For the 14th consecutive year, �ֲ���ý has been recognized as a Top Producer of Fulbright U.S. Student awards, the U.S. Department of State announced today.

The honor, also reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education today, recognizes the college’s five Fulbrighters who are now in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Norway, Taiwan, and Thailand participating in study and research exchanges or serving as English-teaching assistants in local schools.

For 14 consecutive years — since the 2011-2012 academic year — �ֲ���ý has been named a Fulbright Student Top Producer, placing it among an elite group of just 11 undergraduate liberal arts colleges with such long-running streaks of Fulbright recognition. Twice in the past seven years, �ֲ���ý has been the No. 1 producer of Fulbright Student awards.

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 400,000 accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad.

“We are honored to be again recognized as a Top Producer of Fulbright U.S. Student awards,” �ֲ���ý President Garry W. Jenkins said. “It is a source of great pride at �ֲ���ý that so many of our outstanding students have been part of the Fulbright program. In their work and contributions abroad, these talented young alumni further �ֲ���ý’ mission of global engagement in important and meaningful ways.”

College students, and �ֲ���ý students in particular — with their curiosity and determination — have a special ability to succeed at this task, says Robert Strong, director of national fellowships at �ֲ���ý and a lecturer in English.

“The Fulbright program has chosen students specifically to be ambassadors,” Strong says. “They’re honest, they’re uncertain. They tell things like they are, and the world needs to have that explanation.”

Shortly after graduating from �ֲ���ý last spring with a major in earth and climate sciences, Jamie Hollander ’24 of Medfield, Mass., began her Fulbright study/research grant in Norway, deep in the Arctic on the Svalbard archipelago.

The area is familiar territory for �ֲ���ý folks, thanks to decades of fieldwork conducted there by Professor Emeritus of Geology Mike Retelle and his students, including Hollander, who studied in Svalbard in summer 2023.

Hollander is studying the impact of climate change on methane emissions from retreating glaciers in Svalbard. After doing field work through the University Centre in Svalbard, she has relocated to the city of Tromsø to perform lab and data analysis for the Arctic University of Norway. 

Hollander’s experience studying abroad in Svalbard and the two years she spent working alongside Charles A. Dana Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences Beverly Johnson, studying carbon storage in coastal Maine’s salt marshes, prepared her for the work.  

Located above the Arctic Circle, Svalbard is a land of extremes. The “midnight sun,” burning bright overhead when Hollander arrived, does not set from April to August. Despite the enduring sunshine, summer temperatures average around 40 degrees, and the population barely clears 2,500 people.

Hollander spent most days on Svalbard collecting water and gas samples at a remote field research site. To get there, she drove 15 minutes outside of town and then walked for two hours, repeating the same steps in reverse on the way home.

“It felt like describing a storybook adventure,” Hollander says. “It was like, ‘First you walked over the tundra, and it was really muddy and squishy, but there were a lot of flowers and reindeer, so it was cool. And then you walk, and you go through this big flat river plane, and then you have to do a river crossing.’”

Thanks to her experience in Svalbard with Retelle, Hollander knew how to dress for the weather. The sun was bright, but the winds were fierce. She often oscillated between sweating and freezing, depending on the amount of equipment she was carrying and how much she was moving. In preparation, Hollander always carried many clothing options, with layers to be added and removed as needed.

“You mix and match like a Barbie doll all day,” Hollander says. “It’s a very delicate balance that you never really figure out.”&�Բ�����;

She also never left her house without a rifle and a flare gun, necessary equipment for life alongside polar bears. As an American toting her gear, Hollander met people who were quick to make jokes about America and its guns. 

To Hollander, who was at �ֲ���ý during the October 2023 shooting in Lewiston, the jokes weren’t funny. She used them as an opportunity to further the Fulbright mission of intercultural exchange and education.

“I know the consequences of what something like this can be. That opened up a pathway for me to be very genuine and upfront with people.”

Jamie Hollander ’24

“I know the consequences of what something like this can be and what joking around like this can mean,” Hollander says. “That opened up a pathway for me to be very genuine and upfront with people. You can joke about things happening in the U.S., but this is very real to some people, too, and this is very tangible.”&�Բ�����;

Reading American headlines from afar, Hollander has had the opportunity to discuss American culture with her colleagues from other countries, who were eager to understand what was happening in the U.S. during a time of political upheaval.

Hollander has also learned from other people whose home countries were experiencing political shifts; she connected with her German colleagues, for example, when the German government entered a crisis the same week as the American presidential election.

“It’s given me the opportunity to really understand what my values are and be able to communicate them in a really genuine way,” Hollander says.

Though such conversations can be difficult, the goal of a Fulbright exchange becomes even more important when the world is wrought with change and turmoil, Strong says.

“In any moment where there’s uncertainty in the world about what the heck is going on with America, the Fulbright grantees become more valuable, even if they’re as confused as everyone else,” Strong says. “For the world to be able to hear an American take on the American situation is the whole point of Fulbright.”

Hollander has been a cultural steward in both directions. In her free time, she teaches first graders at Montello Elementary School in Lewiston about the Arctic via a classroom exchange program called . Hollander previously volunteered at Montello through the Harward Center as a Book Buddy, helping students with reading comprehension.

Now, Hollander writes blog posts about Norway for the students and video calls them, fielding questions about life in Scandinavia. Recently, a student asked if there were penguins in the Arctic and if people eat them. “The answer is no to both of those,” Hollander says. “But I like curiosity.”&�Բ�����;

Hollander also maintains a personal blog for family and friends, where she documents her work and life in Norway. 

Outside of her projects with the universities, Hollander has made the most of her time abroad. She worked as a teaching assistant for Retelle in Svalbard, the experience that inspired her Fulbright application, and served as a judge at an Arctic science poster competition for high school students. 

She is also involved with nonprofit organization Rissa Citizen Science, a group of nature advocates in Northern Norway, and has helped the nonprofit organization with project proposals, blogs, and conservation efforts around Tromsø. 

For Hollander and her fellow 2024–25 Fulbrighters, Caroline Barnes ’19, Caroline Cassell ’24, Qi Schmidt ’24, and Phoebe Stern ’24, the journey to becoming a Fulbrighter was a long and careful process, but at �ֲ���ý, applicants don’t set out alone.

“It’s amazing how much work goes into supporting an application in the best and most joyful way,” Strong says. “There’s a whole group of people who have a window on that student’s success.”

As a writing teacher, Strong knows how to tell stories and help students find them. He starts with intentional conversation; when he finds a student who is interested in applying for a Fulbright grant or another fellowship, Strong takes the time to sit down and talk with them. 

He wants to hear not only about the student’s academic achievements but also their personal interests, hobbies, and ambitions. Here, through the amalgamation of scholarship and personality, lies the narrative key to building a successful Fulbright application.

“I’ve loved to work with students and then see them succeed,” Strong says. “They’ve been completely self-motivated through the process.”

In addition to support from Strong, each Fulbright applicant at �ֲ���ý also works closely with a faculty mentor who guides them and offers feedback on application materials. As the campus application deadline nears, students present their work before a review committee.

“The faculty that are on the committee are willing to put in a level of work that is immense and give a level of care to the applications that is wonderful,” Strong says.

“The faculty are willing to put in a level of work that is immense and give a level of care to the applications that is wonderful.”

Robert Strong, director of national fellowships at �ֲ���ý and a lecturer in English.

Most Fulbright hopefuls start the application process their junior year, with goals to go abroad after their senior year, but this varies. Some students have been making preparations with Strong since attending �ֲ���ý Prologue as a high school student, and some don’t apply until after graduation; about a quarter of �ֲ���ý’ Fulbright applicants each year are alumni, who have access to the same faculty mentorship as current students. 

Like many Fulbrighters, Hollander began her application as a junior. But as the application deadline grew near, she looked over the research project she’d been designing and felt herself losing confidence.

“You really have to design your own work and design your own experience from the ground up,” Hollander says. “That was something that was daunting for me.”

Hollander turned to Strong, unsure if she should complete her application. Thanks to his encouragement that she continue on, and well-timed fieldwork experiences in Svalbard, Hollander persevered and turned in an application teeming with fresh ideas. 

All the way back in Lewiston, Strong too is a student of the world. Through supporting students’ applications, he learns about various academic fields and the countries students hope to work in. Once they’re abroad, they send postcards back to Strong’s Coram Hall office, bringing a bit of the world to �ֲ���ý.

“I sit here in Maine, and I get to learn,” Strong says. “I learn about physics. I learn about philosophy. I learn about politics. I learn about Malaysia and Indonesia. Every year I learn about these things, and then they go out into the world.”&�Բ�����;

This year’s recipients of Fulbright Student awards — one alumna and four graduating seniors —  will pursue English teaching assistant grants in Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Thailand, and research awards in Cyprus and Norway during 2024–25.

�ֲ���ý has been recognized as a Top Producer of Fulbright Student awards for 13 straight years, most recently last February.

The �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee described these five international ambassadors as positive and hardy; eager and spontaneous; adaptable, dedicated, and devoted; and one as a passionate “teacher-as-learner.”

The winners bring a wealth of international experience with deep personal ties to the nations where they’ve chosen to serve. The fact the research grant work constitutes half of �ֲ���ý’ Fulbright awards this year is a positive sign, said Robert Strong, �ֲ���ý director of national fellowships and a lecturer in English.

“�ֲ���ý has traditionally been very strong in the English teaching assistant category, so it has been wonderful to see growing numbers in research applications in recent years,” Strong said. “This year, for the first time ever at �ֲ���ý, research grants matched ETAs, and we look forward to being a leader in both categories in the years to come.”

This year’s Fulbright Student award recipients:

Caroline Barnes ’19

Caroline Barnes ’19, a double major in anthropology and in classical and medieval studies from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., earned a Fulbright study/research award for Cyprus.

Relevant Experience Includes: Worked scanning and recording excavation plans for the Department of Antiquities in the Republic of Cyprus, co-founder and co-editor of a graduate academic journal, and the academic liaison for the Canadian-Hellenic Cultural Society.

�ֲ���ý Activities Include: Varsity field hockey player; Alumni-in-Admission member.

Fulbright Research Purpose: To investigate the development of Cyprus’s first cities for a doctoral dissertation. Her work will look at both the macro-level settlement pattern changes through geographic information system (GIS) databases and analyses as well as micro-level changes to architecture at specific sites. Ultimately, Barnes hopes her work will not only contribute to a deeper understanding of Cyprus, but also challenge prevailing narratives about social complexity, urbanism, and Mediterranean archeology. 

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Cyprus: To volunteer at workshops and events hosted by the the Home for Cooperation community center and at events like the Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival, and to join a local running club.

Plans After Fulbright: To continue working on her doctoral dissertation at the University of British Columbia with the expectation of completing her dissertation in May 2025, and then publishing it soon after. 

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee Said: “Caroline is highly qualified to take on this research because of her expertise in Cypriot archaeology and the connections she has in Cyprus, namely with her affiliate, but also with multiple archaeological projects on the island. Caroline’s adaptability and maturity is demonstrated by her time living abroad in Greece and dedication to learning the Greek language. She is enthusiastic, devoted, and reliable, and will serve as an excellent steward for cultural exchange in Cyprus.”

More about Caroline Barnes: She has spent the last three years learning about Cyprus and Cypriot history, including archaeological field work and internships on the island. Barnes has cultivated relationships with both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot colleagues and she is proficient in the Greek language.

“I take pride in my capacity to bridge the gap between individuals from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds,” Barnes said.

“This is not only a skill that I have garnered from spending years away from home, but a cultural value that I exercise by building relationships and trust in the communities which I live and visit. So far, this has manifested in personal friendships in my day-to-day, and professional relationships garnered during archaeological field work.”

Caroline Cassell ’24

Caroline Cassell, a triple major in sociology, theater, and gender and sexuality studies from Woodstock, Vt., earned a Fulbright English teaching assistant grant for Bulgaria.

Relevant Experience Includes: �ֲ���ý Student Writing and Language Center writing fellow and course tutor; camp counselor in Umbria, Italy, teaching English; cultural exchange coordinator at the Alice Storyteller Libreria cultural center in Florence and Tuscany, Italy; and a tutor and mentor at Hillview Head Start, a free preschool in Lewiston.

�ֲ���ý and Community Activities Include: Robinson Players executive board; Merimanders vice president; �ֲ���ý Outing Club water sports director; St. Mary’s Nutrition Center intern; Safe Voices intern (domestic abuse resource center).

