KIP Student Feature – Baiden Wright
Baiden Wright (CAS’22) has a passion for protecting human rights, and as an International Relations major hopes to pursue a career advocating for immigrants and refugees. This summer she is interning with BU’s Initiative on Forced Displacement and in this feature, she tells us more about what her internship this summer entails, how this work relates to social justice, and how Kilachand has helped prepare her for the work she is doing this summer.
Q&A with Baiden Wright
Could you give us a brief description of the organization you are interning with and what your primary responsibilities are during this internship?
The Initiative on Forced Displacement provides a platform for research, pedagogy, and global engagement in an innovative and truly interdisciplinary manner. As an intern, I will provide support on planning and facilitating the IFD’s summer course, as well as conducting research, drafting grant proposals, and writing for their monthly newsletter.
How will your internship fulfill the goals of social justice?
The IFD does truly amazing work that addresses the challenges faced by migrants and refugees. Through this internship, I will be able to contribute to research and projects that hopefully make a difference both by raising awareness and brainstorming potential interventions in our target contexts.
Has the work you have done so far during your internship changed how you think about social justice?
I have learned how vast many human rights challenges are, and how many intertwined problems the issue of forced displacement causes. The one thing that has really resonated with me is that you can’t truly fix anything, so you must work with the intention of doing as much good as you can.
How has the Kilachand coursework helped prepare you for the work you are doing during your internship?
The IFD’s work is tied very closely to the curriculum of HC302. Major course themes like ethics and design thinking are prevalent in the work done by our team (and I get to work with Dr. Preston and Dr. Zaman, who co-taught the course!)
Learn more about the Kilachand Internship Program here.