Editor’s Note: Welcome to a new GOHWP blog series! In each Member Spotlight, GOHWP members will participate in brief interviews with each other in order to facilitate connections and collaborations. Our first Spotlight features Nicole Brewer, a new student member from the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA) program. Read more about Nicole below! If you would like to participate in a Spotlight interview as an interviewer or subject, please contact the Editor at behrend@gwu.edu.
I first learned about the Global Organisation for Humanitarian Work Psychology (GOHWP), while researching humanitarian programs and networks on LinkedIn this past year. I’m currently transitioning from the field of ESL English as a Second Language teacher from the past several years abroad in countries such as South Korea and Oman. I’m interested in the non-profit field working with children in various capacities.
While researching International Humanitarian graduate programs, I came across the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA) Erasmus Mundus program in Europe. The MA program is a joint masters program with 7 partner Universities across Europe from Dublin, Ireland to where I currently study in Bochum, Germany. What attracted me to the program was its’ practical and hands on approach field of study. We have had guest lecturers visit from within the field from organizations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement and the European Commission ECHO. Additionally, just within the first semester of our program I’ve attended several seminars and workshops giving us the opportunity to learn from leaders in the Humanitarian Action field.
The NOHA program as well has partner Universities throughout the globe and I will be a visiting scholar this summer at our partner school in the Western Cape, South Africa researching about gender based violence in the region. As a globe trotter and travel writer of a wonderful blog entitled I Luv 2 Globe Trot, this amazing program where I learn from various individuals and study with unique students from around the world was the best fit for me.