Student Profiles

Martine McDonald

Martine McDonald, a Los Angeles native, enrolled at Naropa in Fall of 2005. Unsure of which academic route to pursue, she eventually heard that a Peace Studies program was in the works, and so remained undeclared until it came together. Now, she plans to make it official.
          
Prior to her studies at Naropa, Martine attended the School for Designing a Society—a subsection of the Gesundheit! Institute, a healthcare delivery project started by Dr. Patch Adams (played by Robin Williams in a 1998 movie.) At SDaS, she engaged in social composition through art and language, cybernetics and clowning.

Martine cites two Naropa classes as having a profound affect on her—Spiritual Models of Social Action and Women and the Expansion of Democracy—which she describes as life-changing and transformative. Thanks to the inspiration and enthusiasm generated by such classes, she knew that peace studies would become her major. "In addition to the opportunity to study famous peacemakers such as Gandhi, along with unsung community organizers and neighborhood movements," she says, "It was inspiring to take the invitation of my instructors and be just as effective and intelligent with my pursuits for a just world. Where else can you study and articulate the desire for systemic social transformation toward peace and bring commentaries on spirituality into the conversation?

"The faculty makes it an incredibly personal act to reflect on the contributions of our elders. They respect you for striving toward the ideals you envision. They also challenge you to be very clear with your assertions and acknowledge the wisdom we already hold. Being true to your voice alongside the voices you find through history is key."

Martine volunteers periodically with the youth initiatives of Colorado's own PeaceJam Foundation, which was nominated for a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and continues to be a youth board member and FUN-raiser for the Gesundheit! Institute. Unsure if she would prefer to be a grassroots community organizer and activist or "go the academic route and enroll at the United Nation's University of Peace in Costa Rica," Martine has no doubts she will apply her knowledge to teaching in those venues that focus on social justice.

In tandem, she seeks to enrich children's media through nonviolent content. "One of my heroes was Mr. Rogers," she says. "Seriously, I so admire him for his integrity in modeling emotional intelligence. Even though I wish technology wasn't the only way kids got their information, it is very powerful, and I'd like to take a youth curriculum created in Peace Studies and move it into television. I'm interested in working with middle school and high school students because you can learn to recognize the acts of peace early, then you don't have to unlearn a violent culture."