Cedar Rapids woman to study for a year in Ireland

 

A native of Cedar Rapids and Interact alumna will be the next Rotary Global Grant Scholar for District 5970. She will be earning her Masters in Public History and Cultural Heritage at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland where she will research the role of historical sites, museums, monuments, etc. in building and maintaining peace.

 

Specifically, she will study how Ireland commemorates different periods of their history including The Troubles during the late 20th century. Ultimately, she seeks to understand how the Irish honor the past without destabilizing the future and how this can be applied globally to conflict-ridden countries, or closer to home as we debate the place of statues honoring Confederate soldiers in the United States.

 

Interest in this field was derived from a lifelong love of history and a combination of experiences studying abroad in Ghana and Antarctica as a student at the University of Iowa and as a teaching assistant in France last year. Following her Global Grant, she hopes to work for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which governs World Heritage Sites or earn her PhD. She currently works for Brucemore and the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids.

 

Kristina is the third person from district 5970 to study in Dublin; the other two were Rachael Lyle from Cedar Falls and from Waverly. She is apparently no relation to Molly McLaughlin from Waterloo who has received a youth exchange award.