Fulbright-mtvU applications for the 2015-2016 competition are due tomorrow, Friday, February 27 at 5:00 p.m. EST.
Have last minute questions? Carefully review all guidelines and tips on our website and then contact Susan Muendl at smuendl@iie.org. Good luck!
Andrew Magill, 2009-2010, Fulbright-mtvU Fellow to Malawi
Diana Heise, 2011-2012, Mauritius, filming for “Lame La Kone” (The Knowing Hand) in the sugarcane fields by Barkly
To give a glance into my Fulbright experience in Mauritius, I need to begin with the fact that I am a classically trained singer and it was through my relationship with music that I submerged myself in Mauritian culture. I hadn’t seriously sung for years and did not expect this impact when I was applying. So, as you start your application, I would recommend that you consider all the activities that have defined you, as these interests will help you connect abroad. For me, it was through this latent relationship to music that I became an adopted member of the band ABAIM, the crux of my Fulbright experience and my ongoing research.
ABAIM is a musical atelier with 30 members of mostly young people. Their songs are inspired by Sega Tipik, the lament music of African slaves. Additionally, they are one of the last safeguarding organizations of this musical tradition and who still teach the Ravann – a Mauritian drum and principle instrument of Sega Tipik.
ABAIM also considers itself a development organization, developing the lives of the community through music. On Saturdays, more than 60 children from throughout the island attend. Writing skills and traditional games are taught, children report news of the week during democratic assemblies, conversation can range from recounting birthdays to comments on the Syrian crisis. All in between singing.
The 2014-2015 list of #Fulbright Top Producing Institutions has been posted by The Chronicle of Higher Education!
We congratulate all of this year’s Top Producers!
Is your alma mater or current institution on this year’s list?
http://chronicle.com/article/Top-Producers-of-US/151607/
Giuseppe Cespedes, 2011-2012, Fulbright ETA to Brazil (left, with guitar), on his first visit to the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, playing music to his then future students, having a casual conversation (in his initially limited Portuguese), and enjoying some delicious Brazilian pastries
When you are applying for Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant, remember that Fulbright is not solely about assistant teaching English or about doing research; you need to dig deeper. Fulbright was my community in Pontal, a small beach town in the city of Ilhéus, Brazil. It was the place where I made my first group of Brazilian friends, where I learned how to dance forró, and where I practiced capoeira. As a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, Fulbright placed me at the forefront of my first English class at Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, a state university where students from all across the state of Bahia came to attend. My students, pushed by their curiosity, unabashedly asked me questions about my life and my perspectives on Brazilian culture. I tried my best to answer with my limited Portuguese. I was teaching while being taught. My students were my most encouraging Portuguese teachers, and the more we learned from each other, the closer we became as a group.
My students weren’t always the most confident English speakers, so I thought to incorporate music into the classroom to ease the tension. It started off with simple classroom activities, but it quickly spawned into a small choir of dedicated students with different levels of English. The choir met outside of class hours, performed at one of our campus-wide presentations, and we even recorded a few songs at the university recording studio. The choir wasn’t anything fancy or professional, but the students took to it and – if only for a moment – they sang without being consumed by self-awareness of their pronunciation.
Fulbright made me appreciate my own uniqueness, and it brought me into another culture I would have never otherwise experienced. If you want to be tourist, there are several ways to travel, but if you want to grow within a community, then Fulbright might be for you.
Interested in exploring how the power of music promotes peace and cultural exchange? Not a musician or a music scholar? You are still eligible!
If you’re a U.S. citizen and have a great project idea, visit https://us.fulbrightonline.org/about/types-of-grants/fulbright-mtvu-awards for more information about eligibility and instructions on how to apply.
To read more about Fulbright-mtvU students’ projects, please visit http://fulbright.mtvu.com.
To attend the final Fulbright-mtvU webinar on Thursday, February 19th, sign up here: https://us.fulbrightonline.org/component/events/855?view=event.
The February 27th deadline is quickly approaching, so complete your application soon!
Get More:
www.mtvu.com
Michael Snow, 2014-2015, Germany, center, discussing the holiday of Chanukah and its significance with friends in Berlin (Photo courtesy of Amira Mintz-Morgenthau)
The smells and sights of this holiday party – onions and potatoes frying in oil, neatly arranged candles waiting to be lit, some Hebrew tunes playing from a MacBook – were unfamiliar to most of the people present.
That said, four months into my year of living in Berlin, Germany, as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, celebrating Chanukah with new German friends was the most natural way I would choose to celebrate the holiday.
“Hash browns?” one friend asks, pointing the seasoned potatoes bubbling in oil on the stovetop of my friends’ apartment. “Latkes,” I clarify, the oil symbolizing one of the miracles of Chanukah. New recipe, ancient tradition.
“What’s this all about, anyway?” another friend asks, as we take seats on the floor to enjoy a delicious holiday food mash-up: Sufganiot (Chanukah jelly donuts) served alongside homemade Glühwein, a hot spiced red wine thoroughly enjoyed by Germans as the temperatures drop.