Announcing the 2024 Fellows to Indonesia

This fall, we are excited to have two fellows headed to Indonesia: Yana Levy ‘24 will be based at Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh and Mia Bird ‘24 is headed to Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta.

Yana Levy (she/they) '24 majored in Religion with a minor in Politics. She is driven by a passion for community building across religious and cultural boundaries. At Oberlin, Yana worked in the multifaith and dialogue office, serving as an intern and facilitating an interfaith dialogue group. While studying abroad in Morocco, Yana explored the enduring impacts of French colonialism on the inclusion of Jews within Moroccan national identity, continuing her research in her senior thesis. Yana is the co-founder of Oberlin Young Friends, a community that provides space for reflection through weekly meetings. She has also spent a summer in Buddhist monasteries in Taiwan, enriching her exploration of religious identity. Yana's interests in food systems and sustainable agriculture led her to volunteer on farms in Portugal and Puerto Rico and participate in the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA). As a Shansi Fellow, Yana is excited to work with Syiah Kuala students who share her interest in intercultural dialogue.

Mia Bird (she/her) ‘24 majored in Biology, minored in Dance, and received an integrative concentration in Education Studies. During her time at Oberlin, Mia explored her love of performing arts through managing VIBE dance company, a student organization on campus, performing in biannual dance department concerts, and being a teaching assistant for contemporary dance classes. She has also participated in biology student research and peer tutoring for students taking biology and neuroscience courses. Passionate about improving communities through education, Mia has also tutored literacy and math students at Oberlin elementary school through the America Reads/America Counts program, and helped immigrants and refugees hone their English skills and prepare for citizenship and job opportunities in her home city of Minneapolis. She could not be more excited to partner with Shansi for the goal of deepening cross-cultural exchange through education and community engagement.