Hania Mariën ’17 has been selected for a national Phi Beta Kappa Society writing internship.
An anthropology major and Spanish minor, Mariën will do a five-month internship that runs through May. She will write a minimum of six articles for The Key Reporter, the society’s publication for news and alumni relations. Phi Beta Kappa selects no more than 15 students from across the country for its spring and fall internships.
Mariën, who has a passion for reading and learning about diverse cultures, volunteers in schools and advocates for more expansive notions of cultural literacy. In collaboration with Willamette and a local school district, she received an independent research grant last summer to explore barriers to the attainment and use of ethnically diverse books in local school libraries and classrooms.
She studied last fall in Nicaragua, where she practiced her Spanish, volunteered on farms and taught English at several small, nonprofit organizations. This semester she is studying abroad in Belgium, from where she will complete her internship and correspond with Phi Beta Kappa officials in Washington, D.C. After graduating, Mariën hopes to pursue a graduate degree and learn a fourth language.