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Bulgaria: As a theater major, Cassel seeks to join or help to create an after-school drama or movie club. They also will continue their tradition of volunteering time in local libraries by hosting English talks or leading a book club. And one of Cassell’s favorite pastimes when traveling abroad is to go into a cafe with a chessboard or deck of cards and ask strangers to play — a tradition they hope to continue in Bulgaria.

Plans After Fulbright: To earn a master’s in library science with a goal of joining the Foreign Service as a regional public engagement specialist to design programs that support teachers.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee Said: “Caroline is not only a stellar student, but, more importantly, a well rounded and personable individual. Disciplined and caring, Caroline is an excellent representative of the US and its value of civic engagement. With intense eagerness to engage in cultural exchange, a clear commitment to education, and extensive knowledge about Bulgaria, Caroline will make a wonderful Fulbright ETA.”

More About Cassell: “I bring experience with girls’ empowerment to Bulgaria,” Cassell said. “In my conversations with high-school aged people, more specifically this past summer in Italy, several girls confided in me about societal pressure to fit a certain model of femininity. I found I was a role model, who both understood their struggles, and embodied what living confidently looked like. I look forward to continuing my tradition of creating empowering spaces for marginalized identities in Bulgaria.”

Jamie Hollander ’24

Jamie Hollander ’24, an earth and climate sciences major from Medfield, Mass., earned a Fulbright study/research award for Norway.

Relevant Experience Includes: Completing an in the Drakes Island Salt Marsh in Wells, Maine; studying abroad in Denmark and researching in Svalbard, Norway; working as a �ֲ���ý teaching assistant, researcher, and sediment lab technician in the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences.

�ֲ���ý and Community Activities Include: Women’s club ice hockey member; captain of Cold Front (women’s club ultimate); president of the academic club Earth to �ֲ���ý.

Fulbright Research Purpose: To examine the impact of climate change on methane emissions from retreating glaciers in Central Svalbard and to study the complex relationship between glacier melt, hydrological controls, and methane emissions. 

Hollander also will study how these factors result from, and lead to, climate change, conducting the majority of the study at the Scott Turnerbreen and Paulabreen glaciers with a team from the Arctic University of Norway.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Norway: To partner with local schools in Tromsø to create programming for children in the Earth sciences and the outdoors and to join the Tromsøstudentenes Idrettslag (TSI) ultimate team to create meaningful connections in an unfamiliar setting.

Plans After Fulbright: To work as a researcher with either a governmental organization, such as the Forest Service or National Parks Service, or with an independent research organization before pursuing a master’s degree and Ph.D. in geochemistry. 

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee Said: “Having invested a lot of time in field work, including some time in the Arctic, Jamie understands the physical and mental demands of prolonged field campaigns and research. She is positive and hardy! She looks forward to this challenge, and in fact thrives in these sorts of environments. Jamie is an eager student, always the first to volunteer to get her hands dirty — often literally while doing field work.”

More About Hollander: Her research project will be rewarding, she says, because it continues the research begun at �ֲ���ý, which culminated in her honors thesis. “Though my bachelor’s and Fulbright projects are different in terms of scope and landscape, many of the field and analysis techniques are similar.”

She’s eager to return to Arctic research, which can be “intense,” she says, with long days, tough conditions, and the usual setbacks of research work. “That said, the tough moments make all the others so much sweeter. I am lucky to have found my passion in this work, and I look forward to my next adventures.”

Qi Schmidt ’24

Qi Schmidt ’24, a Chinese major from Brooklyn, N.Y., earned a Fulbright English teaching assistant grant for Taiwan.

Relevant Experience Includes: Teacher’s assistant in Connors Elementary School and a volunteer with the Girl Scouts in New York, where she helped children in the New York City shelter system. 

�ֲ���ý Activities Include: American Sign Language Club member; Southeast Asian Society member.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Taiwan: To share her deep love of American music in Taiwan; to seek out Taiwanese musical artists, particularly in the Taiwanese indie music scene; and to play pickup volleyball, “a great, engaging team sport that almost anyone can play.”

Plans After Fulbright: To return to New York and gain more teaching experience at a Mandarin and English bilingual school. She is also considering a master’s degree in education.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “Qi has the wonderful spirit of teacher-as-learner. She will arrive in the country with excellent knowledge about Taiwan. Qi is very ambitious in the best sense and will make a wonderful ETA in Taiwan. Her ability to maintain high energy and positivity will allow her to thrive teaching students at any level.”

More About Schmidt: Her decision to study abroad in Taiwan was fueled by her initial study-abroad visit to the island as a high school junior, when she studied environmental sustainability and permaculture practices. 

“I was fortunate to be hosted by a family of the indigenous Atayal tribe,” Schmidt said. “They treated me to the most warm and wonderful experience an American student could ever have. My initial visit, coupled with my collegiate study abroad, have exposed me to how special Taiwan is. I want to return so I have sufficient occasion to investigate more deeply the people and the culture where I’m working.”

Phoebe Stern ’24

Phoebe Stern ’24, a religious studies major from Nashville, Tenn., earned a Fulbright English teaching assistant grant for Thailand.

Relevant Experience Includes: Tutoring in Lewiston schools; working with Israeli and Arab students in Haifa, Israel; leading wilderness trips for children from 8 to 16 years old; working in �ֲ���ý Admission.

�ֲ���ý Activities Include: Captain of the Cold Front club ultimate team; president of Jewish Student Union; AESOP trip leader; Multifaith Chaplaincy fellow.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Thailand: With extensive experience in the sport of ultimate, Stern intends to teach the sport to children in Thailand, highlighting the sport’s distinctive values of community, fun, and athleticism.

Plans After Fulbright:  “Aiming to leave spaces better than I found them,” Stern intends to work at a social justice center in Israel through a post-graduate fellowship, and then pursue a master’s degree in social work at the University of Chicago.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: In addition to being an exemplary academic performer at �ֲ���ý, “Phoebe worked two part-time jobs, led a campus spiritual community, captained a sports team, and tutored students at the local high school. She has maintained a healthy work-life balance; she always has a smile and kind word for those around her, and is sought out by others for quiet conversations.”

More About Stern: In her junior year of high school, Stern and her family moved from Tennessee to Minnesota. Initially feeling uprooted and untethered, Stern embraced the experience as a formative opportunity.

Anonymity in her new community meant being “free to explore how I thought and what I wanted to get out of this life. I went through this time being true to myself in a way I had never previously allowed myself to do. This period of life gave me the confidence to think for myself and try new things that interested me, even if — or especially if — it did not make sense to people around me.”

For the 13th straight year, �ֲ���ý College was named a Top Producer of Fulbright Student awards, it was announced today by the U.S. Department of State and published in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

This year’s Top Producer award is based on seven Fulbright offers made to graduating �ֲ���ý seniors and alumni last spring, including four English teaching awards and three research/study awards. 

�ֲ���ý joins just 21 other undergraduate liberal arts colleges that can claim being a Fulbright Student Top Producer for 13 straight years. Twice in the past six years, �ֲ���ý has been the No. 1 producer of Fulbright Student awards. 

�ֲ���ý President Garry W. Jenkins called the long tradition at �ֲ���ý of embracing the Fulbright mission — to promote understanding and support friendly and peaceful relations between the U.S. and people of other nations —  a joyful achievement.

“The college’s Fulbright success is another proof point that �ֲ���ý is uniquely positioned to develop the innovative, caring, bold leaders of tomorrow,” Jenkins said. “Congratulations to all of this year’s Fulbright award recipients and their faculty mentors who supported them. The �ֲ���ý tradition of Fulbright success makes sense, given our rich history of academic excellence and global engagement. We are so pleased and proud to be, once again, named a Fulbright Top Producing institution, and we look forward to developing our relationship further.”

Robert Strong, �ֲ���ý director of national fellowships and a lecturer in English, said that the college’s Fulbright success flows from a shared global perspective. Both �ֲ���ý and Fulbright seek to advance understanding, collaboration, academic excellence, and cross-cultural engagement. 

“We really do well at Fulbright because our campus ethos matches perfectly with the Fulbright ethos,” he said. “Any �ֲ���ý student who wants to apply for a Fulbright is going to be a good applicant, period.”&�Բ�����;

�ֲ���ý’ long tradition of robust study abroad participation continues to generate interest in Fulbright opportunities, Strong added. Each year about 60 percent of �ֲ���ý’ junior class studies off-campus for a semester or the year. “The relationship between study abroad and Fulbright is huge. When students go abroad, they see the whole world. And they return and think, ‘Yeah, there’s that Fulbright thing!’”

“Any �ֲ���ý student who wants to apply for a Fulbright is going to be a good applicant, period.”

Robert Strong

Strong also said that a strong faculty mentoring program helps to position applicants for Fulbright success. “We realized that mentoring was so important that we invented a position,” Fulbright mentor, “who will have specific knowledge of the student’s intended Fulbright area or about them,” he said.

During the application process each applicant, joined by the mentor, has a “feedback interview” with a small campus committee that gives “intense, critical, and loving feedback to help the student improve the application as much as possible,” Strong said. 

The mentor “also hears our feedback and hopefully contributes to the feedback to the student. With that application mentor in the room, they have someone who also heard the feedback and can be in conversation with them about the feedback.”

Fulbright Student awards can be for teaching English or for conducting research or other studies. For students pursuing a study/research Fulbright, Strong said adding a faculty member with knowledge of a field of study helps enormously. For example, if a student is pursuing a specific area of biological chemical research, Strong said their application will be stronger with a biochemist on their team of advisers.

Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Stephanie Pridgeon has worked with dozens of Fulbright applicants over the years in several capacities: mentoring, writing recommendations, and evaluating language skills.

From her perspective, the job of a Fulbright mentor is to help a student put their best story forward. Because �ֲ���ý professors know students so well, they are perfectly positioned to help a student weave years of personal experiences into a Fulbright application that has depth and authenticity.

The �ֲ���ý model of having a campus interview is a “really great way to leverage a feedback loop and help students have a clearer sense of what’s unique to them and how to extract meaning from all the experiences they’ve had,” she said.

“Our students do so many things. They’re in so many activities. They’re president of this and captain of that. For students, what can get lost in the shuffle is reflecting on key takeaways from each of those things.”&�Բ�����;

Students who work with Pridgeon have often taken a writing-intensive Spanish course with her that involves writing narratives on personal experiences. When it comes time for a Fulbright interview or giving feedback on their Fulbright application, Pridgeon reminds them about these personal essays. “I will say, ‘You did this really cool thing that you wrote about in my class — and I remember it because I read three drafts of it! That needs to go in the statement. You need to foreground that here.’”

Pridgeon recalled a student who was reticent about including the fact that they had testified before a United Nations committee about LGBTQ issues. She encouraged them to write again about this powerful moment. “It hadn’t occurred to them that it was a relevant experience. And it very much was,” she said.

�ֲ���ý College has been recognized for the dual achievement as a Top Producer of both Fulbright Student and Fulbright Scholar awards for 2022–23.

The announcement was made today by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and .

This is the first year �ֲ���ý has been named a Top Producer of both Student and Scholar awards, joining just four other U.S. undergraduate institutions in achieving the dual honor: Kenyon, Lafayette, and Oberlin colleges and the University of Richmond.

�ֲ���ý has been named a Top Producer of Fulbright Student Awards for 12 straight years.

“The dual designation this year is great indicator of just how collaborative scholarship is in our community.”

Director of National Fellowships Robert Strong

The Fulbright program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program for accomplished students, scholars, artists, teachers, and professionals to study, teach, or pursue important research and professional projects around the world.

“The Top Producer designation is always rewarding moment in our year because it is a simple reminder that our students and faculty are working hard to build intercultural understanding and grow knowledge,” said Robert Strong, lecturer in English and director of national fellowships.

“The dual designation this year is a great indicator of just how collaborative scholarship is in our community: Students and alumni applicants have been mentored by faculty, and the faculty Fulbrighters draw inspiration from their work with students.”

�ֲ���ý earned its Fulbright Student Top Producer honors with 12 awards to young alumni for teaching and research placements in 2022–23 in Andorra, Argentina, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Uzbekistan.

In the Fulbright Scholar program, �ֲ���ý earned Top Producer honors with three awards to faculty members who are now researching and teaching abroad.

Professor of Politics Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir is in Iceland, studying the country’s recent history of shifting policy priorities within the Arctic. Senior lecturer and director of secondary teacher education Anita Charles is bringing her teaching expertise to an Indian university. Professor of Psychology Amy Bradfield Douglass is in Japan comparing potential differences in how eyewitnesses from Asian cultures and Westerners recall what they see.

