Jean Cadigan Receives
Undergraduate International Achievement Award

4-1-96
University Park, Pa. -- Jean Cadigan, a recent Penn State graduate from Swarthmore who majored in sociology, has been awarded the 1996 Undergraduate Student International Achievement Award. She will be honored at the Student Awards Reception Monday, April 8, at 4:30 p.m. in the Nittany Lion Inn.

The award, established by Penn State's International Council, recognizes one undergraduate student for contributing significantly to the advancement of the international mission of the University.

Cadigan worked with the University of Minnesota to develop her own education abroad program that provided her with living and service experiences in African culture. Following the program, she taught physics and chemistry for eight months to the Akamba people in a rural Kenyan village.

Cadigan used her experiences in Kenya as a launch pad for her senior thesis, "Elephants, Not Goats: Tourism in Kenya," which addresses both the positive and negative implications of tourism in the country. Her research earned her the first designation of distinction given at Penn State for an honors thesis in sociology, and her thesis is currently being reviewed for publication. Cadigan also wrote "Woman-to-Woman Marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa," which is being reviewed by the Journal of Comparative Family Studies. Both papers have made a significant impact on the Penn State community, and will receive national and international attention when she presents them at a forthcoming conference.

Cadigan plans to combine her dedication to scholarship about Africa and her sensitivity to the perspectives of its peoples to pursue a graduate degree in anthropology with an emphasis in African studies.

**jmp**