Fortunata Songora
Sociology
University of Minnesota

I am a fourth year doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. My areas of interests are political sociology, globalization, Social Welfare and Historical Sociology. I am a native of Tanzania, and I received B.A. Sociology at the University of Dar Salaam-Tanzania 1997 where I concentrated in Medical Sociology. I received a M. Sc Social Responsibility at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota in 2000 and my thesis was a case study of St, Cloud State University on gender differences in advancement opportunities for staff at large institutions, policies and outcomes.

Prior to join the graduate school, I worked as a research assistant for the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF). Through working at ESRF I was involved in various projects which triggered my interest on the impact of international policies and treaties in the welfare system of children and elders in Tanzania. One of my major accomplishments while working in Tanzania was an opportunity to be involved in drafting Development Vision 2025 for Tanzania in which I worked for the secretariat. The Vision was launched by the president in 2000. The experience I got during this process was very crucial to my interest to study the role of international organizations in policy design and implementation in countries like Tanzania. In my dissertation research on “Tanzanian Reaction to Conflicting International Discourses on the Welfare of Children and the Elderly” I inquire into the neo-liberal agenda imposed on the developing countries through structural adjustment programs and the role of other human rights oriented international institutions play in affecting Tanzanian decision to develop social welfare programs for children and elders. I also seek to understand how contradictions between international policies and local traditions and cultures regarding the welfare of children and elders play out in Tanzania and the effects of these contradictions in disrupting peace and security.

I have also worked as both a researcher and a teaching assistant at universities and research institutes. At St. Cloud State University I was a research assistant managing the Commission on that Status of Women where I conducted a climate study for women staff at the university. My Masters thesis is part of this project. I have also worked on various research projects at the University of Dar Es Salaam and Center for Energy, Environment, Science and Technology in Tanzania. I am currently working as a research assistant on project titled “Experiences of East African Immigrants and Refugees in Minnesota.” I am overall coordinator on the project (which includes two faculty members, four graduate students and three undergraduate students). I have submitted a co-authored paper on the Social Problems with Katja Gunther and Sadie Pendaz based on the data collected for this project titled “Coalescing Constructs: Intersecting Systems of Identity and Inequality among East African Immigrants.” I have a co-authored publication with Elizabeth Heger Boyle and Gail Foss, in Social Problems, 2001 Vol. 48, No.4, pages 524-544; titled “International Discourse and Local Politics: Anti- Female Genital Cutting Laws in Egypt, Tanzania and the United States.” I have also presented my work in several local and international conferences.

I have received several awards, honors and fellowships including Compton Peace Fellowship from the Macarthur Program, Dunn Peace Scholarship-Office of International Programs University of Minnesota- 2003, MacArthur Doctoral Scholar Fellowship from MacArthur Program–2002, MacArthur Predissertation Fieldwork Grant-2002, Department of Sociology Professional Development Travel Grant-2002, Excellence in Leadership Award at St. Cloud State University-2000, Who is Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges-2000 and Outstanding in Leadership at the University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania-1997.