Jamie Dubendorf, a 2000 graduate of Hamilton and recipient of a Bristol Fellowship, was the subject of a recent article in the Williams College-Mystic Program Alumni Magazine, the GAM. While at Hamilton, Dubendorf participated in Williams Mystic Program, a one-semester maritime studies program done in cooperation with Mystic Seaport Museum.
The article tells of Dubendorf s travels to one of the most remote and isolated islands in the world, Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific.
Under his Bristol Fellowship, titled One Trunk and Two Branches of the Miro Tree: A Comparative Study of Three Pitcairn Communities, Dubendorf is studying the affects of a global culture on three Pitcairn communities: Pitcairn Island and two off-island Pitcairn communities on Norfolk Island and in New Zealand. Pitcairn is a two-mile square island of volcanic origin has about 50 permanent residents. Its closest neighbor is Tahiti, about 1,200 miles to the northwest.
Dubendorf will be completing six months on Pitcairn Island in May, then will continue his research in New Zealand and Norfolk Island before returning to the U.S. in August.
Williams-Mystic is the only interdisciplinary program of its kind. From around the world, undergraduates of all majors share one semester at Mystic Seaport to focus on the past, present, and future of the earth's oceans. Williams-Mystic combines the academic excellence of Williams College and the unparalleled learning environment of Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and The Sea. Students travel beyond the typical campus environment as they participate in four rigorous courses, a museum skills class, a Pacific Coast caravan, a trip to Nantucket Island, and a deep water offshore voyage.
