2009 Argentina Leaders: Karen Russell and Matt HollanderKAREN RUSSELL: Northwestern University, B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, English Literature & Spanish, Columbia University, M.F.A. While at Northwestern University, Karen studied abroad in Spain at the Universidad de Sevilla, where she was a member of the government-sponsored Solidarios volunteer program participating in leadership seminars in Jerez de la Frontera and Cádiz alongside dozens of Spanish teenagers. Karen currently teaches as an adjunct English professor at Williams College and Columbia University. She will be a Cullman Center Fellow at the New York Public Library for 2009-10. Her story collection, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," was published by Knopf in 2007 and was named a Best Book by the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Chicago Tribune. Her stories have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, Conjunctions, Best American Short Stories, and the New York Times. Her novel, “Swamplandia!,” is forthcoming from Knopf/Random House. This will be Karen's fifth summer leading with Putney. She has led two Language Learning programs in Spain, a Cultural Exploration program in Australia, New Zealand, & Fiji, and Putney’s Creative Writing program in Cuba. Karen is fluent in Spanish.
MATT HOLLANDER: Vanderbilt University, B.A., Spanish, magna cum laude; Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, M.Ed., Special Education. While at Vanderbilt, Matt worked as a radio DJ and began an initiative mentoring young adults with Down syndrome. He also participated in his university’s Alternative Spring Break program, volunteering as a tutor on the Lakota Sioux reservation in South Dakota, and working with hurricane relief and advocacy for Haitian and Cuban refugees in Miami. He led a program in Dallas, TX, as a hippotherapist – enabling students with special needs to gain confidence and joy through working with horses. Matt studied abroad in Santiago, Chile, where he had the opportunity to travel extensively throughout the country, helping local communities build homes while furthering his Spanish skills. After receiving his Masters degree, Matt moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he worked as the International Programs Coordinator for Un Techo Para Mi Pais to build 17 houses with over 150 university students from the U.S., Canada, France, Israel, Argentina, and Uruguay. After 14 months in Uruguay, Matt started a grassroots tutoring company in Nashville, TN, with a focus on cultural identity/diversity in urban schools. Matt is a published author in the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences for his research on Hispanic acculturation in urban schools. Matt currently works at a middle school in Evanston, IL, as a bilingual special educator, where he also coaches boy’s basketball. He is a Putney Student Travel alumnus. As a high school student, Matt participated in a Putney Community Service Program in Costa Rica. He is fluent in Spanish.