In announcing the Fulbright honors, Lee Satterfield, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, said, “ Thanks to the visionary leadership of these institutions, administrators, and advisors, a new generation of Fulbrighters — changemakers, as I like to say — will catalyze lasting impact on their campus, in their communities, and around the world.”

�ֲ���ý has received 12 Fulbright Student Award offers for 2022-23 to engage in teaching and research opportunities around the world.

The Fulbright program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program for accomplished students, scholars, artists, teachers, and professionals to study, teach, or pursue important research and professional projects around the world. This year’s group is set to travel to 10 countries, working across four continents.

�ֲ���ý has been named a Top Producer of Fulbrights for 11 straight years, most recently in 2021-22, and now heading toward a dozen.

Eleven of the Fulbright Student Awards are English teaching awards that will take students to Andorra, Argentina, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, Mauritius, Mexico, Taiwan, and Uzbekistan.

The 12th award, a Fulbright Study/Research Award to Maya Benziger ‘22, will fund research in Mongolia on the effects of environmental change on movement and habitation patterns in that nomadic East Asian country. 

In Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar, she will seek out experts in government and education to gain an understanding of the forces driving migration.  She will then shift her focus , an informal city of yurts that has sprung up around Ulaanbaatar.

Then it’s out to the remote steppes of Mongolia. “I will spend a few months living with a nomadic family to experience environmental hardships first-hand,” Benziger says. She hopes to gain “critical information on how Mongolia, which has a successful history of including non-sedentary populations into the nation and thus offers unique insights, is handling changing patterns of movement and habitation.”

The goal of the Fulbright program and the mission of �ֲ���ý College are powerfully complementary, says Robert Strong, a lecturer in English and director of National Fellowships.

“Fulbright understands the ‘transformative power of our differences,’” said Strong, .  “And as these students travel into the world of COVID transitions, I tell them to prioritize happiness and safety; they always need to have both.”

Maya Benziger ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: Maya Benziger ’22 of Aurora, Ill., a Study/Research Award for Mongolia

�ֲ���ý Majors: History, Politics, Music

Relevant Experience: Work at the Center for Wisdom’s Women in Lewiston; taught debate to middle-school students in Boston with Debate Spaces, founded by Matthew Summers ’15 and Tessa Holtzman ’17.

�ֲ���ý Activities: Merimanders music director and president; Brooks Quimby Debate Council novice director

Fulbright Research Purpose: Benziger will research the effects of environmental change on movement and habitation patterns in Mongolia, specifically focusing on the political and economic issues that arise as a result of changing climate conditions.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Mongolia: Using music and art to create cross-cultural connections, and to connect with the Ger communities on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, including youth programs.

Plans After Fulbright: Graduate school to pursue a law degree with a focus on international and refugee law.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee Said: “Maya’s interest in political and economic tensions related to environmental and ecological changes in Mongolia show her ability to synthesize current and past problems and history, and these interests permeate her everyday life in conversations and classes. Maya cares deeply about the people and organizations she works with, and strives to create meaningful bonds and build strong communities.”

More about Benziger: Walking to the Center for Wisdom’s Women every day for work helped her feel connected to the Lewiston community and find her focus. “I want those deeper levels of humanity that come from a dedicated study of people, what they think, and why they act.”

Her areas of study also gave her the perspective she needed to engage fully with her work. 

“Studying history doesn’t instantly make me more compassionate, but it does give me the tools to understand where people are coming from. Studying politics might seem abstract, but it gives me the ability to better understand why people make the decisions that they do. Studying music doesn’t psychically connect me with every person I meet, but it allows deeper emotional bonds to form, even without words. And sometimes, all it takes is a daily walk to work to figure this out.”

Elene Chamberlin ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: Elene Chamberlin ’22, an English teaching assistant grant for Andorra

�ֲ���ý Major: Biology

Relevant Experience: Taught English to children in Basque Country, the autonomous community in Spain; teaching assistant in biochemistry and taught yoga at �ֲ���ý; English language learner tutor at Lewiston High School.

�ֲ���ý Activities: Feminist Coalition president; Yoga Kula Club president.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Andorra: To volunteer at a food bank or women’s shelter and organize and offer a yoga class outside her workplace, as well as English classes and cooking or art activities.

Plans After Fulbright: To attend medical school.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “Elene’s interest in Andorra is partly motivated by Andorra’s uniqueness as a small sovereign country standing at the crossroads of many cultures. Her personal knowledge of the Basque Country serves as a contrast to Andorra as she delves into the history and development of Andorra to appreciate the factors that led to its formation. Her compassion and empathy make her a good teacher, and she is not afraid to take risks and challenge her own boundaries. Elene is poised, kind, and engaging — she simply draws others to her.”

More About Chamberlin: The first day of eighth grade was particularly challenging for Chamberlin. Her family had moved to Basque Country for the year, to the town her mother had grown up in. Despite the family connection, Chamberlin felt like an outsider. So she went to work, adopting a learn-everything, fear-nothing mindset.

“I let my curiosity lead me to new situations and new experiences,” she recalls. “I wanted to learn about how they could stomach eating octopus soup for lunch, and they wanted to know if school in America was like High School Musical. Day by day, bit by bit, these conversations built bridges and chipped away the differences between us. The process was a slow accumulation of small victories.”

Name and Fulbright Award: Henry Colt ’19, an English Teaching Assistant Award for Argentina

�ֲ���ý Major: Anthropology

Relevant Experience: Special education paraeducator at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School in Juneau, Alaska; educator in residence for experiential learning at Medomak Middle School in Waldoboro, Maine; award-winning writer who ; volunteer with Lewiston’s Tree Street program.

�ֲ���ý Activities: Cross country captain; track and field; played guitar and banjo for the American String Band ensemble.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Argentina: To listen to and study the traditional classical guitar playing styles of Argentina, including partner dance music like the Tango, culminating in a performance. He also hopes to share his love and knowledge of bluegrass music, running, and writing with the people he meets.

Plans After Fulbright: To pursue a master’s degree in creative nonfiction and to continue to perform music.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “Henry is an amazing writer — and also very funny. His approach to thinking and conversation is quirky, in a way that seems meant (even if unconsciously) to bring all people to good humor and mutual understanding.

Last summer, instead of sitting on the couch when his job was canceled due to COVID, Henry networked his way into two socially distant musical groups, one of which led to a transcription project of an early bluegrass banjo pioneer. It’s fun to talk with Henry, and one leaves the exchange feeling inspired about what is possible in the world.”

More About Colt: While on a nightime assignment as a reporter with Alaska’s Daily Sitka Sentinel, Colt accidentally walked straight off a dock and into Sitka Channel. But before scrambling back to land, he made sure he retrieved his all-important reporter’s notebook, which he found floating nearby. 

He knows what to do to “get the task at hand completed,” said a colleague, who came to admire Colt’s keen interest in the world around him, his creativity in writing about it, and his genuine fondness for people he meets.

Etti Cooper ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: Etti Cooper ’22, an English Teaching Assistant Award for Mexico

�ֲ���ý Major: Biology

Relevant Experience: Intern with Latina Republic as an immigration writer; peer tutor and teaching assistant at �ֲ���ý.

�ֲ���ý Activities: Academic Resource Commons peer-assisted learning leader for biology and Spanish; Department of Biology teaching assistant; Admission tour guide.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Mexico: Cooper plans to seek out naturalists and locals to teach her about the flora and fauna of Mexico, as well as create art on her own and in community.

Plans After Fulbright: To pursue a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology and teach at the university level.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “Etti is curious and dedicated to learning the truth, and while she is respectful of different perspectives, she is not afraid to contradict a statement that isn’t backed up by facts. She will incorporate her appreciation for the natural world and passion for making science education accessible into the community in which she lives.”

More About Cooper: Cooper’s honors thesis in biology looks at how temperature changes might differently affect two different species of ant. She didn’t have to go far to collect her specimens, collecting one species on the sidewalk outside Carnegie Science Hall, and the other around Mount David.

The first time Cooper tried to teach English to a Spanish speaker, she started by giving her student, a woman with a business degree from her native Venezuela, “five pages of immaculately typed grammatical rules,” she recalls. It didn’t turn out well. The woman had already achieved some English comprehension, which Cooper had not incorporated into her approach. 

“I learned that in order to determine how to teach, I must first learn how and why the students had been learning and tailor my teaching style to their educational background.”

Julia Feist ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: Julia Feist ’22, an English Teaching Assistant Award for Germany

�ֲ���ý Major: Psychology

Relevant Experience: English literature tutor at Lewiston Middle School; peer tutor for English writing for Academic Resource Commons at �ֲ���ý.

�ֲ���ý Activities: American String Band Ensemble, Jewish Student Union, German Club.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Germany: Feist will continue performing music, and hopes to join a band or music club while in Germany, and explore and photograph the country.

Plans After Fulbright: To pursue a career in psychology, with a focus on researching language learning and neuroplasticity.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “Julia looks forward to engaging with her community in Germany through any of her wide-ranging interests: playing piano, guitar, and bass; reading, writing, photography; and outdoor activities such as hiking and biking. Julia is committed to sharing her culture and learning about others’, as evidenced by her heavy involvement with the Jewish Student Union at �ֲ���ý despite being raised in a non-practicing Christian family.”

More About Feist: Feist has worked at a local restaurant in her hometown of Burlington, Mass., since 2018. She started as a busser, and was content, even as the restaurant implemented COVID-19 protocols. “As a certified neat freak, I was kind of thriving,” she says. 

But then she was pressed into service as a hostess when the restaurant was short-staffed. Unexpectedly, the new duties “provided me with a sense of responsibility that forced me to find my voice,” including enforcing mask mandates and standing up for her colleagues. That taught her the value of teamwork. “I’m part of a fantastic team of people who hold each other up on tough nights. I’ve gained a sense of accountability I never knew before.

Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald ’14

Name and Fulbright Award: Colleen Ndemeh Fitzgerald ’14, a study/research grant for Germany

�ֲ���ý Majors: Dance, Anthropology

Relevant Experience: An accomplished dancer at �ֲ���ý who also majored in anthropology, Fitzgerald has pursued a solo dance/activist career since graduation. An activist of Kpelle (Liberian) and Euro-American descent, she is a first-generation Liberian-American who has spent recent years “reconnecting with a heritage that was interrupted in my lineage due to processes of colonization and economic migration.”

�ֲ���ý Activities: �ֲ���ý College Dance Company

Fulbright Research Purpose: In Berlin, Fitzgerald will pursue the project “Ancestral Body,” a multidisciplinary performance exploring her physical and intellectual relationship to ancestral indigenous knowledge from Africa. Her research methods will include choreographic, ethnographic, and archival research. The project is through the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin, jointly administered by the Berlin University of the Arts and the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Germany: Participate in community spaces with grassroots organizations like Berlin-based GLADT, and partner with local collaborators to share about and teach community dance classes focused on Africa and African diaspora art and culture.

Plans After Fulbright: Work in the area of African and African diaspora indigenous arts and culture, collaborating with artists in Germany, Argentina, and Liberia.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee Said: “She is already well equipped to make the most of her proposed project having spent eight years developing her solo practice, connecting with her Liberian heritage and asserting herself as an activist artist. Her interest in human interaction is infectious; she is capable, passionate, reliable, and ambitious in her goals.”

More about Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald’s interest in studying in Germany reflects “positive and negative facets of the country.” Germany’s “rich artistic and cultural ecosystems” intrigue her, the “vibrant array of public sector support of the arts, coupled with an International community of artists.”

She’s also aware of the “legacies of colonialism” of Indigenous peoples from Africa and the Americas. “Decolonialism is a pillar of my artistic research,” she says, and “Germany is an important imperial society to study. The Berlin Conference of 1884–85, which furthered European colonization of Africa, “is representative of Germany’s role as a protagonist in the colonization of Africa.”

Jack Johnson ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: Jack Johnson ’22, an English Teaching Assistant Award for Czech Republic

�ֲ���ý Major: Neuroscience

Relevant Experience: Intern focusing on youth mental health research with the Institute for the Study of Youth Resilience; English tutor at the Lewiston Public Library; science and math teaching assistant at the Lewiston Middle and High Schools; swimming instructor and member of the B1st2Swim lesson program at �ֲ���ý.

