Amy Biedermann Awarded Humanity in Action John Lewis Fellowship

The Graduate College is delighted to announce that Amy Biedermann, doctoral student in the adult, professional, and community education program, has received a 2020 Humanity in Action John Lewis Fellowship. This one-year experiential fellowship brings together cohorts of university students and recent graduates from Europe and the United States to explore histories of discrimination and resistance, as well as contemporary issues affecting minority groups. After a one-month residency, fellows develop and implement projects to address social justice issues in their own communities during the remainder of the fellowship year. While the John Lewis Fellowship residency typically takes place during the summer in Atlanta, Georgia, the program decided to conduct this year's residency virtually so that fellows could maintain necessary social distance during the current global pandemic, while still experiencing the social engagement and transformation that are integral to the Humanity in Action Fellowship.

Amy is Texas State's first-ever recipient of this prestigious award. This fellowship recognizes her potential as a social justice leader and coalition-builder and the anticipated social impact of her future professional and activist work. Congratulations Amy!

What is your brief academic history?
I attended Texas State for my Bachelor of Arts in history (2007) and graduated summa cum laude with honors. I attended Tulane University for my Master of Science in international development (2013). I am now a fourth-year Ph.D. student at Texas State in the College of Education’s adult, professional, and community education (APCE) program.

Who is your research advisor? 
Dr. Michael O’Malley, dean of the College of Education

How did you become interested in your field? 
I lived and worked in New Orleans for five years before returning to San Marcos to begin my Ph.D. My experiences there working in nonprofits, supporting social justice projects, and facilitating cultural competency training for students and volunteers made the APCE program at Texas State a good fit for me. I love the program’s focus on nonformal education and the curricular emphasis on community development and critical pedagogy. The faculty in the program also have many active international research projects that I am able to support, which is how I became involved with the College of Education’s work in Chile.

What is your current area of research, and what significance does it hold for your field and for society? 
I have two lines of research.

The first concerns my dissertation work in Chile. My research explores the ways in which Chilean women engage in social activism to challenge sexism and harassment in universities.  My study also explores counter-narratives that coexist within this movement that may be obscured by issues of power and privilege. This research is a part of a larger, decades-long story arc of democracy-building in Chile that provides the rest of the world an example of how progressive social change can be achieved.

My other line of research focuses on mental illness advocacy as part of diversity and inclusion frameworks and trauma-informed approaches to teaching adults—applied work I have conducted in partnerships with local agencies and social service organizations. As a scholar-activist, my goal for this research is to affect change in the way we support adults who have experienced trauma by implementing trauma-informed support systems in classrooms, workplaces, and community settings.

What intersections do you see between the HIA fellowship and your research? 
Transnational allyship is the cornerstone of both Humanity in Action's work and my own work and research in Chile. I plan to use what I'm learning during my fellowship year about intersectional approaches to fighting injustice to shape how I engage with the women I talk to for my dissertation research and how I represent their stories.  Thinking critically about researcher positionality is central to my study, and working within my international John Lewis Fellowship cohort has helped me learn (and unlearn) important lessons about being an active ally and co-conspirator.

Do you currently hold any assistantships or other positions related to your field of study?
I hold a Doctoral Research Assistant position through which I serve as the Coordinator for Texas State's College of Education Programs in Chile. In this role, I conduct outreach to our educational partners in Chile and speak to Chilean students interested in studying at Texas State. The College of Education at Texas State has a long history of engagement in Chile, and I support initiatives like last fall’s 100,000 Strong in the America’s exchange program that brought 9 Chilean undergraduates to our campus to study alongside Texas State education majors.

What did you learn about the process of applying for the HIA Fellowship program and what do you think contributed to your selection as an awardee?
I learned that group interviews are an entirely different animal than traditional interviews!  My tips for anyone faced with a group interview scenario include keeping your responses brief (my number one piece of advice), taking notes of everyone’s names and responses so you can use these in your own answers to demonstrate active listening, engaging the other interviewees before the interview starts to model collegiality, and maintaining a sense of collegiality throughout the interview by smiling and listening intently to the other candidates. It’s important to not view them as competition—all of you might advance, after all—and demonstrate to the interviewers how well you can work with other people.

I think I was selected because I spent a lot of time and energy on my application materials and was very prepared for the virtual group interview thanks to The Graduate College's external funding coordinators, Dr. Brian Smith and Dr. Andrea Hilkovitz!

What advice would you give to future applicants?
Start early! The application is intense, and the word limit for each prompt is really challenging. I spent several days editing my responses to meet the word limits, so beginning the application early is critical.

It’s important to be genuine and self-reflective in the HIA application to acknowledge the challenges you might experience during the fellowship. It’s also important to cultivate a strong brand for yourself that connects your passions and communicates what you value. My experience in social justice work is broad; I’ve worked in affordable housing, public health, higher education, and national service, but the common thread among all these experiences is a focus on inclusive and equitable community development and women’s rights.  It was important to weave this narrative throughout my application to present a clear picture of myself as a potential fellow to the review committee.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.