Yearly Archives:

2012

U.S. Fulbright

Putting the finishing touches on your Fulbright-mtvU application? Check out the application timeline and last minute tips below.

February 22, 2012

 

March 1, 2012

Online application deadline for all candidates (Enrolled and At-Large)

 Fulbright-mtvU Online Application Timeline
The online application for ALL applicants must be submitted electronically by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, March 1, 2012.  For your records, be sure to print out a hard copy before submitting the application electronically.
You will receive an email confirmation from the Embark Fulbright Online Application System when you complete all the steps leading to the electronic submission of the application.  Failure to electronically submit your application by the deadline will result in the disqualification of your application.
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO ELECTRONICALLY SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION.   The system for both applicants and References/Evaluations will shut down at the time indicated.  Plan to complete submission well in advance of the deadline.
March-April 2012

Stage 1 Application Review

 Applications are reviewed by committees in the United States.  Results are collated and panels of recommended candidates for each country receiving Fulbright U.S. Student grantees are compiled.
April 2012

Stage 2  Review Begins

 Applications of recommended candidates are transmitted to the supervising agencies abroad, to the U.S. State Department and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FSB) for further review.
April, 2012

Stage 1 Decision Notification

 Applicants in the 2012-2013 competition will receive email notification indicating whether or not they have been recommended to the host country.
May- June 2012

Stage 2 Notification

 As results of the selection and approval process are received, recommended candidates will be notified of their status: 

  1. Selected to receive a grant.
  2. Designated as an alternate to receive consideration if a selected candidate declines the grant offered.  Alternates remain on the list until August 2012, since a declination or withdrawal can occur at any time prior to the closing of the competition.
  3. Non-selected by the host country, and, therefore, no longer under consideration.
May- June 2012 

Selected candidates
  1. Have Medical Certificate completed to receive clearance (within four weeks of selection notification).
  2. Graduating seniors submit final transcripts with bachelor’s degree award certification (by end of June or within two weeks of selection notification).
July/August 2012

Mandatory Pre-Departure Orientation

 Mandatory Pre-departure Orientation Meetings in New York, NY. Attendance is mandatory and is a condition of receiving a grant.
July 2012 to March 2013

Grants begin

 Grantees may begin their grants with host country concurrence.  Consult the Country Summary for specific restrictions on grant dates.  Grant start dates may not be postponed beyond March 31, 2013.

 

Last Minute Tips:

  • In addition to the Statement of Grant Purpose and the Personal Statement, be sure to complete and upload the mtvU Documentation and Outreach Plan.
  • Review country summary for the host country to which you are applying to ensure you meet the country specific requirements.
  • If applying as a Creative and Performing Arts candidate, be sure to submit supplementary materials via mail by March 1st.
  • Monitor your application and follow up with your recommenders and language evaluator(s) to make sure that they upload their documents to your application by 5:00 p.m., March 1st.
  • Make sure to upload all of your transcripts. Graduate students will need to submit both undergrad and graduate transcripts.
  • Community engagement is important in the Fulbright Program and even more so for Fulbright-mtvU.
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U.S. Fulbright

There’s one more Fulbright-mtvU webinar before the March 1 deadline…

February 17, 2012

The last Fulbright-mtvU webinar of the season will take place on Wednesday, February 22, 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET.  This will be a great opportunity for all applicants and advisers to ask final questions.

During the webinar, staff from mtvU and IIE will discuss the steps involved in submitting your application.  Once again, if available, Fulbright-mtvU alumni will be on hand to discuss their experiences and answer questions.

Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/932629602.

All times are Eastern Time Zone.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar.  If you have not already done so, you will need to download the GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar client software.

System Requirements
Windows PC: Windows 2000, XP, or newer 
Mac: OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or newer

To view current and past fellow’s video reports, blogs and podcasts visit: http://www.fulbright.mtvU.com.

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U.S. Fulbright

Putting the finishing touches on your Fulbright-mtvU application? Attend tomorrow’s webinar.

February 6, 2012

For five years, Fulbright-mtvU Fellows have promoted the power of using music as a global force for mutual understanding. Now entering its sixth year, we encourage all those interested in applying to this uniques program to join us for this informational webinar.

During the webinar, mtvU and IIE staff will discuss the final steps in submitting your application and answer your questions. If available, Fulbright-mtvU alumni will be available to discuss their experiences and also answer questions. All interested applicants and advisers are welcome to attend.

Register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/445230026.

All times are Eastern Time Zone.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the Webinar. If you have done so not already, you will need to download the GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar client software.

System Requirements
Windows PC: Windows 2000, XP, or newer 
Mac: OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or newer

To view current and past fellow’s video reports, blogs and podcasts, please visit: http://www.fulbright.mtvU.com.

