Arts graduate Andrew McIndoe has received not one, but two scholarships to continue his study at Harvard University.
Andrew graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History in the recent Autumn Graduation, after completing a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws (Honours) conjoint last year.
He has been awarded both the Frank Knox Memorial Scholarship and the Freyberg Scholarship.
Dr Paul Taillon, who supervised Andrew’s honours dissertation, says that he is thrilled with Andrew’s success.
Andrew was a top student during his time in the Faculty of Arts, receiving a University of Auckland Scholarship, a Freemasons University Scholarship, the Theodore Roosevelt Award in United States History, a Senior Scholar Award, and a First in Course Award for HISTORY 737: Rethinking History.
He is currently putting his historical skills to use working at the Waitangi Tribunal, before his studies at Harvard begin in September.
At Harvard he will be undertaking a two-year programme in Middle Eastern Studies, as well as intensive language study in Arabic — which he has been learning for the last 18 months.
Andrew says that he is currently leaning towards pursuing a career in foreign affairs or in an international organisation dealing with conflict and development.
“I've always been interested in reading and learning about the Middle East. It is a region that, because of its geographical location at the intersection of Europe, Africa and Asia, is always going to be important in a geopolitical sense.”
“However, there is a current tendency to talk about the Middle East only through the prism of security and conflict that risks obscuring other challenges, opportunities and historical trajectories.”
“My studies in Politics and International Relations, Law and History at the University of Auckland have fuelled my interest in the combined areas of political and social development and state-building — both of which are highly relevant to the modern Middle East. How do Middle Eastern societies chart a course that navigates the opportunities of globalisation and 'modernity' while still attempting to retain the core elements of their traditions and values?”
“I hope to continue to explore questions like this during my studies at Harvard.”
The Frank Knox Memorial Scholarship is awarded by Harvard to graduate students from New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, and will fund both his course and living costs.
The Freyberg Scholarship is administered by the New Zealand Defence Force and Ministry of Defence and is awarded to graduate students studying in areas relevant to national security.
Andrew says that he is very grateful to have been awarded these scholarships.
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