State Department to Use Research of CNU Student
News Release - November 07, 2007
Media Contact:
Emily L. Lucier
Press Secretary and Media Manager
emily.lucier@cnu.edu
(757) 594-8428
(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) - Christopher Newport University Senior Ms. Ashley Kurpiel, a Social Work major, spent her summer doing work that has caught the attention of the federal government. Through Mr. Jeb Carney, who is the President of the League for Hope (LFH), Ms. Kurpiel travelled to the middle of the Sahara Desert to do research in the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. The research project she put together benefitted the LFH and the SADR government, and will be read by the U.S. Department of State.
“After the Moroccan invasion in 1975, the Saharawi were forced out of their home country in the Western Sahara,” said Ms. Kurpiel. “With an estimated 160,000 refugees living in the Tindouf region of Algeria, and the majority of their men gone to war, demands placed on the women were great. Problems with food, water, shelter, health, education and raising their families alone are priorities that international aid groups such as the Red Crescent and World Food Program are working hard to overcome. Through months of research to learn their history and that of the camps, I put together a research proposal and was able to win two summer stipends from CNU which then allowed me to travel to Algeria to carry on this research and to help the Saharawi people.”
Ms. Kurpiel focused on an in-depth qualitative research method called ethnography. This sort of research centers in on the close field observation of socio-cultural phenomena. She carried out this research by focusing on specific camps and selecting key informants within the area who had much knowledge about the varied activities of the camps; thus using chain sampling to obtain a saturation of informants in all empirical areas of investigation. Through translators, she spoke with different members of the camps to learn about the best practices within the camps. She researched findings in the tents, neighborhoods, towns, districts, as well as the national and political arenas. This included meetings with members of different ministries in the camps, directors of the neighborhoods, towns, and districts, and even a meeting with SADR President Mohamed Abdelaziz and his staff.
The Deputy Secretary of State has appointed the Algeria and Morocco Desk Officer of the Office of Mahgreb Affairs within the U.S. Department of State to read Ms. Kurpiel's research. She hopes to have the opportunity to present her findings to Congress in the future, to explain the need for the United States to become involved with the camps in Algeria.
Hailing from Stafford, Virginia, Ms. Kurpiel plans on completing her Master's degree in Social Work and going on to do more internationally based work.
Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls 4,800 students in programs through its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Luter School of Business and offers great teaching, small classes and an emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor. Visit us at www.cnu.edu.