�ֲ���ý Activities: Men’s swimming and diving captain; AESOP Orientation trip leader.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Czech Republic: Johnson hopes to join a local swim team and help coach and teach swimming, as well as enjoy a variety of outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, and foraging for mushrooms, and possibly helping with youth outreach programs involving the outdoors.

Plans After Fulbright: To pursue a Ph.D. in educational neuroscience, continue tutoring and teaching, and conduct research in developmental psychology and neuroscience.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “Jack is a responsible leader, with a confident and friendly personality, making him an ideal mentor. His enthusiasm and love for teaching shines through when he speaks about his work with youth. His patience, positive attitude, and reflective nature make Jack a pleasure to collaborate with and shows that he is always working to better himself and those around him. Jack is meant to be a teacher.

More About Johnson: Giving swim lessons as a teenager on Cape Cod was a humbling way for Johnson to learn how to teach. He found that his enthusiasm for swimming “did not prepare me for the challenge of comforting a screaming 5 year old who refused to enter the pool for her lesson.” Soon, Johnson learned to “ acknowledge the many ways in which people acquire knowledge.”&�Բ�����;

As a Lewiston Middle School math tutor, Johnson heard his students talking about fractions in Somali, the language of the country from which they had emigrated. So Johnson started writing down Somali words in a small notebook each day, and asked his students to define the word, which they excitedly did. 

By semester’s end, Johnson had a long list of Somali vocabulary words. “Exchanges like these have demonstrated the endless amount of knowledge and skills that can be attained through interacting with others.”

Megan Krieger ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: Megan Krieger ’22, an English Teaching Assistant Award for Germany

�ֲ���ý Major: Political science

Relevant Experience: Teaching guide internship at Booktrails Camp, a literacy adventure camp; peer tutor for Mathematics & Statistics Workshop.

�ֲ���ý Activities: Leading Women of Tomorrow treasurer, Every Voice Coalition steering committee

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Germany: Krieger hopes to focus on youth-centered activities, like tutoring or childcare, as well as find local sports clubs to participate in, and visit galleries and museums.

Plans After Fulbright: To pursue a career in education and, later on, education policy or nonprofit work.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “As a minor in education studies, Megan has a wealth of experience in various classrooms in the Lewiston public schools — hundreds of hours. She has worked with third graders as well as eighth graders, and even has experience with remote and hybrid classroom situations helping out a special education teacher for the middle school. She takes a learning approach to new cultures and perspectives; she listens and observes, then reacts. She teaches from the perspective of a partner, not an authority.”

More About Krieger: During the pandemic, all of Megan’s tutoring for the Math & Stats Workshop took place over Zoom. She works with students in the course “Statistics for Political Analysis,” which includes the programming language R. “It’s the first introduction to computer science for a lot of politics majors.”

Tutoring over Zoom, Krieger learned to “focus on clarity and creativity in communication. I learned how to slowly read aloud particular code areas, how to verbally point out an issue that would have been easy to spot visually, and I came up with solutions like copying and pasting small sections of code into the Zoom chat.”

“I learned a lot about adaptability and communication, which will serve me well in teaching English in a classroom in Germany.”

Talia Kurlansky ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: Talia Kurlansky ’22, an English Teaching Assistant Award for Taiwan

�ֲ���ý Majors: Politics and Dance

Relevant Experience: Volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine; creator and teacher of a movement class for children for Lewiston Housing Authority, Mandarin tutor and dance teacher for middle school students in New York City.

�ֲ���ý Activities: Co-executive director of �ֲ���ý Dance Marathon; Lewiston Democratic Party �ֲ���ý Voter Turnout program director; �ֲ���ý Dance Club co-president; Chinese Language and Culture Club.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Taiwan: Kurlansky hopes to find volunteer opportunities involving dance, as well as take dance classes to learn about Taiwanese dance culture. She also plans to offer English tutoring outside her ETA duties.

Plans After Fulbright:  To pursue a master’s degree in international affairs, and work in conflict resolution and diplomacy.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “Talia is a leader, organizer, and mentor. She is able to turn a group of people into a community, all speaking the same language: dance. For her, teaching is a way to give back to the community and create change in the world. She will be a dynamic presence in her new community.”

More About Kurlansky: At the beginning of her volunteer work with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mid-Maine, Kurlansky figured she could use dance to foster a relationship with her 8-year-old “sister.” But the little girl would have none of it. “For quite a while I could not break through to her.”

Then one day, the girl asked Kurlansky about her home. “So I gave her a virtual tour of the New York apartment where I grew up. She liked the city views and showed interest in the books in my home. Soon there was a barrage of questions.” Their relationship blossomed. “I learned that one secret to communicating is to show something of yourself.”

Selam Murphy ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: Selam Adere Murphy ’22 of New York City, an English Teaching Assistant Award for Mauritius

�ֲ���ý Major: Psychology

Relevant Experience: Tutored English language learners in New York City and at Lewiston High School.

�ֲ���ý Activities: Peer educator with the Academic Resource Commons; community engagement leader for the Black Student Union; organizer of the workshop “Celebrating Our Wild Tongues: Language Diversity at �ֲ���ý, in Lewiston, and Beyond” during 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day at �ֲ���ý.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Mauritius: Murphy seeks to document the personal stories that students share, and collect local cultural proverbs to compare with American proverbs, and publish them through a local library.

Plans After Fulbright: Work in education and immigration policy, in an organization that advocates for immigrant rights and accessible education.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee Said: “Selam’s passion for teaching and working with ELL students is driven by her own growth as an ELL student and immigrant. She understands the challenges that come with learning a new language; she is adaptable, very intentional with her work, and great at connecting and communicating with her students.”&�Բ�����;

More about Murphy: As an ELL tutor at Lewiston High School, Murphy saw how some students feared making mistakes in their work, so used her own story — being born and raised in Ethiopia and learning English as a second language  — to encourage them.

“I shared with them how difficult it was for me to learn English and how many mistakes I still make,” she recalls.

One day, she grabbed a marker and whiteboard, and gathered the students around her, taking on an assignment together. “If they made a mistake, I would sound out the word until they grasped the spelling.” It worked. “They participated more, helped one another, and seemed proud of their work. I recognized the students were not ‘falling behind,’ but simply needed more guidance, encouragement, and support.”

George Schouten ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: George Schouten ’22, an English Teaching Assistant Award for Uzbekistan

�ֲ���ý Majors: Politics and Rhetoric

Relevant Experience: Teaching assistant at St. Anne’s School in Harlem in high school; Orientation trip leader at �ֲ���ý.

�ֲ���ý Activities: Rugby Football Club president; AESOP Orientation trip leader; WRBC radio host.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Uzbekistan: Schouten plans to spend lots of time playing chess, a popular game in Uzbekistan, while learning about Uzbek culture, and he hopes to find opportunities to play rugby, also popular in Uzbekistan.

Plans After Fulbright: To pursue a career in international affairs, specifically in conflict resolution, studying inter-state disputes, or international business.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “George is friendly and curious, and is a socially-aware listener in new environments. He adapts to new cultures well, and will be a good representative of the U.S. He spent a summer connecting with various foreign partners to increase international and intercultural exchange through commerce. He has a natural instinct for conversation, communication, and discourse and will partner well with teachers and professionals in Uzbekistan.

More About Schouten: “I’m lucky that two of my biggest interests, chess and rugby, are shared by the people of Uzbekistan,” Schouten says. “I’ve found that it’s always easier to connect with people when you share a common love.”

Schouten’s parents taught him chess “even before they taught me to ride a bicycle.” Ever since, “the exasperated sighs from contemplative players and clatter of taking pieces has made me feel at home.”

Schouten is the president of the �ֲ���ý Rugby Football Club. Playing the sport has “created friendships with people of many backgrounds from all over the world.” He’d like to play or volunteer for a Uzbekistan youth team, which would help him refine his language skills in a fast-paced setting, “while also helping me form bonds with teammates and opponents alike.”

Alixandra Zabin ’22

Name and Fulbright Award: Alixandra Zabin ’22, an English Teaching Assistant Award for Colombia

�ֲ���ý Major: Psychology

Relevant Experience: Partnership with elementary school to serve early literacy intervention; leadership of �ֲ���ý’ outdoor Orientation program; Overland Summers Trip Leader; Himalayan Healthcare trek in Nepal

�ֲ���ý Activities: AESOP Orientation program coordinator; Jewish Student Union president; Multifaith Chaplaincy fellow; �ֲ���ý Book Buddies Community Outreach Fellow; �ֲ���ý Outing Club biking director; �ֲ���ý B-Well Spinning Instructor; �ֲ���ý Run Club vice president.

Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Colombia: Zabin plans to find opportunities to be outdoors, interacting with locals and the area, as well as offering free bike repair services, and volunteering at a local library to help children connect with books.

Plans After Fulbright: To pursue a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, focusing on transpersonal wilderness therapy.

What the �ֲ���ý Fulbright Committee said: “Alix’s curiosity about the people around her is contagious, and she knows how to ask questions. She seeks feedback for her own personal and professional development on a regular basis, a skill that will be essential to the ETA role. She deeply cares about helping others feel comfortable in new environments.”

More About Zabin: One winter at �ֲ���ý, Zabin gave weekly snowshoeing lessons to a group of Lewiston Middle School girls.

Around 40 percent of Lewiston’s students are from immigrant families. Most of the Zabin’s students were the children of Somali Bantu immigrants who “had little experience in cold outdoor environments,” Zabin explains. Some eagerly embraced the challenge, willing to risk stumbling over their oversized “shoes.” Others needed comforting and encouragement.

 Zabin tried to connect with each student differently, “using jokes, games, and questions.” By spring, the girls “were excellent snowshoers,” she says. “It was empowering to watch the girls feel confident in the cold snowfields and learn how to find happiness in a new environment.”

Henry Colt ’19

�ֲ���ý College has been named a Top Producer of Fulbright Student awards for the 11th straight year. 

The announcement of this year’s Top Producers of Fulbrights, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, was made Feb. 28 by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and published in the .

This year’s Top Producer honor recognizes Fulbright offers extended to eight graduating �ֲ���ý seniors and young alumni in spring 2021 to support a year of English-language teaching or research abroad during 2021–22. 

This year’s Fulbright cohort began their application process in fall 2020. “It was an intense process, given the global uncertainty applicants were encountering” due to COVID-19 pandemic, said Robert Strong, director of national fellowships. “�ֲ���ý students and alumni showed tremendous grace, creativity, and persistence as they navigated the shifting Fulbright terrain country by country. 

“Some applicants had their country programs canceled outright, but they remained unthwarted, returning to apply again this year. This applicant pool, and the determination they showed in the face of a world gone sideways, are deeply inspiring.”

Supported by a Fulbright Study/Research Award, Bence Szechenyi ’20 is now in Budapest, Hungary, where he is conducting research on a famous 19th-century Hungarian statesman, reformer, and political writer — and a relative of his, István Széchenyi.

Széchenyi is a national icon in Hungary, so there’s a lot of material about him, says Szechenyi, but it tends not to be fully faceted.

“He is a sort of mythicized figure of greatness, used as inspiration and as a representative of Hungarian genius, which often sidelines many of the aspects of his life that are outside of this image,” says Szechenyi, who majored in English at �ֲ���ý.

In his later years, Széchenyi struggled with depression and sought treatment at an asylum, but eventually committed suicide. 

“Since he is my ancestor and was one of my heroes when I was growing up, it has been personally significant to gain a complete understanding of who he was,” says Szechenyi.

Because Szechenyi already had a connection to the culture, transitioning into living in Hungary was easier.

“Budapest is extremely international and there is a thriving community of students from all over the world,” he says. And it helps that Szechenyi plays the most international of sports, soccer. “I play for a club here. It’s helped me form a community and practice my Hungarian.”

On the teaching side, Julia Maluf ’21 is in Spain with an English Teaching Assistant Award. 

As a �ֲ���ý student, Maluf volunteered in Lewiston public schools, helping fourth-graders with math, working with ELL students at Lewiston High School, and mentoring middle-school girls at the Hillview after-school program.

For her senior thesis in her self-designed major, Maluf, an aspiring teacher, researched best practices for teaching English language learners.

As a classroom teacher now, that research is helping her meet students at whatever level of English proficiency they have.

“Tutoring students one-on-one really allows me to see their growth in English. Last week my student was very excited to tell me that he did well on his English test about the months of the year and the seasons and I was happy to celebrate with him,” she says.

For Maluf, teaching in Spain during a pandemic has challenges, and rewards. Although her travel and cultural immersion opportunities are fewer, she is finding real connection and meaning in her work and social life, both with fellow U.S. Fulbrighters, and current Spanish college students.

