Spotsylvania woman traveled 18 hours to talk for 20 minutes

By AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Date published: 7/30/2006

Linda Larkin, Germanna site coordinator for the University of Richmond weekend campus, presented excerpts from her dissertation in Bangkok, Thailand, earlier this month.

Larkin, a Spotsylvania County resident, received her Ph.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2004. Her dissertation asked, "What is the meaning of security?"

A friend thought the topic would be perfect for a seminar produced by the International Society for Third-Sector Research. The organization focuses on nonprofit groups. Its conference was titled "Civil Society and Human Security: Raum Jai." Larkin said "raum jai" is a Thai phrase that means sincere altruism.

Larkin's paper included information about nonprofit groups, and she found that when government and businesses fail to protect people, the third sector can step in and boost security.

Margerie Daniels, executive director for the ISTR, said Larkin's dissertation was a good fit for the seminar. About 60 percent of the papers submitted are chosen for the conference, she said. All presenters pay their own travel costs.

This was the group's seventh conference. It holds one every two years in a different location. Next year, Daniels said, the group hopes to go to Barcelona, Spain.

Larkin enjoyed this year's location in Bangkok. She was in Thailand for seven days, four at the conference and three sight-seeing. She said the Thai people treated her very well. Her hotel hosts bowed to her every morning, and everyone she met was very friendly. One school group even asked for her autograph, and Larkin signed slips of paper for each student.

She also admired the serenity she felt in Thailand. Bangkok streets were very crowded, but she never heard a honked horn. The shopping was so good, Larkin joked, that she should have brought an empty suitcase to fill with treasures.

The hardest part of the trip was deciding what to include in her talk. Larkin used 1,200 note cards writing her dissertation, which was about 300 pages. Condensing that into a 20-minute talk was a bit of a challenge. She received some help from the conference moderator, who encouraged her to focus on the 11 lessons she learned through her research.

There were 200 presenters at the seminar, Daniels said. About 260 people attended from all around the world.

"It was wonderful, just hearing all the accents," Larkin said.

She had never been to Asia before, and said she never traveled very much. But she felt that her trip was a good lesson for her students at the University of Richmond's weekend campus, a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree program at the Fredericksburg campus of Germanna Community College.

The students were supportive and even changed their schedules to accommodate Larkin's trip. The conference was scheduled for the last week of summer classes, so Larkin's students agreed to start and end school a week early.

In return, Larkin shared her photo album and her example.

"I always talk about stepping out of your comfort zone, and this is a chance for them to see me doing that," she said. "I'm so glad I did it."

To reach AMY FLOWERS UMBLE: 540/735-1973
Email: aumble@freelancestar.com

Date published: 7/30/2006