Trent student awarded Rhodes Scholarship
Low heading to Oxford in England to continue studies
Trent University international student Joshua (Yee Aung) Low has been named a 2019 Oxford University Rhodes Scholar.
Low, a fourth-year international development studies (IDS) and international political economy student, applied for the Rhodes Scholarship hoping to be accepted at the University of Oxford in the refugee and forced migration studies master’s program.
Low focused on forced migration issues, human rights theory and practice, and citizenship theory at Trent.
In a press release from Trent, Low credits the university and its faculty for supporting his efforts.
“At Trent, professors care about you both personally and intellectually,” he said. “Studying international development, I have loved the intellectual challenge and the tight-knit community of the program.”
He graduates from Trent in the spring.
“One of the first things that strikes one about Joshua is his genuine intellectual curiosity. This is about ideas, but also much more,” stated Chris Beyers, professor of international development studies at Trent.
“He continually seeks insight into how people think and act, in social, economic, and political contexts, as well as in everyday life. The other thing is that his approach to knowledge is not exclusive; rather, he looks to engage in dialogue so as to be able to think in new ways about matters of mutual interest or concern.”
Trent International helped fund his trip home to Malaysia where he completed his final interview.
The Rhodes Scholarship, founded in 1902 recognizes students with committed to fostering international understanding.
While at Trent, Low served as co-chairman of World University Service Canada (WUSC) and oversaw its Student Refugee Program, which sponsors tertiary education and resettlement for refugees in Lebanon, Kenya, Jordan and other locations.
He spent his third year studying abroad through the Trent-inEcuador program, and interned as a legal advocate at Asylum Access Ecuador in northern Ecuador.
He has received the Global Citizen Scholarship, the Leonard Connolly Award for outstanding contribution to the refugee community and more.
Low is the fifth Trent student to be named a Rhodes Scholar. Previous recipients include: Shelagh Scarth ’74 (Canadian Studies and History), Jim Retallack ’74 (History), Alison Van Rooy ’86 (Politics and International Development Studies), and Kai Alderson ’90 (Philosophy).
Alderson is a lawyer specializing in climate change law. Van Rooy is the deputy director of Development Policy Planning at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. Retallack is an author and professor at the University of Toronto. Scarth is a lawyer and member of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Other past recipients of a Rhodes Scholarship include former prime minister John Turner, former premier Bob Rae, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, astronomer Edwin Hubble and author Naomi Wolf.