UW-Madison graduate wins Mitchell Scholarship

University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate Catherine Skroch is now part of a select group of Mitchell Scholars who will pursue postgraduate study in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Skroch, who majored in political science and international studies with an individual major in peace studies and conflict resolution and a certificate in African studies, was one of 13 applicants selected for the Mitchell Scholarship to pursue postgraduate study in Ireland. She will be getting her master’s in international relations at Queen’s University in Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Winning the scholarship came as somewhat of a surprise, says Skroch, a 2009 graduate.

“It’s a humongous blessing, one that I wasn’t really expecting, and I’m excited to see where it takes me but I know there’s a million pieces that fell into place to put me there,” Skroch says. “I owe a lot of people a lot and I hope I can one day repay them for their kindness.”

Roughly 300 applicants vied for one of 12 spots to pursue post-graduate study at universities in Ireland for the 2012-2013 academic year. The scholarship was created in 2001 to honor Sen. George J. Mitchell and his role as chairman of the Northern Ireland peace talks.

Studying in Ireland has long been a goal of Skroch’s due to the chance to observe post-conflict reconstruction firsthand.

“I’m interested in post conflict reconstruction, as in, once a conflict or trauma has taken place, how does society begin to rebuild? It was important for me to see that actually happening on the ground, and what better place than a location that is surmounting its own conflict,” Skroch says.

Skroch is no stranger to life abroad. A Franklin, Wis. native, Skroch is the child of missionaries and lived in the Philippines as a child. She speaks French, Arabic and Wolof, a language spoken by the Wolof people in Senegal.

Skroch recently finished a Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship at the Truman National Security Project in Washington, D.C.

While at UW–Madison, Skroch visited Israel and Palestine as part of an inter-faith peace initiative. She also studied abroad in Senegal for a year, where she researched local conflict resolution strategies in the southern region of Casamance.

After graduation, Skroch was a Fulbright scholar to Morocco, where she conducted fieldwork research on Morocco’s Equity and Reconciliation Commission. She studied intensive Arabic and French, while also researching transitional justice and reconstruction.

As part of her research, she assisted doctors in caring for torture victims at a rehabilitation center. Skroch hopes to serve as an advocate for individuals who have survived conflict.

“I just want to be able to have victims know that they’re not alone and they have an advocate and I would like to be that advocate,” Skroch says.

Skroch says she is humbled by the scholarship and is eager to learn from the other scholars within the Mitchell community.

Above all, Skroch wants her new position as a Mitchell Scholar to help her in what she says is her life’s mission: to facilitate healing for victims in post-conflict areas.

“Through all my experiences I saw there are a lot of broken people in the world, but they’re not so different, and we’re all not so different from each other,” Skroch says. “I have seen the best solutions are local solutions compared to top-down policy. I know I want to be on that end of things, one ear to the ground, having these survivors sitting around my own dinner table and being able to help facilitate pragmatic solutions.”