Interview with Greg Shaw, August 2, 2023

Interview Summary

Greg Shaw served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 1990-1992. He was originally assigned to the Water Sanitation Program, but ended up doing what the community needed, which was building stoves made from clay and sand. Raised in New York and Maryland, he made his way to Oklahoma for college, earning a bachelor's degree in political science from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He was newly married when he and wife, Mollie, applied to the Peace Corps. Training was mostly in-country at the Entrena site in Los Alcarrizos. Greg and Mollie were assigned to the town of Elias Piña on the Haitian border where he worked with NGOs and women’s groups to build lorena stoves (estufas lorenas). After returning home, Greg received his masters and Ph.D. at Columbia University and moved to Illinois where he has been teaching Political Science at Illinois Wesleyan University since 1998.

Interview Keyword

Water Sanitation Program Dominican Republic 1990-2992 (dates of service) West Point Southwestern Oklahoma State University political science Columbia University Illinois Wesleyan University Elia Pina Lorena stoves Estufas lorenas NGOs Haiti Las Terrenas Samana Puerto Plata Entrena Dajabon Women’s Empowerment Public Health Oklahoma City Raul Cedras Aristide Gulf War

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