KATHLEEN RUSSELL
2012-13 Traveling Fellow
Sustainable Transportation and the Future of Our Cities: A Global Discussion
An investigation into the role of transportation around the world, particularly through a lens of quality of life and equity of access.
Vanderbilt Article: Citizen of the world, ambassador by default
Hometown: Saint Louis, MO
Majors: Human and Organizational Development (Public Policy) & Earth and Environmental Sciences
At Vanderbilt, Kathleen was a Peabody and received the Excellence in Public Policy Award in 2012. In addition, she was named both a Global Scholar Fellow and Summer Research Fellow in 2011.
ITINERARY
Denmark
United Kingdom
France
Switzerland
Turkey
UAE
South Africa
Namibia
Zambia
Tanzania
India
Singapore
Malaysia
Thailand
Cambodia
Vietnam
Indonesia
Philippines
Japan
China
Canada
Colombia
Panama
Swinging into the Tungurahua Volcano in Ecuador.
“The fellowship left an indelible imprint on my soul and remains one of the most pivotal experiences of my life. I cannot imagine my personhood without it, and its mark is identifiable in every aspect of my life, from my career to my cross-cultural marriage and dual citizen son. There is a sense of self and understanding that is born from the experience of solo travel and global immersion - an experience I recommend to everyone I meet to this day. I grew more in that one year than many do in a decade, particularly through the lenses of both self and global understanding. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity.”
— Kathleen Russell, 2012-13
TRAVEL STORIES
I will never forget wandering the lazy inlets of the Mekong Delta on Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, with my thoughts drifting to its bloody history when I heard voices calling. I turned to meet them. Nothing could have been more of a contrast to my 1968 imaginings than the eager and smiling faces unexpectedly welcoming my companions and me into their modest home. We cooked together, ate together, and celebrated the New Year. We didn’t speak Vietnamese, and they didn’t speak English. But a smile goes a long way.
I will never forget the generosity of Mustafa and Ramazan at their home in Turkey. Though Mustafa had spent a few months in the United States, Ramazan had never met an American. Over our freshly caught fish and homegrown vegetables, Mustafa translated as he questioned me about past and present U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. I felt the weight of my words, far greater than anything I had ever written in an essay or spoken in a class debate, for they were determining a man’s perception of a nation. I realized that I had become an ambassador by default.
I will never forget the strong, protective hand grabbing my arm, rescuing me from a sea of piranha taxi drivers pulling in every direction, eager to take advantage of an out-‐of-‐place mzungu in the middle of the night in Tanzania. The Malawian woman whisked me away to safety, cursing the taxis and cursing our driver for forcing me off the bus. In that moment, at the end of a cross-‐continent overland journey full of mishaps, I saw the truth of my travels: I would only succeed so long as the world carried me.
Despite traveling solo, I was by no means alone. Strangers became friends. They taught me, and I taught them. I was fully immersed in the transcendental power of relationship, the ability to connect beyond culture, beyond language, and beyond preconceptions.
Russell photographed four women in matching saris as they watched the waves crash into the rocky beach of Pondicherry, India, the "Riviera of the East."
That, I learned, is the point of everything: To touch the world and to embrace humanity: fully, resolutely, without reservation.