Caren Freeman

Caren Freeman is a cultural anthropologist and co-founder of the Citizen Leader Fellowship, a joint effort between the International Studies Office, the Contemplative Sciences Center, and Athletics. The purpose of the fellowship is to give year-long mentorship and training to international students, transfer students, and student athletes who want to make positive change within the University and/or the wider Charlottesville community. Candidates are chosen on the basis of an original project proposal to make UVA an institution where members of the communities they care about can flourish.

Through mentoring, ongoing reflective activities, and a one-credit short-course, CLF Fellows learn a combination of contemplative practices and ethnographic methods to help them translate their ideas into action. The fellowship emphasizes community-oriented initiatives, such as a recent collaboration with Monticello and Charlottesville High Schools to support aspiring student athletes in becoming active citizen leaders. Fellows emerge from the experience with tools to help them be better listeners and storytellers and more engaged participants in student life. As a result of the learning-by-doing experience, Fellows also learn to actively utilize the resources and opportunities UVA has to offer them and to practice what it means to be engaged, compassionate citizen leaders in their everyday lives.