Corey Walker
Atlanta, Georgia
1st Year
After one year at a southern university, Corey transferred to Sarah Lawrence with plans to study writing, literature and law. A yearlong course in Beginning French laid what would become important groundwork for further study, and his First-Year Studies course—a workshop in poetry— led him to enroll in another poetry workshop the following year.
2nd Year
During the summer before his second year, while teaching on Long Island, Corey created a film called The Negro’s Dark or the Negro’s Dark, based on interviews with students from a nearby private academy. The film has been shown multiple times on campus. Combining his interest in film with continued study of French, Corey took From Text to Screen: French Culture and Literature in Film. In addition to exploring courses in poetry, literature and psychology, he became exposed to sociology through the "truly formative" course Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties.
3rd Year
First semester of junior year, Corey studied abroad through the Sarah Lawrence in Paris program, improving his language skills in a translation course and gaining historical background in a course called France and Africa in the 20th Century. In second semester, he enrolled in the School for International Training’s program in Dakar, Senegal. "I studied and interviewed Senegalese veterans who fought for France during World War II and in Indochina," he says. That spring, he was selected as a Georgia state finalist for the nationally competitive Truman Scholarship.
"My time here has given me the opportunity to express what I’ve learned creatively and analytically while teaching me that the two lenses can be used at the same time."
4th Year
In senior year, a multidisciplinary course on the African diaspora tied much of Corey’s studies together—and led to a conference project drawing on his interest in film. And independent study with the professor of that class not only resulted in his creating a one-act play, but also convinced Corey to pursue graduate work in Africana studies. "After graduation, I’ll intern with the Congressional Black Caucus, and I’ve applied to teach English in France," he says. After that, he’ll be in a position to pursue any number of directions—with law, politics and teaching vying for the top of his list.
Sample Courses:
First-Year Studies: Poetry
Discrete Mathematics: A Gateway to Advanced Mathematics
Art in Paris in the 19th Century
France and Africa in the 20th Century
Nonfiction Workshop: The Art of Fact
20th Century Europe
Extracurricular Involvement:
Volunteer, Community Partnership’s Right to Write Program
Study-abroad student in Paris
Study-abroad student in Dakar, Senegal
Tour guide, minority student recruitment intern and senior interviewer, Sarah Lawrence Admission Office
Tutor, America Reads program, Yonkers Public Library
Chair, Student Senate
Residential adviser

