Tara Slough

Tara Slough, a senior at Rice University from of Portage, Mich., is pursuing dual undergraduate degrees in violin performance and political science. Passionate about music outreach, Tara taught music to kindergarteners in Costa Rica as a Loewenstern Fellow, founded Rice Outreach for Music Education and taught a Rice course on music outreach. As a Parish Fellow, she conducted independent research in Caracas, Venezuela, on El Sistema social development through music education program for her honors thesis. She also has interned for the U.S. Department of State, the Baker Institute, the Kinder Institute for Urban Research and the Global Initiative for Cultural Diplomacy. Tara has competed in international competitions and performed recitals across the United States as a member of the Civetta String Quartet. She intends to pursue graduate studies in international relations or international development.

In summer 2010 in Washington, D.C., Tara assisted Amb. Cynthia Schneider of the Global Initiative for Cultural Diplomacy in comparative research on the many cultural diplomacy projects of governments all around the world. She presented the results of her research, “Cultural Diplomacy: Counteracting Misunderstandings Between the United States and the Muslim World,” at the Baker Institute in August 2010. Tara was recommended for participation in the program by sociology professor Stephen Klineberg and is from McMurtry College. Since spring 2010 Tara has also assisted scholars of the Institute for Urban Research at Rice, preparing a study of arts and culture projects done by local governments, and helping construct a fall 2010 survey of the arts in Houston.