August
2006
Welcome to JoshuaLevens.com
I have created this site so that family, friends and colleagues can follow the progress of my work, including but not limited to my impending Peace Corps assignment in Tanzania. As I prepare this site in anticipation of my departure, I will append materials relevant to my work in the history of science, medicine and technology, including my academic CV and my dissertation: Sex, Neurosis and Animal Behavior: the emergence of American psychobiology and the research of W. Horsley Gantt and Frank A. Beach. After I depart for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Sept. 21, 2006, I will begin to keep a blog on the course of my training in Morogoro, TZ (from Sept. through Dec. 2006) and eventually on my assignment itself, a secondary science education post at a location to be determined. In addition to my teaching position, I also anticipate that I will be involved in Peace Corps sanctioned programs in HIV/AIDS education and women and girls’ empowerment. As for my own personal interests, I plan on pursuing several lines of independent research while abroad: an historical examination of Tanzanian evolutionary biology (from the work of the Leakeys through the establishment of the Jane Goodall Institute); an anthropological investigation of Tanzanian attitudes about gender and sexuality; and a survey on the role of American philanthropic organizations in the Tanzanian health care delivery system. On this last point, I will be following with interest the construction of the largest cardiac research hospital in east Africa, to be completed over the next 18 months in Tanzania. This work will be supported in part by the efforts of the Pallavi and Kiran Patel Foundation for Global Understanding, a philanthropic organization based in my home town of Tampa, FL.
As a final note, I would like to thank Brian Hart for hosting this website and setting me up on the World Press web architecture. You can find his site at www.bbhart.com.
Thank you for your interest in my work,
Josh
Looking forward to hearing about your journey.
In the past, just prior to when my life takes a planned tangent, I like to do a brain dump of facts and feelings. Recap where I am at that moment in my life. What am I looking forward to? What am I nervous about? What do I think my days will be like?
It’s enlightening to read that blog entry a few months later and reconcile.
Great site. I am excited, proud and a little envious. Can’t wait to enjoy all the updates.
Josh,
I’m excited for you! Keep posting, we’d still like to come visit when it’s a good time.
It’s so good to hear about your host family and all you are learning. I especially like learning some kiswahili with you. Thanks for the update. We thirst for more! xoxox, other Baba
Josh!
How great to read about your African experiences! So many things you mention remind me of the time your Mom and I were in Rwanda. But of course,you will get to do so much! I can’t wait to read more!
Peace,
Cathy
Josh- Hope your surgery went well. Drop us an email. We are home & doing paperwork(taxes too). Marilyn & Lawrence Zech