Emma Fawcett Brings Tourism and Development to Center Stage Through Fellows Program

The Fellows Program, an initiative of GFDD and FUNGLODE, is excited to introduce our newest scholar Emma Fawcett, doctoral candidate in international relations at the School of International Service at American University. Emma’s research interests include international development, political
economy, and social movement studies, with a regional focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. Her dissertation explores the political economy of tourism and development in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Mexican Caribbean. The Dominican Republic portion of her field work will be conducted in the first few weeks of September (2014), with a focus on collecting data from the tourism-heavy Punta Cana area.

About Emma
Emma Fawcett
earned a BA from Rutgers University in political science and Spanish, and an MS from The New School in nonprofit management and global policy. Previously, she assisted with a World Bank-funded value chain analysis of the Haitian apparel industry. Her graduate thesis focused on economic development strategies for fisher folk in the community of Marigot, in the Southeastern region of Haiti. She has also researched the impact of teacher union mobilizations on education reform in Oaxaca,
Mexico. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Ms. Fawcett worked in human resources in the private sector, as both a generalist and a recruiter.

Emma is fluent in Spanish and has worked, traveled, and studied throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe.

About the Research
Emma’s dissertation research explores the relationship between national tourism promotion policy and private sector investment
in the mass tourism sector, and probes how the tourism industry might be mobilized for poverty reduction in developing countries. Her project employs elite interviews, focus group interviews, and quantitative analysis of economic data, conducted during multiple rounds of field work in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Emma will realize her fellowship under the guidance of in-country expert, Miguel Calzada, President of CTN, Caribbean Travel Network in the Dominican
Republic.

About the Fellows Program
The Fellows Program, an extension of the internship and academic exchange program, InteRDom, was developed in 2009 to respond to the  desire of GFDD and FUNGLODE to develop a community of scholars that contributes to the Foundations’ growing body of research on matters of international concern that directly
impact the Dominican Republic, complementing the overall mission of GFDD and FUNGLODE to promote academic exchange, generate scholarship, and influence the creation of public policy related to economic and social development both at the national and international level.

Through The Fellows Program, GFDD and FUNGLODE seek to generate scholarship on issues at the forefront of the United Nations’ agenda in order to give voice to national and regional concerns and
offer viable solutions to domestic and international challenges.

The Fellows Program provides opportunities for M.S., M.A. and Ph.D. candidates interested in conducting high-level research in the Dominican Republic on issues related to sustainable development. The final output of the investigation is a comprehensive report which includes empirical data. Fellows realize research in coordination with GFDD and FUNGLODE staff, National Advisor and their university professors.
Fellows that carry-out exemplary work have the opportunity to present their findings before the United Nations community on behalf of GFDD and FUNGLODE.