“I am very fortunate that our cohort here in Asturias is very small and we all live relatively close to each other,” says Maluf. “It is very easy to spend time with my friends and go out to eat Spanish food, drink sidra — Spanish cider, but very different from a Downeast! — and explore our region.”

For future Fulbrighters, Szechenyi and Maluf have the same advice: be genuine in your application, and make sure to add that personal touch.

“I guess the Fulbright commission can sense the authenticity of your interest in your application, so apply to do something you are passionate about in a place that matters to, or fascinates, you,” says Szechenyi. “That genuine interest and passion will come across in your application and give you an advantage, I believe.”&�Բ�����;

In March 2020, just 24 days into her Fulbright teaching assignment in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sophia Marion ’19 got the bad news she’d been expecting. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her assignment was canceled.

Fifteen months later, she’s put disappointment behind her and optimism at the fore as one of eight young �ֲ���ý alumni offered Fulbright Student awards for 2021–22.

This year’s Fulbright offers are divided equally between English teaching assistantships and study/research awards; the latter projects will focus on historical topics (a 19th-century Hungarian reformer and German Bauhaus artist) and contemporary issues (Dutch water management and French mass media and politics).

The countries represented are Argentina, France, Germany, Hungary, Nepal, Netherlands, Spain, and Taiwan. Of the eight offers, two are for members of the Class of 2021. 

“After more than a year of change and adaptation, disruption and disappointment, this year’s Fulbright awardees are flipping the script with their undiminished determination to engage with the world,” said �ֲ���ý President Clayton Spencer.

She added, “I am so proud of their achievement, and grateful for the guidance and support given by our faculty and staff to maintain the �ֲ���ý Fulbright tradition in a most unusual year.”

�ֲ���ý has been honored as a Top Producer of Fulbright Student awards for a decade, and was named the nation’s No. 1 producer of Fulbright Student awards in 2020. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. 

“They reflect the incredible spirit of resilience that defined so much of the �ֲ���ý year.”

This year’s �ֲ���ý Fulbrights were selected from 36 semifinalists — applicants who are recommended by the U.S. to host countries for final review — among the highest number ever for �ֲ���ý. As with �ֲ���ý and other colleges, fewer semifinalists received awards for 2021–21 due to the pandemic’s disruption of Fulbright programs in host countries.

“The semifinalists and recipients are a wonderful group. They reflect the incredible spirit of resilience that defined so much of the �ֲ���ý year,” says Robert Strong, lecturer in English and director of national fellowships. “I’m so proud of the work I’ve witnessed on this campus.”

Sophia Marion, recalls Strong, “had not been home a month when she began afresh, working on a new application to return to Nepal. This was in April 2020, with the globe going into full COVID lockdown. Sophia, like so many other �ֲ���ý students and alumni, was already envisioning her work helping the world recover and grow.”

For Marion, returning to Nepal is driven by her brief Fulbright experience in 2020 and the patience of the people she met, “the time to engage with me.” 

“I do not want to live my life only having visited the world,” she continues. ”I want a deeper understanding of global education systems. I want to spark novel ideas to overcome challenges. And I want to learn as much as possible.”

Fulbright U.S. Student Awards 2021–22

Kate Blandford ’18  — Study/Research Award, Germany

Kate Blandford ’18 of Princeton, N.J., an English major, has been offered a Fulbright Study/Research Award in Germany for 2021–22.

Blandford’s Fulbright proposal will allow her to deploy a slew of diverse talents — as a writer, graphic designer, and student of German language and history — to create a graphic biography of Bauhaus artist Marianne Brandt (1893–1983).

In 1923, the time of Brandt’s arrival as a student at the famed art school, director Walter Gropius was steering most female students toward the school’s weaving workshop. 

Brandt, however, headed to the metal workshop, where she became its only female director and created a number of iconic designs, including a prototype tea infuser, the MT49, that once sold at Sotheby’s for $361,000.

“Brandt and her designs have become symbols of feminism and resistance,” explains Blandford. “Though well-intended, this narrative is limited in scope. Brandt’s legacy deserves more.”&�Բ�����;

By “more,” Blandford seeks to introduce Brandt to global and non-academic audiences. Her academic adviser will be Bauhaus scholar Patrick Rössler, a professor of communications and empirical research methods at Universität Erfurt and the co-author of Bauhaus Women: A Global Perspective.

A Phi Beta Kappa major in English who minored in German and anthropology at �ֲ���ý, Blandford created the graphic memoir Kate and Käthe, a biography of another German artist, Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945), for her senior thesis in creative writing. The memoir earned Blandford the English department’s John Tagliabue Prize for Creative Writing.

One of Blandford’s German professors describes her “as an emerging scholar who is aware of how to situate her critical voice within the latest scholarship on Brandt.”

To establish a vibrant historical backdrop for the biography, Blandford will explore Brandt’s hometown of Chemnitz, the Bauhaus Archive, and Gotha, where Brandt worked after Bauhaus. Sketchbook in hand, Blandford will take notes and create drawings to “drive the development of my characters and settings, and informing which scenes from Brandt’s life ultimately exist as visuals or text,” a similar approach she employed for the Kollwitz project.

As with the Kollwitz memoir, the text in the Brandt biography will be in the first person; that is, in Blandford’s own voice. She explains that while primary sources can yield facts to undergird the biography, it’s not possible to truly know how various moments in Brandt’s life played out. “But, I can imagine those moments.”

In that sense, a first-person lens “feels more honest and respectful of her story.” The approach has support from one of Blandford’s German professors, describing her “as an emerging scholar who is aware of how to situate her critical voice within the latest scholarship on Brandt.”

At �ֲ���ý, Blandford was a member of the German Club and student manager of language learning in the Academic Research Commons. In fall 2015, she studied in Germany with the �ֲ���ý Fall Semester Abroad program. As a faculty research apprentice, she traveled to Berlin to consider the city’s significance as a graphic novel setting and to conduct her own thesis research. 

A freelance graphic designer, Blandford was most recently the digital asset manager at The Articulate Foundation in Philadelphia, a nonprofit that produces Articulate, a weekly public television documentary series on the creative arts.

Aidan Denahy ’21 — Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award, Taiwan

Aidan Denahy ’21, a politics major from Irvington, N.Y., has been offered a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award in Taiwan for 2021–22. 

Denahy’s advanced Chinese-language skills, first-hand knowledge of East Asia, and �ֲ���ý coursework will help him “hit the ground running” in his Fulbright year, says one of his �ֲ���ý professors.

During the summer before his junior year, Denahy had a leadership role with PlanetLabs.Earth in China, a startup to educate young second-language learners about sustainable technologies. He followed that experience with a four-month intensive study of Mandarin in China.

The following summer, Denahy honed his ability to interpret East Asian news, politics, and culture with a Purposeful Work editorial internship with New York–based SupChina, a news, information, and business services platform that focuses on China.

At SupChina, he earned bylines for a range of news stories, including ones about and the .

At �ֲ���ý, he has taken courses on Taiwan’s language, culture, and politics and worked as a research assistant in the Department of Politics, where his research tasks included gathering data on Chinese and U.S. military capabilities and collecting, reading, and coding Chinese leaders’ speeches according to how nationalistic they were.

“These are not easy tasks for an undergraduate,” said his professor. “Aidan took a step-by-step approach and completed all the work in an impressive manner.”

“As I talked to them more and more in their native language, students began to loosen up around me, even teasing me for my accent and grammatical slip-ups.”

Denahy’s teaching experience is equally robust. In addition to his summer with PlanetLabs.Earth, he taught debate to local middle school students as a member of the college’s Brooks Quimby Debate Council. And the summer after his first year at �ֲ���ý, he led outdoor trips for Chewonki, a school, camp, and environmental education organization based in Wiscasset, Maine.

Recalling his teaching experience with PlanetLabs.Earth, Denahy described how he engaged his students by showing that he, too, was a learner.  

“During our free time, I took to speaking Chinese to my students. As I talked to them more and more in their native language, students began to loosen up around me, even teasing me for my accent and grammatical slip-ups. 

“Seeing that their teacher was a fellow language learner, and one that makes mistakes just like them, inspired students to begin speaking English in the classroom. Soon, my classroom went from not a word of English spoken to every single student stringing together full sentences every day.”

As a �ֲ���ý professor noted, “Aidan would make an impression that Americans are smart, humorous, hard-working, do not make any judgement prematurely, and are open to new ideas and different perspectives.”

Arianna Fano ’19 — English Teaching Assistant Award, Argentina

Arianna Fano ’19 a politics major from Lincolnshire, Ill., has been offered a Fulbright Teaching Assistant Award in Argentina for 2021–22.

Fano has both a personal and professional interest in traveling to Argentina for her Fulbright. Her father was raised in Argentina by parents who emigrated from Europe to escape the Holocaust. Until now, her knowledge of her father’s homeland has derived mainly from family traditions and two family trips.

“I am deeply interested in understanding more about the country where my father grew up,” she says. 

After her Fulbright year, Fano plans to pursue a master’s degree in public policy. “The more I learn about Argentina, the better I can apply that knowledge to my chosen career of economic public policy” and how policy decisions affect Latin American immigrants in the U.S., she said. 

A dean’s list student who minored in Spanish, Fano took part in the 2017 �ֲ���ý Fall Semester Abroad in Spain program. She served as a teaching assistant in the Department of Politics, and as a senior won the Department of Politics’ Garold W. Thumm Prize for the best thesis. She was president of the club volleyball team, worked as an Admission tour guide, and interned with a Maine District Court judge.

One of her professors noted that Fano “stands out not just in terms of her abilities, hard work, and enthusiasm, but also in her thirst to grapple with complex questions at the intersection of politics and law.”

Fano already has extensive English-teaching experience. 

During her time at �ֲ���ý, she helped Spanish-speaking immigrants in her home community in Illinois register to vote, and has also used her Spanish ability to help “bridge the gap felt by underrepresented Hispanic voters” during internships in the offices of elected Illinois officials Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Brad Schneider, and Sen. Richard Durbin. 

“Through a Fulbright in Argentina, I hope to join students at their table and offer them a chair at mine.”

Since 2019, she has taught English, public speaking, and debate skills to Chinese students, using her �ֲ���ý experience as a four-year member of the Brooks Quimby Debate Council that debated at the World University Debate Championships in Cape Town during her senior year.

“I understand how improved language skills can open doors for people and better prepare them for a seat at the table,” Fano says. “Through a Fulbright in Argentina, I hope to join students at their table and offer them a chair at mine.”

Not only does she want to learn more about her father’s homeland, she admits that her Argentine grandparents tease her for not being able to make “the perfect empanada. I would love to prove them wrong — and learn more about the history and cultural significance of food in Argentina.”

Elizabeth Kiley-Bergen ’20 — Study/Research Award, France

Elizabeth Kiley-Bergen ’20, a double major in Politics and in French and francophone studies from Troy, N.Y., has been offered a Fulbright Study/Research Award in France for 2021–22.

During her year in France, she will explore how the country’s mass media influences policy decisions and contemporary political life.

“I specifically want to be in France because there are similar political trends affecting policy debates in the U.S. and France,” says Kiley-Bergen, “specifically backlash against immigration and increased polarization.” She will pursue a master’s in public policy at École normale supérieure de Rennes (ENS Rennes), with a focus on Analyse des problèmes publics (analysis of public problems).

Through her research, she wants “to better understand why anti-immigration policies are often so resonant with certain voters, and how the media might facilitate the popularity of some anti-immigration policies.”

Her research proposal reflects, in part, Kiley-Bergen’s deep and thoughtful engagement with the French-speaking immigrant community in Lewiston-Auburn during her �ֲ���ý years. That included serving as a translator for the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, a nonprofit that provides legal services for recent immigrants, particularly those seeking asylum in the U.S. from French-speaking African countries.

An ILAP attorney praised Kiley-Bergen’s translating abilities and her interest in the immigration laws and policies at the core of the organization’s work. “As Elizabeth became more aware of the structures and policies that impact the lives of immigrants, she was not afraid to confront challenging questions about justice and fairness.”

She also did interpreting work for Trinity Jubilee Center, a nonprofit that supports underserved people in Lewiston-Auburn, helping clients fill out job applications and navigate immigration proceedings. She was a teaching assistant for the Department of French and Francophone Studies and a French tutor for �ֲ���ý’ Academic Resource Commons. 

