Students Meet with Senator Mitchell
Following the 2018 Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability, Senator Mitchell spent an hour talking with students at the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions. A wide range of questions were asked and topics discussed, including the Senator’s pivotal role in brokering the Good Friday Agreement of the Northern Ireland peace process. But kicking off the discussion was a roundtable introduction by students and questions from the Senator about their backgrounds and their academic and career goals.
Below are takeaways from three of the students attending — Ph.D. students Brie Berry and Sonja Birthisel, and Master’s student Bea Van Dam.
Says Berry, “Senator Mitchell described how important context and emotions are in the policy process. He discussed how we need to understand the circumstances and particular histories of events to really understand them
As an anthropologist, I was thrilled to hear this. So much of my own research is about trying to fill in the context that is missing from other approaches. It was gratifying to hear that level of nuance. Hearing that also made me think about potential opportunities to inform policy with qualitative research, like the research I conduct. The meeting gave me renewed confidence in our elected officials, and helped me see connections between research and policy.”
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“I really appreciated that the Senator seemed genuinely interested in what we as students were doing,” says Birthisel. “His belief in 
our work and in our potential was palpable and gave me hope that each of us can indeed be part of real solutions to challenges we see in the world. I also really appreciated his focus on listening and dialog as necessary for moving toward peace and understanding.”
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And, notes Van Dam, “My single biggest impression was how immensely thoughtful he is. He gave careful consideration to the questions that students asked, then gave deep, detailed responses that addressed the wide range of issues that were brought forward, interspersed with knowledge from his own experiences. The twelve of us had the privilege of an audience with an American statesman of the sort we’re sorely missing today, and getting the chance to interact with him in that setting was both an honor and an inspiration.”