Fulbright fellow researches impact of mining in Philippines

A gaping hole in the ground, and piles of rock and rubble, were all that remained of the remote section of mountain in the Philippines. The land, which formerly supported nearby villagers, stands ruined, bulldozed and stripped of its trees. Since August, Ligaya McGovern has witnessed the results of corporate mining in her native country, talked to the people impacted, and prepared to tell their stories to the world.

Read more about Ligaya McGovern

Jessica McHugh, B.S. '17, Sociology

“With a sociology degree, you can do pretty much anything because you learn so much about how society functions and why people do the things they do; I think that’s needed in every field. The thing I took away the most from studying sociology here was the professors. They weren’t just teaching out of a textbook, they brought real-world experience to it and really had a lot of insight and knowledge on the topic and were able to help us understand. If we were writing research and we didn’t know what to do or how it related to real-life events, they were able to bring that to life for us.”

Marisha Rigle, Current Sociology Student

"There’s just a lot of different things you can do with sociology. I’ve gotten more opportunities for research. I’ve done a lot of research on my own and I’m getting ready to do research with a faculty member. You really get to work one-on-one with the professors and faculty. It gives you a lot of opportunities to show what you’ve done and work with people in your field before you make it out there and start working. I want to do counseling and bereavement and mental health; I want my focus to be in suicide prevention. Part of the research I’ve started to do now has to do with that so eventually I would like to work for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention would be my main goal."

Nikki Brown, B.S. '17, Sociology

"I knew that I wanted to help people in some way and to make a difference and it sounds really cheesy and I don’t want it to but that’s what I wanted to do. I chose sociology and you can do a lot with that degree. You can work with any population you want. It’s made me more open-minded and helped me look at the world through other people’s eyes, not just mine. It’s made me more conscious of global issues. I was accepted to IUPUI’s Sociology program for my master’s degree."