Danielle
About Me
I am new to this blog thing, so I apologize early for the delayed learning curve on the creativity of this blog.
I am from Louisville, Kentucky, and just graduated from Vanderbilt University as a double major in Human and Organizational Development and Public Policy with a focus in Military Studies and a minor in Corporate Strategy. Throughout college, I spent my summers interning at Google, the Hudson Institute Center for Political-Military Analysis, and in the U.S. House of Representatives. On campus, I was the president and site leader of a spring break service trip organization, an editor for the Vanderbilt Political Review, and a Vanderbilt Tour Guide. In the Nashville community, I was part of the local women's fly fishing team, Music City Fly Girls. I'm not sure what people typically include when writing about themselves on a public website, but I will also share a picture of my donkey, Eeyore (below), who I will miss a lot this year.
About My Project
Throughout college, I have studied foreign policy and the military, and became particularly interested in the civil-military relationship. As retired General and Flag Officers became more prominent in political campaigns, I began to wonder if this would have any effect on civilian perspectives of the military. I began to read and study more on the gap in the United States between civilian’s deep trust in the military but admittedly low levels of engagement with or knowledge of what the armed services do. Although U.S. citizens proclaim to revere the military, most seem to have lost touch with it. When I looked around at Vanderbilt, my peers were quick to say they were thankful for the military, though few, including myself, could formulate substantive answers on what it was the military did besides be infantrymen that deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Through my fellowship project, titled “A Changing Landscape: Exploring the Identity, Role, and Perception of the Military,” I will be traveling to twenty countries across five continents to examine the relationship between civilians and the military. I am interested in traveling to countries with different uses of the military and conscription policies to hear what perceptions of the military are, how the military identifies with the people and the government, and ideas about what the role of the military both is and should be. As decisions about where and how our own U.S. military interferes and influences foreign nations have become increasingly complex, a broad perspective will allow me to understand the implications these decisions have.
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It's a daunting undertaking, but I might be just young and naive enough to think I may find some answers, and have some fun around the globe in the process. I am thankful for supportive friends, family and mentors who encouraged me to defer the office job and sleep on the couches of strangers for the next year.