Kari B. Henquinet

Fiss, Laura Kasson Lorelle A. Meadows, Mary Raber, Kari B. Henquinet, and Richard Berkey. (2019) An Educational Framework to Promote Self-Authorship in Engineering Undergraduates, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference Proceeding.

Henquinet, Kari B. (2017). Book review of AIDS and Masculinity in the African City:  Privilege, Inequality, and Modern Manhood. Robert Wyrod. Oakland: University of California Press, 2016. American Ethnologist 44(4):713-714.

Henquinet, Kari B. (2018). The Karamoja Balance: Where wives plant crops and husbands learn nutrition.  Worldview Magazine, Spring Issue.  https://issuu.com/peacecorpsconnect/docs/wv_spring_2018

2018 “Time, Ethical Self-Formation, and Making Meaning of Suffering in Early World Vision Humanitarianism.” In panel “Ethical Self-Making in Social Justice and Humanitarianism: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue in the Anthropology of Ethics” co-sponsored by Anthropology of Religion and Comparative Religious Ethics Units for the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Denver, November

2018 “Global Learning through Local Engagement in University Communities.” Co-presenter Parijata Prabhakara. NAFSA Region V Conference, Schaumburg, IL, October

Gender, Women’s Rights and Household Livelihoods in Niger
I apply my ethnographic experience and training as a West Africa area studies specialist in the study of gender relations and women’s rights by examining prominent transnational aid institutions in Niger. This research highlights: 1) changes in gender roles and access to resources connected to material and religious change in the Maradi Region, 2) ways in which women’s rights, gender, and class are understood and applied in development programs and among aid recipients, and 3) discourses of women’s rights and Islamic family law in the Maradi Region and in Niger. I extend this work with my students by teaching undergraduate courses in international development, African Studies, and anthropology, and by working closely with graduate students conducting research using ethnography and examining topics such as social vulnerability and gender issues.

Historical Roots of North American Evangelical Aid and Development
Using archival data and oral histories, I use the case of World Vision in the 1950s and 1960s to look at roots of private voluntary evangelical relief and development work in an age of the “development consensus” and large-scale state-directed development. The three papers I am developing focus on: 1) the convergence and divergence of early World Vision with U.S. work abroad in the Cold War, highlighting the common notion of remaking vulnerable Third World Subjects and nations, yet distinct evangelical approaches to social change; 2) evangelical interpretations of and responses to global suffering with emphasis on temporal and ethical frames and tensions; and 3) the use of child sponsorship as a successful fundraising tool in World Vision, which triggered emotional and moral responses in North American evangelical donors. I integrate this expertise in my teaching and advising of Peace Corps and study abroad students as we examine the historical context of U.S. engagements abroad and development institutions.

Disaster Risk Reduction and Social Vulnerability
As an anthropologist, I have contributed to several collaborative, interdisciplinary projects on disaster risk reduction. In El Salvador working with a geologist, we have examined social and geophysical vulnerability in a disaster relocation program. With a geologist and geographer, we are currently analyzing data from Cayambe Volcano in Ecuador to assess disaster risk and develop a rapid assessment model for cases of volcanic unrest at understudied, infrequent but potentially active volcanoes. I have also co-advised a geology student who researched disaster risk in rural El Salvador, and currently advise another student in Jamaica.

Intercultural, Service and Experiential Learning
My own transformational experiences through guided cross-cultural and service-oriented immersion as a student have sparked a passion to continue to develop these kinds of programs for my students. As Director of Peace Corps Master’s International (PCMI) and Peace Corps Prep, I coordinate campus-wide efforts to prepare our students for international service and for careers as global leaders in their fields. I also advise students who are pursuing community engagement in their honors program and direct the Community Ambassadors program to build linkages between Michigan Tech and the local community through volunteer work. I teach courses preparing students for cross-cultural immersion and project work. I am currently analyzing data to better understand our students’ experiences and development, using qualitative interviews and student work.