Scholar Films
Harun's most recent film, In the Name of the Son, is based on his experiences growing up in wartime Bosnia
Joel Dabu
"Before I had a computer, I had pencils and sheets of typewriter paper taped together to form map-sized parchments on which I would plan my dream city."
- Alumni of: 2002 Graduate Scholarship Program
- Resides: Ann Arbor, MI
- Hometown: Norfolk, VA
- Age: 31
- Four-year College or University: George Washington University
- Graduate School: New York University
- Academic/Career Pursuits: Business, Entrepreneur / Independent Business, Government, Public Policy, Transportation, Urban Design / City Planner
- Other Interests: Architecture, Design, Foreign Languages / International Study, Government, Nonprofits, Performing Arts / Theatre
Biography
The son of immigrant Filipino parents, Joel Dabu grew up in an atmosphere "filled with the love and support that often accompanies life in a close-knit Catholic family." Encouraged to try new endeavors during his school years, Joel says that his intellectual interests and hobbies "changed almost every week." One passion that endured is evidenced by the sketches of buildings and maps of fictional cities that still fill a trunk in Joel's old childhood bedroom - portending his future ambition to become an urban planner.
Another great love has been the cello. "Playing a musical instrument shaped my life in more ways than most people would credit music education for," Joel says. Through his involvement with various orchestras, including the Virginia Symphony Youth Orchestra, Joel's eyes were opened to the world outside his boyhood home of Virginia Beach - as he performed in cities up and down the East Coast.
In recent years, Joel has become intimately familiar with the Clarendon community in which he lives by interning for the Clarendon Alliance. He has done everything from "maintaining the community web page to talking with local business owners." In the process, he has learned that "true community" is found "not just in a Starbucks coffee shop, but in the homeless man on the streets, at the grocery store, at the farmer's market, and the many other institutions that define the character of a place."
Regarding his fascination with architecture and urban planning, Joel says, "America's cities need intelligent and dynamic leadership to educate and inform the populace and help turn the tide against unplanned sprawl. I would like that opportunity."
He sees in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area a vast laboratory of successful and unsuccessful solutions, and ongoing dilemmas, in urban planning - from the "automobile-centric" sprawl of Tyson's Corner to the "littered streets lined with ramshackle buildings" that lie in the shadow of the Capitol dome. He remains awed by "Pierre L'Enfant's plan for a grand capital city of a fledgling nation" and by "the breathtaking views of the National Mall."
Joel thinks it is a shame that "there is not a full-fledged, nationally recognized urban planning degree program in the District of Columbia." His long-term goal is to become a professor of urban planning and one day help to establish a department of urban planning at "one of Washington's excellent institutions of higher education."
In this capacity, he says, he can use his knowledge and abilities to help mold new leaders in the field "to better this dynamic city which I ultimately hope to call home."
Other Scholars Like Joel
Ryan Baril
College Scholar
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dung Le
Graduate Scholar
University of California-Los Angeles
Hilary Glazer
Graduate Scholar
Washington University in St. Louis
Zoe Worrell
Graduate Scholar
University of Maryland