Travis Wells

I am excited to be apart of the MIIS Summer Peacebuilding Program! I moved to Monterey in 2016 from Sacramento, CA where I lived most of my life. While I prefer Sacramento weather and people, I enjoy Monterey for long walks on the beach, cooking, and outdoor activities like kayaking and hiking. I am a firm believer of contributing to your community using higher education. Many of my interest stem from my experiences as a Chamoru and the values that form my people’s indigenous culture. I transferred to MIIS from a Sacramento community college in 2016 to complete my BA/MA in International Policy & Development, and graduate Spring of 2019. My interests include the examination & decolonization of colonial systems specifically in indigenous and Oceanic communities. Due to its heavily colonized history, there are numerous examples or highlights in the immediate past and present that have spark my interest in this course. I am very much interested in forms of trauma healing and applying that tool to heavily colonized societies (such as Guåhan), I believe may help both my and other indigenous communities heal and begin to pave our way forward in the future.