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U.S. Fulbright

Reevaluating the Meaning of the Word Home, By Cristina Gauthier, 2010-2011, Brazil

February 2, 2012

As the jumpy, beat-up bus lifted a cloud of dust behind it, I felt a lump in my throat.  I stuck my head out the window and took in the scenery: palm trees, mangroves, birds and sunshine.  I was leaving the small rural town of Mutá in Bahia, Brazil, for the last time.  Nine months had passed and Mutá had started to feel like home.

When I first arrived, my intention was to help the town reuse all its organic waste.  My Fulbright project consisted of building a biogas system to produce cooking gas, supplemented by composting, while raising awareness about adequate solid waste disposal methods.  After a few months of investigating the possibility of a replicable biogas system (as an alternative energy method for rural communities), I realized that my Fulbright experience was about more than just my research.  I quickly became involved with the Mutá Residents’ Association and its nursery.  Each day, I visited the kids, helped with lunch, read stories and relished the company of these wonderful children who, in spite of not having luxuries of any kind, giggled, smiled and played with me.

Living in this community gave me an opportunity to become part of something bigger than my Fulbright project.  During most evenings, I attended Association reunions, church activities, birthday parties and other events that allowed me to discuss customs back home, food differences and national and international stereotypes.  As I overcame language barriers, the challenges I initially faced in adapting to living in a poor fishing community diminished considerably.  By offering English lessons, I became friends with the older children I mentored and tutored.  I also performed tutorials for the community on composting and biogas as alternative ways to dispose of organic waste.  All of these regular interactions helped me recognize how the degree of a community’s social inclusion’s impacts environmental issues, and how it affects rural communities throughout Bahia. My Fulbright experience expanded my understanding of underrepresented social groups with limited access to traditional education, and developed my ability to transcend cultural differences to attain a common goal.  Collaborating with some amazing people, I was able to design and construct a biogas system, a composting area and a small garden in the nursery.

Previous to these wonderful experiences in Mutá, I had worked hard on my Fulbright application.  I spent six months reading dozens of articles, investigating related projects in Brazil, sharing my project proposal and personal statement with friends and colleagues and obtaining affiliations.  I urge current applicants to do the same.  In developing a proposal, demonstrate that your proposed project will fulfill a very palpable need that will directly benefit your host community.  Furthermore, in finding an affiliation, patience and perseverance are crucial.  Potential host affiliations need to be contacted well in advance of the application deadline.  Keep in mind that contacting more than one affiliation can be advantageous, particularly if your first choice doesn’t work out.  The success of your project can depend on the number of people who are interested in it.  Also, while you’re developing your proposal, keep an open mind to changes.  This greatly benefits any project.  Starting early with these application components gave me time to craft polished documents that I felt confident submitting, and my efforts ultimately paid off.

As a Fulbright alumna, I have benefited from a world of opportunities in academia.  I have participated in conferences, presented my findings at universities and met marvelous individuals through non-governmental organizations interested in learning more about my project.  My Fulbright grant continues to be much bigger than just the sum of my research; it was, and is, a life-changing experience through which I uncovered my passion for investigating ways to fulfill rural communities’ basic sanitary and energy needs.

On my last day in Mutá, good friends walked me to the bus stop and sent me off with hugs, kisses and nostalgic goodbyes.  With barely any academic education, members of this community taught me many important things in only nine months.  Through their constant acceptance, incessant curiosity and unmistakable joy, they made me feel right at home.  I still keep in touch with many of my friends, and it is rewarding to know that they are currently eating the vegetables we planted together.  The most valuable lesson I learned?  Not everything is as one expects.  Nine months is more than enough time to make a place feel like home.

Top left photo: Cristina Gauthier, 2010-2011, Brazil, weighing organic waste

Middle photo: Cristina Gauthier, 2010-2011, Brazil (right), attending a birthday party for one of the children at the Mutá Residents’ Association’s nursery

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U.S. Fulbright

Last Minute Tips for Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship Applicants

January 26, 2012

The Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship application submission deadline is February 1 at 5:00 p.m. ET.  Your application and all supporting credentials must be electronically submitted by this time.

The Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship requires three references and, for countries where the working languge is not English (even if you are a native speaker or fluent in the language), a Foreign Language Evaluation (FLE).  Applicants register their referees and language evaluators in the Embark Online Application Step F.  Make sure that your references and Foreign Language Evaluation (where appropriate) have been electronically submitted by this deadline.  If your referees/evaluators have not yet submitted their documents, you should contact them and remind them of the February 1 deadline.  Incomplete applications may not be recommended.

