residency positions in remote communities. Sophie Peterson placed second with a proposal to improve healthcare access for marginalized patients through the use of community health workers. Susie Swan placed third with a proposal to address the overwhelming number of opioid overdose deaths through the protected expansion of harm-reduction programs such as syringe distribution programs. Saathvika Diviti, Anna do Rosario, Cliona Kenney, Sonia Marnoto, and Saia Patel were also selected to compete in this year’s competition. Read all of the inspiring policy ideas presented at this year’s competition here.

Event: Policy and Practice Solutions for Addressing Childcare Shortages

On May 31, 2023, the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs partnered with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to host “Policy and Practice Solutions for Addressing Childcare Shortages,” a half-day event bringing together stakeholders on the leading edge of identifying solutions to Maine’s childcare crisis, one of the more vexing public policy issues of the day. The convening highlighted the relationship between childcare access challenges and the workforce, private sector opportunities to shift the current policy landscape on this issue, and practices being utilized by several Maine-based companies to support working parents. In addition, the event also sparked an original student-faculty research project led by Professor Nick Jacobs in collaboration with Claudia Miner ‘23; Gabriel Rivas Orellana ‘23; and Zoe Onyango ‘25. Read more about the event in Colby News.

Letter from the new ED

In the U.S. Congress and the United Nations, at local school boards and throughout state legislatures, we face an array of daunting public policy challenges. War in Ukraine. Climate Change. School Curricula. Voting Rights. And the list goes on. From the global to the local, the outcomes of these public policy debates will impact generations to come. As a college community, how can we advance conversations and find solutions to the challenges we face at the state, national, and global levels? Read more here.

 

Overture Vol. 2

Volume 2 of Overture, Colby’s annual Journal of International Affairs, is now out! Read it here.

 

2021-22 Annual Report

Read the 2021-22 Annual Report here.

 

'22 Franko-Maisel Prize Award Announcement

Congratulations to Nena Burgess, winner of the ’22 Franko-Maisel Prize for Public Policy. A Government and Global Studies major, Nena’s career goal is to become an advocate for underrepresented communities through legal support and policy change. Read more here.