For her senior thesis in French and francophone studies, Kiley-Bergen interviewed immigrants from Djibouti and Congo about their relationship to French and other languages spoken in daily life, which in turn led to an investigation of linguistic colonization in Africa and in the local, predominantly English-speaking community.

After her year abroad, Kiley-Bergen hopes to continue working with Maine’s francophone immigrant communities on the legal issues they face.

Julia Maluf ’21 — English Teaching Assistant Award, Spain

Julia Maluf ’21, an interdisciplinary major in psychology and education from New York City, has been offered a Fulbright Teaching Assistant Award in Spain for 2021–22.

For her senior thesis in her self-designed major, Maluf, an aspiring teacher, researched best practices for teaching English language learners. She interviewed students, teachers, scholars, and parents, all of which gives her special perspective into her Fulbright Teaching Assistantship in Spain.

As a student, Maluf volunteered in Lewiston public schools, helping fourth-graders with math, working with ELL students at Lewiston High School, and mentoring middle-school girls at the Hillview after-school program.

One of her professors praises Maluf’s unflappable style in the classroom. “Teaching requires a nonreactive approach to stress. Julia has a calm and steadfast manner, and an eye for detail and thoroughness. She is able to assess situations, see a clear path, and gently guide students forward.”

“Through conversations with my roommate and the other Latinx students on campus, I realized that there is no one way to honor your culture.”

Like other �ֲ���ý Fulbright awardees, Maluf has personal reasons for seeking an international experience. In the 1960s, her grandparents and their children, including Maluf’s father, emigrated from the Dominican Republic. Growing up, Maluf’s understanding of her Dominican history was gained through once-monthly visits with her grandparents. “It felt like my connection to Hispanic culture only existed on these Sundays and holidays we would spend with them,” she says.

At �ֲ���ý, Maluf found a vibrant Latinx community. “But at first, I felt like I wasn’t ‘Dominican enough’ to claim my heritage” within the �ֲ���ý Latinx community. “Through conversations with my roommate and the other Latinx students on campus, I realized that there is no one way to honor your culture.”

Maluf traveled to the Dominican Republic during Short Term in 2019. It was energizing, she says. “I felt out of place and like I belonged there at the same time.” Now, Maluf is “motivated to take a deeper exploration of the roots of Hispanic culture.”

She has focused on “learning Spanish, following my grandmothers’ recipes, and talking to my relatives about my ancestors. The Fulbright in Spain will allow me to connect to those roots. I hope to be able to pass on the Spanish language and culture to my children, so that my ancestors can continue to live on through generations of my family.”

During her Fulbright year, she hopes to “learn about our commonalities and differences and foster relationships with my entire community in Spain.”

Maluf was a member of a variety of student organizations, including Latinos Unidos, College Democrats, the Reproductive Justice Alliance, and the �ֲ���ý Outing Club.

“After Fulbright, I will continue working in bilingual communities, using the language skills I gain in Spain to make me a better teacher in those schools.”

Sophia Marion ’19 — English Teaching Assistant Award, Nepal

Sophia Marion ’19, a psychology major from Baltimore, has been offered a Fulbright Teaching Assistant Award in Nepal for 2021–22.

For Marion, it’s Fulbright redux: In early 2020, twenty-four days into her Fulbright Teaching Assistant experience in Nepal, her program was canceled due to COVID-19.

What draws her back for another go, she says, “are the people and the culture. I miss the time people took to engage with me.”

During her brief 2020 stay in Nepal, she recalls a daily routine of greeting a street vendor and his 6-year-old son as she walked home, “chatting about the day in my limited, broken Nepali.”

As Marion searched for the words to express herself, “I remember his patience and time he took to see me. Similarly, I will be patient with my students and create a space for each and every one of them to be seen. I will share with my students the same kindness strangers afforded me.”

As a �ֲ���ý undergraduate, Marion earned a minor in education and had field placements in local elementary schools, teaching assistantships in �ֲ���ý education courses, and an educational programming internship for the �ֲ���ý College Museum of Art.

“We focused on students’ strengths rather than deficits, which taught me the art of improvisation and how to reframe lessons.”

Marion’s first assistantship was a four-month stint in a community-engaged course on teaching in the sciences. In the spring of her senior year she developed and assisted in teaching a course on creating educational experiences at the �ֲ���ý–Morse Mountain Conservation Area. During recent summers, Marion has led teenagers on hiking and biking trips around the world for an outdoor adventure company.

Marion’s experience teaching in a special-needs classroom was especially formative. “We focused on students’ strengths rather than deficits,” she recalls, which “taught me the art of improvisation and how to reframe lessons. These are skills I will use in my English-language classroom in Nepal when I need to clarify or tailor the lesson to individual students.”

In 2017, Marion traveled to India on a School for International Training program, learning about public health, policy advocacy, and community. This experience furthered her comfort in navigating across cultural landscapes.

“Working as an ETA in Nepal is the next step in my development as a teacher,” Marion says. “I’m eager to teach in English, learn Nepali, cultivate a nurturing classroom environment, and instill a love for learning in my students.”

Outside the classroom, Marion plans to work with an art-based, after-school empowerment program for girls. “This program gives girls a voice and a space to continue developing purpose and love of self,” she says. “This engagement will improve my Nepali language skills and provide students an informal opportunity to speak English.”

After her Fulbright year, Marion plans on studying education and leadership in graduate school. “My ETA experience will expand my empathy for others and develop my skills in adapting lessons to individual students,” she says. “This growth will be crucial for my lifelong commitment to teaching.”

Nell Pearson ’20— Study/Research Award, Netherlands

Nell Pearson ’20 a double major in history and anthropology from Brooklyn, N.Y., has been offered a Fulbright Study/Research Award in the Netherlands for 2021–22. 

Her �ֲ���ý academic training coupled with a keen interest in water and climate issues have Pearson well-positioned for research at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where she will explore how Dutch water-management strategies promote community wellbeing, both in the short term and in the future.

Her work at VU Amsterdam will take place in a master’s program in social and cultural anthropology with a concentration in development and sustainability.

A young teenager when Hurricane Sandy decimated miles of the New Jersey and New York shoreline, Pearson now seeks “to understand how Dutch water management strategies can serve as a model for American urban contexts, and how vulnerabilities in American infrastructure and societal emergency preparedness can be improved.”&�Բ�����;

With much of their country below sea level, the Dutch have always had a robust approach to water control. Today, the approach “promotes an equitable transition to a green economy while emphasizing community wellbeing,” Pearsons says. “It’s at the forefront of a progressive discourse regarding climate change.”

“As coastal communities are increasingly facing sea water rise, they will need to address these issues equitably.”

By poring over historical sources, including maps, oral histories, letters, and diaries, Pearson hopes to learn how the country’s water-management practices have changed over the last century. Armed with historical context, she will then “uncover contemporary approaches to environmental hazards through ethnographic interviews with Dutch stakeholders, including designers, engineers, academics, and policy makers.”

At the same time, she adds, “the human dimensions of climate change” demand that scholars and policymakers adopt a social-justice lens. “As coastal communities are increasingly facing sea water rise, they will need to address these issues equitably.”

At her 2020 graduation, Pearson earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa and was awarded the Department of History’s John R. Cole Prize for Outstanding Achievement in History. 

Pearson’s environmental sustainability experience is extensive. She completed a Purposeful Work internship in summer 2017 with the Bicycle Coalition, a statewide advocacy group for biking and walking in Maine. The next summer, funded by a �ֲ���ý Environmental Fellowship, she was a historical horticulture intern at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, where she researched and implemented a plan for a museum-wide composting program. 

During Short Term 2019, she conducted indigenous archeology in Togiak, Alaska, with other �ֲ���ý students and their professor. And during her junior semester abroad, in South Africa in fall 2018, she and various municipal entities.

Currently with the New York City Civic Corps serving the Gowanus Canal Conservancy in Brooklyn, Pearson plans to return to New York after her Fulbright to focus on urban-resilience policy and design. 

Though only a novice speaker of Dutch, Pearson has a second language at her disposal when she visits the Netherlands: music. A jazz saxophonist who performed with the �ֲ���ý Jazz Band and other groups at �ֲ���ý, Pearson looks forward to attending performances and sitting in on jam sessions.

Bence Szechenyi ’20 — Study/Research Award, Hungary

Bence Szechenyi ’20, an English major from Brooklyn, N.Y., has been offered a Fulbright Study/Research Award in Hungary for 2021–22.

Described as an “enthusiastic, creative, and bright young scholar” by one of his professors, Szechenyi will research a famous forebear: István Széchenyi, a 19th-century statesman, reformer, and political writer still revered in Hungary today as a hero and champion of national development. 

Indeed, the name Szechenyi has retained its star power in Hungary (besides the fact that an asteroid is named for him). The iconic chain bridge over the Danube carries his name, as does the country’s 5,000 forint banknote. In 2011, the government dubbed its major new development program the “New Széchenyi Plan.”

István Széchenyi is an enduringly popular Hungarian figure but also a tragic one. Plagued by a sense of personal failure following the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and by mental depression, he died by suicide in 1848.

Working with scholars at Eötvös Loránd University and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, Bence Szechenyi will employ the tools of biography and political analysis to tease out the connections between contemporary Hungarian political life and his famous ancestor’s life and death.

“Would his understanding of a doomed future prove correct, in line with his ideologies, or would he be pleased with the projects being initiated under his name?”

“Considering that Széchenyi committed suicide and was utterly dismayed by Hungary’s status and presumed future, his contemporary usage begs questions concerning how he would see Hungary now,” says Bence, whose maternal and fraternal grandparents emigrated from Hungary to the U.S. to escape Soviet oppression. 

“Would his understanding of a doomed future prove correct, in line with his ideologies, or would he be pleased with the projects being initiated under his name?”

To find the answers, says Bence, “my physical presence in Hungary is especially crucial to understand Széchenyi’s contemporary legacy in Hungary as well as comprehend public reception and understanding of the New Széchenyi Plan.”

Ultimately, Bence hopes to write a book that explains the disconnect between his ancestor’s “deep sorrow regarding the state of Hungarian politics and foreign policy, holding himself at least partially accountable for these failures, and his glowing legacy in contemporary Hungary.”

A member of the Manic Optimists a capella singing group and twice a Purposeful Work intern with Okapi Partners in New York City, Szechenyi earned honors in English for his thesis, “.”&�Բ�����;

In his thesis, he looked at three novels — Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s Americanah, Teju Cole’s Open City, and Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist — to examine how U.S. immigration is “simultaneously idealized in American cultural memory yet demonized in contemporary political discourse.”&�Բ�����;

Following his Fulbright year, Szechenyi intends to gain a law degree and ultimately focus on “important issues such as climate change and refugee crises [that] require solutions that transcend national policy. I hope to direct my career towards solving such problems.”

Seven members of the �ֲ���ý Class of 2020 and three young alumni have been offered grants for English-language teaching or research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program or the related Fulbright Austria program.

If all 10 accept the awards, they will travel to nine countries scattered around the globe, from Brunei to Colombia to Montenegro.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program bestows two types of awards. Open Study/Research grants fund self-designed projects, and recipients work with advisers at universities abroad. And English Teaching Assistant awards place Fulbrighters in classrooms abroad.

For 2020–21, eight of �ֲ���ý’ awardees have been offered ETA awards and the others, research grants — one will study agribusiness in New Zealand and the other, large-tree ecology in Brunei.

One senior was offered two different Fulbright awards. Anne Trapp ’20 of Brunswick, Maine, has accepted an English Teaching Assistantship from Fulbright Austria — Austria being one of 51 countries in which Fulbright exchanges are managed by an autonomous, binational commission. Trapp was also offered an English Teaching Assistant award for Germany from the U.S. Fulbright program.

This spring’s Fulbright offers to �ֲ���ý seniors and young alums came, of course, at a time of dramatic disruptions around the globe caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 19, the U.S. State Department of State issued a health advisory instructing all Americans abroad to either return to the U.S. or prepare to shelter in place. In effect, that advisory suspended the Fulbright Program for U.S. participants partway through their commitments — including most of the 24 �ֲ���ý graduates who received Fulbright awards in the 2019–20 cycle.

While their sojourns abroad were cut short for the 24 — a drastic example being Emily Bowen ’19, who arrived in Brazil on Feb. 10 and had to leave on March 15 — some, like Kelsey Schober ’16 and Emily Tan ’19, were able to continue or complete their Fulbright-funded research nevertheless.

