ERIN FEENEY
2007-08 Traveling Fellow
Vernacular and Sustainable Architecture
An investigation into vernacular architecture and contemporary models of sustainable architecture of regions around the world which are threatened by the homogenizing forces of globalization.
Hometown: Santa Barbara, CA
Major: Architectural Studies
At Vanderbilt, Erin was heavily involved with Students Promoting Environmental Awareness and Responsibility (SPEAR), a student-run environmental organization. In addition, she played club soccer and spent time working at an architecture firm.
Currently, Erin works as an architect and takes a garden education training program in Oakland, California.
“I am no longer frightened by the concept of globalization, for this world implies the global spread of ideas. There exist so many wonderful cultures and innovations around the world that can improve quality of life, how could this be a bad thing? What scares me is the unilateral injection of ideas, where one part of the globe is telling everyone else how to live and what to value.”
— Erin Feeney, 2007-08
TRAVEL STORIES
I would highly recommend joining Servas to all Fellows. It is an international hospitality organization that was founded to promote cross cultural understanding. You can host or travel for a day or as many nights has you like. Great people!!
Nothing will humble you like traveling to a country like China in your final months of traveling. Just when you think you are a pro at getting around, communicating, and connecting with locals...China will prove you wrong!! So go.
Most difficult food encounters: Thailand. Ate soup made with a snake freshly caught out of a rice patty and had some sort of cow stomach dish that I could not bring myself to swallow (spit into napkin when host looked away).
ITINERARY
Italy
Spain
France
Germany
Sweden
United Kingdom
Ecuador
Peru
Argentina
Chile
Brazil
Mexico
Tanzania
Mozambique
China
Thailand
