Ardeta Gjikola

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“I became convinced that in order to live to be a scientist, and not to merely have that profession, I needed to become aware of the historical and philosophical underpinnings of science.”

  • Program: 2008 Graduate Scholarship Recipient
  • Hometown: Tirana, Albania

Biography

PROFILE: Ardeta Gjikola recalls a day several years ago when she had to study for a physics exam and was unable to join her friends bringing supplies to the Kosovo refugees who were staying in a camp on the outskirts of Tirana. “I often ponder why I chose one over the other and realize that it takes more than just hearing about, or being aware of other people’s suffering. There is a gap between experience and what words can transmit, but this gap becomes even more unbridgeable when the hearer chooses to hear and yet not to carefully listen.”
Ardeta listens, and understands more words than most. Fluent in Italian and Turkish as well as her native Albanian and now English, she also reads French and Latin. Today, as her interest in cell and molecular biology has evolved into a passion for the history of science, she continues to seek answers for practical application. “It behooves historians of science not only to produce work that is addressed to a circle larger than that of like-minded scholars, but also to consult policy makers.”
INSPIRATION: Ardeta’s parents taught her there is nothing more important than learning. “When schools were closed for several months during the 1997 unrest in Albania, our house became a haven of learning not only for me and my siblings, but also for some of our neighbors.”
ASPIRATION: Ardeta is pursuing her Ph.D. to become a historian of science.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Ardeta has volunteered as an usher for the University Musical Society and the Royal Shakespeare Company, in addition to volunteering as a research assistant. She also tutored Turkish at University of Michigan.
ACCOLADES: At University of Michigan, Ardeta received the Charles and Myrl Hucker Prize for the best undergraduate paper in Chinese studies, and took second place in the Context for Classics Translation Award, for Latin. She has also been awarded a Presidential Scholarship from Harvard University.
INTERESTING FACT: Ardeta enjoys collecting the engravings of old Istanbul.

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