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Fulbright Program Sends Students and Faculty Around the World
April 30, 2015
April 30, 2015
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Senior Shelby Beem, a biochemistry major with biology and German minors, is the 12th Southwestern student in the past 10 years to be selected for a 2015-16 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Germany. She has been offered a teaching position and would represent the U.S. as a cultural ambassador, helping to enhance mutual understanding between Americans and the people of Germany.
Associate Professor of German Erika Berroth has been Beem’s mentor, working with her on the Fulbright application. Her faculty adviser, Professor of Biology Ben Pierce, and Southwestern Director of Fellowships and Scholarships David Gaines also played a part in the process. Beem joins 11 alumni of the German program who were awarded Fulbright Fellowships to Germany or Austria: 2008 graduates Brian Gingrich, Amy Tanguay and Chelsea Edge, 2009 graduates Erin Osterhaus, Carolyn Acker and Jamie Falconnier, 2010 graduates Zach Zeman, Emily Gutzmer and Tanlyn Roelofs, and 2012 graduates Lauren Radell and Rory Jones.
Senior Lauren Gieseke, a history major with a political science minor, is the second Southwestern student to receive a 2015-16 Fulbright U.S. Student Award. She has been selected as an English Teaching Assistant to Shumen, Bulgaria, where she will teach English at a high school for foreign languages. Gieseke says Gaines, along with her academic adviser, Assistant Professor of History Melissa Byrnes, and Jessica Hower, assistant professor of history, were instrumental in the process.
Gaines explains that for the The Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which provides grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant Programs, only one of about 12-15 applicants is considered for an award, and only half of those students are nationally recommended. Recommended students interview with the various countries’ embassies and then the selections are sent back to Washington, D.C.
Professor of Religion Elaine Craddock whose areas of expertise include Hinduism, feminism and religion, Tamil literature, and religion and the body, was selected for a 2015-16 Fulbright Scholar Award. She will conduct research in India during the spring 2016 semester.
The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by then-Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and currently operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.
The Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Approximately 310,000 people have participated in the program since its inception.