M.A., Cultural Anthropology (1995)
Working through the program in Cultural Anthropology at Duke helped me build resilience to challenge and adversity. The program exposed me to a full spectrum of scholars and teachers that enabled me to learn through struggle. I am grateful for the teacher that I found in Mack O'Barr, who sparked a life-long fascination and passion for Bantu linguistics that led to my living in East Africa, speaking Luganda and Swahili, earning a PhD in African History, gaining tenure and full professorship, and teaching Swahili!
I encourage students in the CA program at Duke to refuse to give up. Academic degrees are not an IQ test nor are they reserved for the brilliant. Academic degrees are for those who refuse to surrender. Keep going, day by day, one foot in front of the other. You'll get there.