But if last year’s Fulbright grantees didn’t have the experience they signed up for, the experience they actually received was historic, says Lecturer in English Robert Strong, the director of national fellowships at �ֲ���ý. “While they had their grants cut short — in some cases, like the Nepal and Brazil Fulbrights, right at the beginning — they were deep into the globe at the start of a global pandemic.

“So they’ve had a unique and valuable view into the international ability to respond to crisis. No doubt, they will carry this lesson, with whatever hopes and disappointments came with it, forward into their work improving the world.”

The impact of the pandemic on the 2020–21 recipients isn’t clear. An undated statement on reads, “As this is an emerging situation, circumstances may change as additional information becomes available. As of today, selection notifications for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program are moving forward in preparation for the 2020–2021 academic year.” 

On April 21, finalists were notified that several components of the program won’t start at least until after Jan. 1, 2021, in order to “give selected candidates, host institutions, and program partners worldwide as much information as possible in order to plan for the coming academic year.”

“So they’ve had a unique and valuable view into the international ability to respond to crisis.”

The notification stated, “Fulbright acts in partnership with educational systems in the United States and around the world, many of which are also in flux and may not open their physical facilities on a normal schedule this fall.”

“The COVID-19 global pandemic has created extraordinary circumstances around the world and enormous challenges for the Fulbright Program,” finalists were told. “As sponsors of the Fulbright Program, the United States Department of State’s highest priority is the health and safety of all participants. Please know that our goal is to work flexibly with you to ensure you can have a safe and successful overseas experience.”

That flexibility, notes Strong, includes the invitation that Fulbright has extended to the latest crop of offerees: “They have been invited to apply again this fall for the year after, even though some of them may actually start their grants in January.”

Meet the 10 recent or soon-to-be �ֲ���ý alumni who have been offered Fulbright awards:

Fulbright U.S. Student Awards: Seniors

Madeline Clark ’20

Madeline Clark ’20 of McLean, Va., a double major in English and sociology, has been offered a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award for Asturias, Spain.

The Fulbright, she says, will support “my deep cultural curiosity and strong desire to connect with others.”

While at �ֲ���ý, Clark has engaged with the Lewiston community through organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine, where she taught English-language learners from the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The ELL work in particular, says Clark, will inform her teaching in Asturias.

Her IRCM experience showed Clark the importance of forging connections in teaching language. “I adapted my teaching goals by designing a curriculum grounded in conversation,” she explains. “I created lessons on global current events and provided my students with guided discussion questions.

“They were soon developing their English skills while getting to know one another, as they passionately debated topics that aroused their interest. Language learning transformed into a collaborative process.” Clark adds that IRCM also afforded valuable insights into the “importance of engaging with contrasting perspectives, and how to do so effectively.”

Outside of her classroom in Asturias, music will offer Clark a means of getting to know her community. Known at �ֲ���ý as a singer-songwriter, she calls music “a pivotal part of my identity and a powerful uniting force.”

She hopes to get involved with a songwriting club to help build her language skills and cultural awareness. Songwriting, she says, has become “an exercise in interpersonal and intrapersonal connection, and has inspired an insatiable curiosity to know myself and others.”

Back in the U.S., Clark aims to earn a doctorate in creative writing and then teach at the college level. “The relationships, culture, and language that I experience in Spain will prove generative for my own writing,” she says. “I believe I’ll grow as a writer by learning from Spanish literary traditions and creating prose that draws on multicultural influences.”

Lexie Jamieson ’20

Lexie Jamieson ’20 of Scarborough, Maine, a double major in politics and Spanish, has been offered a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award for Malaysia.

Jamieson credits her experience at the renowned Seeds of Peace international camp, in Otisfield, Maine, as a transformational episode in her life. Encountering young people from diverse countries and backgrounds opened her eyes to the fact that “the world around me was so much larger than just my bubble in Maine,” she says. Since then, “I’ve been inspired to absorb myself in other similar experiences.”

In particular, Jamieson has used the classroom as a venue for lowering cultural barriers. For two years she was a math and writing tutor in Lewiston elementary schools, where she taught many immigrants from Somalia and other East African countries and found creative ways to help them learn English.

“Because of Seeds of Peace, I’ve been able to connect with students and exchange experiences about our cultures, strengthening my bond with them and ultimately aiding them in the classroom,” she says. “I believe that we’re capable of overcoming cultural barriers through education.”

Jamieson has served as a peer writing and speaking assistant in Spanish in the Academic Resource Commons at �ֲ���ý. She studied at the Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2019, and volunteered as an English-language tutor at an international school in Buenos Aires. She interned for the Maine Democratic Party, for congressional candidate (now U.S. Rep.) Jared Golden, and for U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree.

A lifelong athlete, Jamieson intends to deepen her community engagement in Malaysia by volunteering for local athletic organizations and coaching youth sports. “I’m excited to involve myself in a place and community where the living conditions are potentially very different from those I’ve been accustomed to.”

After her Fulbright year, Jamieson hopes to work in educational policy making, with a focus on advancing equity within the U.S. educational system.

Signe Lynch ’20

Signe Lynch ’20, an environmental studies major from Farmingdale, Maine, has been offered a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award for Montenegro.

Lynch credits a 10th-grade social studies teacher with opening her eyes to the transformative power of education. “Knowing from my own experience how valuable a great teacher can be to an individual’s life,” she says, “I will be an English teaching assistant who makes space for trust and growth, pushes my students’ learning beyond the confines of a classroom, and prepares them for wherever their English knowledge may take them.”

An education minor at �ֲ���ý, Lynch has been a peer writing tutor in the environmental studies program and, in Lewiston public schools, taught third-graders with special needs and ninth-grade social studies students.

Inspired by her parents to love gardening and outdoors recreation from an early age, Lynch has parlayed these interests into a commitment to sustainability. She has been director of cabins and trails for the �ֲ���ý Outing Club since 2017. In 2018 and 2019, with two other environmental studies majors, Lynch conducted a community-engaged, capstone research project examining changes in land use in Auburn, Maine. The project informed that city’s own discussions about changes to its 1964 agricultural protection district.

Teaming with a nutrition center and the Lewiston school district, Lynch initiated a composting program at local elementary schools that conserves municipal resources, generates compost for school gardens, and provides valuable lessons to students.

In partnership with the NGO Zero Waste Montenegro, she hopes to achieve something similar during her Fulbright year, establishing composting facilities that support community gardens. Montenegro, she says, has “an excellent climate for growing and a delicious cuisine.”

Back in the U.S., Lynch hopes to teach world history at a diverse, under-resourced public high school. “Teaching students who may lack opportunities that others have,” she says, “is near to my heart and of the utmost importance as I establish my career goals.”

Martha Rabura ’20

Martha Rabura ’20, a psychology major from Port Gamble, Wash., has been offered a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award for South Korea.

Scion of a family of teachers, Rabura is an education minor at �ֲ���ý. She has undertaken a wide variety of placements as a teaching assistant in Lewiston public schools, including working in a special-needs classroom and helping francophone middle-school students with English language learning. She has been a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor, a counselor for at-risk youth, and, on campus, a peer statistics tutor for the psychology department.

An advanced speaker of Spanish and French and an intermediate speaker of German, Rabura has studied abroad extensively, including more than two months in Chile, a month in China and a semester in France.

She says, “I’ve learned that countless children struggle to receive a good education and that what is considered a ‘good’ education varies between cultures.” In a �ֲ���ý course on cultural psychology, “I’ve further learned about contrasting beliefs about child development and early education between the U.S. and many Asian Pacific countries. These lessons and experiences have inspired me to become an elementary-level English teaching assistant in South Korea.”

“My role as a student and a teacher are interwoven when it comes to culture and language. I may be teaching my students about English grammar and American customs, but, in return, I am a student of the people around me, learning about their traditions, history, and perspectives.”

Outside the classroom in South Korea, Rabura looks forward to getting involved with the local community by taking local art and cooking classes. In addition, as a former Girl Scout and a troop leader during her time at �ֲ���ý, she’d like to volunteer with a local scouting troop or similar youth organization.

After her Fulbright experience, she plans to work with immigrant communities in either an education or advocacy capacity. 

Madison Rozells ’20

Madison Rozells ’20, a double major in English and Spanish from Pacific Palisades, Calif., has been offered an English Teaching Assistant Award for Colombia.

Rozells’ teaching experience ranges from private tutoring in English for a Spanish boy, assisting in public classrooms from pre-K to fourth grade, and tutoring college students in both English and Spanish writing. Through America Reads/America Counts, Rozells served as a tutor and teaching assistant in Lewiston elementary schools for two years.

At �ֲ���ý, she has been a peer writing and speaking assistant for students in a First-Year Seminar and in an upper-level Spanish class. She explains, “In these classes, I support both the students and faculty members. As a PWSA for writing Spanish, I give presentations in class about the different genres that students will be working in as they develop their voices in a second language. I also offer one-on-one help.”

She continues, “I can relate to students because they and I know that we have been through a lot of the same journey on our way to fluency and to building our own voices.”

Active in a student theater group at �ֲ���ý, Rozells has performed in musicals produced for audiences of local schoolchildren — and, drawing from her own early performance experience, has had good success in the classroom with exercises adapted from theater.

This practice has been especially effective at a local school for students with emotional or behavioral challenges, she says. “I run workshops in which we play theater games and read scenes as a way to help the students grow their social and interpersonal skills. As I work with them and watch their confidence and trust in others grow, I see them begin to make eye contact and converse with me and their peers.”

After Colombia, Rozells plans to pursue a doctorate in literature. “My Spanish language skills and the intercultural Fulbright experience will allow me to further immerse myself in the study of global and comparative literature,” she says.

Anne Trapp ’20

Anne Trapp ’20, an environmental studies major from Brunswick, Maine, has been offered both a U.S. Teaching Assistantship by Fulbright Austria and an English Teaching Assistant Award by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Trapp will accept the Fulbright Austria award and work as a teaching assistant in a secondary-school English language program.

Trapp and her sister Greta spent part of summer 2019 on a farm in Austria, the latest of Anne’s travels to German-speaking lands. “I’m excited for the USTA year and the opportunity to once again immerse myself in Austrian culture, to share my background and education, and to use my teaching and German-language skills to cross borders,” she says.

Trapp adds, “The first life goal I ever made was to become fluent in German. Ever since my high school abroad semester in Germany, I have been fascinated by the language and culture.” As a German minor at �ֲ���ý, Trapp completed seven semesters of course work in the discipline.

Outside of the classroom, Trapp will seek opportunities to immerse herself in the community through theater and sports — specifically swimming, rock climbing, or rowing. “All three sports have helped me integrate into new communities throughout my life,” she says.

Trapp has also visited Bhutan, where she studied politics and ecology for more than three months, and Norway, Hungary, and Italy.

Minoring in theater as well as German at �ֲ���ý, Trapp directed a 2018 production of The Shape of Things by the Robinson Players, the college’s student-run theater company, and acted in Robinson Players and theater department productions. Her directorial skills, Trapp says, will help her “engage students and help manage the energy of a large classroom” in Austria.

After her Fulbright Austria experience, Trapp plans to pursue advanced degrees in English or environmental studies, with the ultimate goal of teaching environmental literature at the high school or college levels. She also hopes to return to Europe for a German-language master’s program.

Danielle Ward ’20

Danielle Ward ’20 of Atlantic Highlands, N.J., a double major in environmental studies and English, has been offered an Open Study/Research Award for Brunei, a country on the island of Borneo. 

Working with Professor Johan Frederik Slik of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Ward will research large-tree ecology in Bruneian rainforests. Specifically, she will quantify and characterize trees within a permanent plot in the Andulau Forest Reserve.

Large trees, which are defined as those with diameters of 50 centimeters or more, “play a critical role in rainforest dynamics in Brunei and, more broadly, in climate change,” Ward says. “However, information about them is limited.” She will also map, inventory, and assess the health of large-tree species across a variety of parameters.

The data she collects will enable Ward to quantify the carbon storage of the trees she studies. These assessment methods “can be applied to other ecosystems, which will allow researchers to draw important comparisons between forests in Brunei and elsewhere,” she says.

Ward points out that Brunei stands out in Southeast Asia for its robust forest protection policies. “Work that highlights the importance of old-growth trees is in line with the country’s recognition of its forests as culturally valuable assets.” She adds, “I hope to gain an understanding of local peoples’ perceptions, appreciations, and challenges with their rainforests through personal discussions. This will help me contextualize my own research, as well as connect with local communities.”