Other tips are pretty much the same as for the traditional program:

  • Make sure uploaded materials are legible
  • Correct and revise
  • Have COMPLETE application critiqued    
  • Correct and revise
  • Print all PDF pages BEFORE online submission
  • Proof final PDF copy…SPELLING COUNTS!
  • Correct and revise
  • Make sure references and FLE, where required, are submitted

Under no circumstances will any documents be accepted after the deadline.  All applicants MUST have uploaded both their undergraduate and graduate transcripts.

Questions?  Feel free to contact Fulbright U.S. Student Program staff, M-F, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET.

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U.S. Fulbright

A Musical Odyssey through Malawi’s AIDS Epidemic, By Andrew Finn Magill, 2009-2010, Malawi

January 25, 2012

My Fulbright-mtvU grant to Malawi focused on HIV/AIDS.  If you’re at all like me, you probably grew up confused about HIV/AIDS based on the overwhelming amount of information produced by the media.  To execute my project, promoting mutual understanding between cultures was paramount to navigating any confusion about the global epidemic, and I can say that I genuinely accomplished that goal.

My project was done in collaboration with legendary Malawian musician and social activist Peter Mawanga.  We are both musicians and deeply passionate about global public health.  For six months before my Fulbright-mtvU grant catalyzed our musical collaboration, we had been concocting a concept album about AIDS.  Peter acted as my cultural translator and helped me to understand the vast cultural matrix within which HIV is transmitted, prevented and managed in Malawi.  What Peter and I strived to accomplish was to tell personal HIV narratives through song, letting the songs and the people themselves talk about AIDS.

To do this, I collected more than 25 Malawian HIV narratives.  I had several translators, all of whom ended up becoming dear friends.  These friendships were very important in carefully translating stigmas surrounding HIV and adultery into English.  Working with Peter also gave me some legitimacy within the Malawian community and made people eager to volunteer their stories.

“Who are you working with again?” they’d ask.

“Peter Mawanga.  You know that song, Amakhala ku Blantyre?”

“Oh, THAT guy!” they’d exclaim.

When people understood that this project was actually a genuine collaborative effort, and not a dilution of African realities, the response was very encouraging and people contributed some exceptionally candid narratives.

Another collaborator and translator by the name of Blessings often had the tricky task of making sense of social phenomena I had never come across before, like beliefs regarding infection and witchcraft.  I was introduced to most of the narrators through conversations with ordinary Malawians.  I often heard, “Oh, if you want a story, you have to talk to this guy!”  And then a few weeks later, that story would be recorded.

I am deeply grateful for the fact I was able to work with so many willing people, and I think that the process of collecting their narratives hinged upon an ongoing demonstration of cultural understanding. Malawians are tired of people swooping in, taking their stories, twisting them, and–worse–giving nothing back in return.  This Fulbright-mtvU project was intended to be something intrinsically Malawian yet accessible to a global audience.  To achieve that, I managed to enlist Peter, who then enlisted his band to perform the music Peter and I co-wrote.  We filtered each other’s cultural biases through our songwriting, ultimately finding ways to reconcile cross-cultural misperceptions, craft lyrics accessible to both Americans and Malawians, and render a fair portrait of each song’s original narrative.

To this day, my Fulbright-mtvU grant still very much informs my life.  The album we created was released in October 2011 (www.storiesofaids.com), and on World AIDS Day, December 1, I returned to Malawi for a U.S. Embassy-sponsored album launch.  The reception was awesome. Thank you, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassy Lilongwe and Fulbright-mtvU!

My advice for Fulbright-mtvU applicants:

During my project, I frequently had brainstorming sessions with people from as many different backgrounds as possible: public servants, doctors, medical school staff, musicians and humanities professors.  Every person you encounter will provide a different angle and perspective on your research.  A strong proposal will have a clear focus but will also allow for an interdisciplinary understanding of your project.  Discussing your project with different people will help you craft this kind of proposal. (Make sure to take notes!)  I benefited greatly from these varied perspectives.  And, of course, don’t forget to work closely with your campus Fulbright Program Adviser whenever possible.  They are there for a reason!

Photo: Andrew Finn Magill, 2009-2010, Fulbright-mtvU to Malawi (far right), attending the album launch for Mau a Malawi: Stories of AIDS at the U.S. Embassy’s 2011 World AIDS Day event at the Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe, Malawi; standing with him (left to right) are fellow musicians Alfred Sitolo, Dryson Mwimba, Mavuto Miliyoni, Marlyn Chakwera, Faith Mussa and Peter Mawanga.

Andrew and Peter also recently performed some of their songs for an audience at the U.S. Department of State during their U.S. tour this past fall. View some of the pictures on the Fulbright Facebook page.

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