Ward has undertaken a variety of trainings and internships related to forestry, including a field internship with the Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative in Vermont.

At �ֲ���ý, Ward wrote a senior thesis on Maine lichen for her environmental studies major (she also completed a thesis for her English major). She served as president of the college Outing Club this academic year (its 100th) and led three wilderness trips for �ֲ���ý’ annual orientation program for first-year students. She is an Appalachian Trail through-hiker. 

Ultimately, Ward says, “I plan to pursue a career in environmental journalism.”

Fulbright U.S. Student Awards: Young alumni

Jacob Atwood ’19

Jacob Atwood ’19, an English major from Natick, Mass., has been offered an English Teaching Assistant Award for Mexico.

Since 2019, Atwood has been a world-languages teacher placement counselor at a firm that supports educational organizations with faculty recruitment, leadership searches, and consulting.

His teaching experience includes serving as a teaching assistant in an English as a Second Language program at Lewiston High School and, on campus, as a peer writing tutor for first-year students and a teaching assistant for a psychology course.

A Spanish minor at �ֲ���ý, Atwood spent the fall 2019 semester studying in Spain, choosing to speak only Spanish and travel only within the country.

That was his favorite semester ever, Atwood says. “My language pledge meant that even buying candy was an opportunity to publicly err, to improve my language skills, and to connect with a stranger. I loved having the sense that every phrase I chanced and every sentence I tried to understand would better prepare me for the next conversation.”

He adds, “The best and most formative experiences of my life have been characterized by a commitment to similar risk-taking endeavors. I’m drawn to a Fulbright ETA for the opportunity to embrace my vulnerability in order to build cross-cultural relationships and grow.”

An avid ultimate frisbee player, Atwood hopes to parlay this obsession into a deeper connection with his community in Mexico. He hopes to join a local team and help teach ultimate. “I’ll bring my experience playing on a multicultural, multilingual men’s and women’s ultimate frisbee team in Madrid,” he says. “All you need to play is a group of people and a frisbee, and I will bring many frisbees with me to Mexico.”

After his Fulbright experience, Atwood hopes to remain in the field of education. He says, “By continuing to work with teachers who engage their students with the Spanish-speaking communities of the world, I’ll contribute to the efforts of independent schools to make their curriculums more inclusive.”

Caroline Caldwell ’15

Caroline Caldwell ’15, an environmental studies major at �ֲ���ý who is now a rancher in Missoula, Mont., has been offered a Fulbright Open Study/Research Award for a year in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Working with Alison Bailey, professor of farm management, Caldwell will earn a master’s degree in management in agribusiness from Lincoln University. Combining formal coursework with independent research at local farms, she will explore relationships between land, agriculture, and bio-economic systems in the context of world markets.

Caldwell will work with farmers to create business plans that combine science-based innovation with local knowledge, the objectives being to improve business performance and regenerate farmland. “Through this degree, I’ll be able to support the ecology and economy of agriculture locally, foster agricultural trade internationally, and help guide us towards a climate-resilient, productive, and environmentally sustainable future,” she says.

For her senior thesis at �ֲ���ý, Caldwell analyzed the workings of three organizations dedicated to farmland preservation.“Caroline excels at thinking across systems and drawing out information, finding patterns, and building from them,” says her thesis advisor, Holly Ewing, professor of environmental studies and Christian A. Johnson Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies.

An Otis Fellowship recipient at �ֲ���ý, Caldwell went on to receive a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to work on livestock properties in Finland, New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and Australia.

During her Fulbright year, in addition to her academic work, Caldwell will take part in ranch activities and attend low-stress stockmanship clinics and regenerative agriculture workshops. A member of the women’s rowing team that claimed the first NCAA team championship in �ֲ���ý history, in 2015, she hopes to join a rowing club in Christchurch, as well as to swim and coach swimmers.

Caldwell ultimately wants to work with an international NGO on issues of agriculture in the context of global trade, climate change resilience, and economic sustainability. “My unique background will bring a fresh approach to a career with such an organization,” she says.

Hannah Singer ’18

Hannah Singer ’18 of New York City, a sociology major, has been offered an English Teaching Assistant Award for Spain.

Since September 2019, Singer has worked as an intake coordinator for Health Law Advocates’ Mental Health Advocacy Program for Kids, based in Boston. From 2018 to 2019, she was an AmeriCorps Fellow at AmeriCorps Legal Advocates of Massachusetts.

An education minor at �ֲ���ý, Singer will bring to her Fulbright classroom extensive experience with diverse students from elementary through high school age. In addition, she held a summer internship in 2017 creating online grammar and writing exercises for Quill, a nonprofit that works to increase student literacy around the world.

Singer worked in a variety of educational settings during her time at �ֲ���ý — as a literature circle facilitator in a program for English-language learners, a teaching assistant in a middle-school literacy program, and an English and math tutor for students at Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services.

“Those experiences taught me the importance of being flexible in order to accommodate the needs of all students and create a positive learning environment,” Singer says. “As an ETA in Spain, I want to continue working with students with a wide range of backgrounds and abilities. I’ll design lessons that allow my students to learn from each other and focus on inclusion.”

Outside the classroom, she plans to volunteer at an after-school program and offer English tutoring to both young people and adults in her area. If circumstances permit, she adds, “I look forward to engaging with and exploring the arts community, as someone who has always loved ceramics.”

After her Fulbright experience, Singer plans to earn a Master’s in Education or attend law school. Dedicated to supporting underserved communities, she hopes to continue her work with children either in a school setting or as an advocate for their educational and mental health needs.

�ֲ���ý College is the No. 1 producer of Fulbright Student awards among U.S. liberal arts colleges in 2020, .

A perennial Top Producer of Fulbrights, �ֲ���ý has received the most Fulbright Student awards among U.S. liberal arts colleges twice in the last three years.

With 24 young alumni engaged in Fulbright-sponsored teaching and research experiences worldwide, �ֲ���ý tops all U.S. bachelors’ colleges — including the most selective liberal arts institutions — for the second time in three years.

The college’s two dozen Fulbright Student awards in 2020 are the most ever by a U.S. liberal arts college.

“This extraordinary accomplishment is the result of a genuine team effort — beginning with the talent and creativity of our student candidates, the generosity and diligence of their faculty mentors, the leadership of our program director, and the efforts of many other members of our community,” said �ֲ���ý President Clayton Spencer.

“Fulbright recognizes that our students are deeply curious, concerned about the defining issues of our time, and already emerging as ethical and effective leaders committed to living lives of meaning and contribution.”

Sarah Rothmann ’19, with a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award in the Czech Republic, teaches her students about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the art of Mark Twain’s aphorisms. (Photograph by Kristyna Dzmuranova)

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. The highly competitive program sends Americans to dozens of countries to teach, study, or conduct research, promoting cultural exchange and international understanding, and finding solutions to shared concerns.

Recognized as a Fulbright Top Producer for nine straight years, �ֲ���ý has seen a sharp rise in the number of Fulbright Student grants awarded, from six in 2013 to the record-setting 24 this year.

+24 Fulbrights, 18 countries

Central to �ֲ���ý’ Fulbright success — and a distinctive element of the overall �ֲ���ý experience  — are wide-ranging opportunities for highly talented students to develop one-on-one mentoring relationships with faculty and staff, said Robert Strong, lecturer in English and the college’s director of national fellowships.

Robert Strong is a lecturer in English and director of national fellowships at �ֲ���ý. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

“�ֲ���ý students are talented, curious, and eager to understand the world and their place in it, which makes them strong Fulbright candidates already, as well as set up for success in any endeavor,” Strong said.

“It’s amazing what �ֲ���ý faculty and staff will then do to help them grow intellectually and personally, and to help them identify their interests and goals.”

Such mentorship can take the form of small classes, experience in cutting-edge research, collaboration in extracurricular activities, and senior thesis advising.

In turn, the power of mentoring is built into the �ֲ���ý fellowship application process. As students prepare their applications, each Fulbright hopeful participates in an intensive interview with a faculty and staff committee. Feedback from these sessions helps students refine and better articulate their goals.

Eden Rickolt ’20 (right) of Landenberg, Pa., now applying for a 2020–21 Fulbright, poses with her Fulbright mentor, Carolina González Valencia, assistant professor of art and visual culture, in Rickolt’s visual art thesis studio in the Olin Arts Center. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

For the past several years, Strong said, these committees have included a faculty or staff mentor who knows the individual applicant well. Their presence helps both committee and student add valuable depth to fellowship applications.

“Often the application mentor can ask a question that draws out something about the applicant, about their background or scholarly interest, that we had no idea about,” Strong said. “It’s very helpful.”

Mentorship infuses other �ֲ���ý experiences that help to create strong Fulbright applications, from the centrality of senior thesis projects to the availability of education and community-engaged courses in Lewiston, which is home to a large community of immigrants from African nations — all of which prepare Fulbright recipients to have important intercultural exchanges around the world.

Fulbright Student awards often put young �ֲ���ý alumni into the mix of important international research. Here Andrew Chen ’19 (left) is using his Fulbright research grant to study with the Neuroimmunologic Response to Surgical Aggression and Anesthesia laboratory in Barcelona, Spain. At center is Dr. Sergio Vide, a lab collaborator, and at right is Dr. Pedro Gambús, the lab’s principal investigator. Chen is investigating how certain patients may be predisposed to adverse outcomes after receiving anesthesia. (Photo courtesy Andrew Chen ’19)

Also supporting the college’s Fulbright success is the college’s robust off-campus study program. More than half of �ֲ���ý students study abroad, often on programs that center around their budding research interests.

“Students come back totally on fire with their new academic interest and they find me, saying, ‘I just did this and I want to keep doing it,’” Strong said.

The combination of resources, opportunities, and individualized application support leads each year to tremendous Fulbright success — but even if the application is not successful, Strong said, applying for the fellowship benefits the applicants.

Linda Kugblenu ’13 (right), who has a Fulbright Student research award in Uganda, poses with Dorothy, an entrepreneur who sells fruits and vegetables in the Nakasero Market in Kampala. Kugblenu is leading focus groups with female entrepreneurs to explore savings and credit cooperatives, or SACCOs, which are significant drivers in the mobilization of women to acquire capital, invest in businesses, and become financially stable.

“It’s an intensive process of thinking about your goals,” he said. “What do you want to do? How do you best approach it? Who’s your audience for this application, and how do you address them? They’re prepared to do it again in job interviews and in future fellowship applications.”

Strong points to , and recent Marshall scholar Chris Crum ’15 as alumni who were unsuccessful Fulbright applicants yet went on to earn highly prestigious and competitive fellowships.

“Very often, once you put your goals down on paper, they cohere in your mind in a way that helps you think about them more thoroughly.”

By helping students at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, a high school for orphaned and vulnerable youth in rural Rwanda, to think and speak about the society they want to see, “the project will contribute to cultivating Rwanda’s next generation of peace- and changemakers,” Whidden, a politics major, wrote in her grant proposal.

Twenty-five years after the genocide that devastated the country, one of Rwanda’s central development goals is to strengthen open dialogue and critical thinking, particularly among the country’s youth.

To that end, Whidden, a veteran of �ֲ���ý’ Brooks Quimby Debate Council, and staff in the Village’s career center will develop a debate curriculum, culminating in a weeklong camp. The curriculum will address the triple goals of critical thinking, public speaking, and English language learning.

“The goal of developing this curriculum is to give students the skills to think and question for themselves, rather than having some white Western individual coming in and trying to challenge certain ideas or status quos,” Whidden said in a recent interview. “It’s not for me to come in and question those things for them but to give them the tools to start asking those questions for themselves.”

Whidden, of New York City, first traveled to Rwanda during Short Term in 2015, as part of a documentary filmmaking course looking at post-genocide reconstruction, taught by Professor of French and Francophone Studies Alexandre Dauge-Roth. Back on campus, she completed a semester-long research project on post-conflict development in Rwanda.

With funding from the �ֲ���ý Purposeful Work internship program, she returned to the country in  summer 2017 as an intern for the Village. She worked in the school’s career center, taught an accelerated English course, and created a peer-mentoring program.

“I had a really incredible experience working there,” Whidden said. “I became really close with my students — especially with my debaters, who were remarkable — and I built a strong relationship with my supervisor and with the director of the Village.”

After her eight weeks at the Village this year, Whidden will move to Morocco on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award. In the meantime, she’s grateful for the chance to return to the school.

“It’s a complete privilege and remarkable opportunity to give back to and continue to work with an organization that was really formative in my personal and professional development,” she said.