Yearly Archives:

2017

U.S. Fulbright

Fulbright: Completing the Puzzle

July 3, 2017

History Estill-Varner, 2015-2016, Dominican Republic (center), with a group of community members at a Deaf sporting event hosted at the Olympic Stadium in Santo Domingo.

The anticipation leading up to my departure for the Dominican Republic as a Fulbright U.S. Student Study/Research award recipient is something I remember vividly. While I dreamt of the ways that my research would have an impact on my host community, I had no idea that it would also end up having an impact on me. Some may call it serendipity, others may call it a blessing, but I now realize how the Fulbright “piece” was the perfect fit to the “puzzle” of my soon-to-be professional life.

I began constructing my puzzle in high school by taking sign language classes and added another piece during college through an intensive Spanish immersion program in Costa Rica. Due to these experiences, I chose to double major in American Sign Language/English interpretation and international studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Yet, as I progressed in my undergraduate career, I struggled to see how these pieces fit together. How was it possible to apply a language that is uniquely American to the international community? When my professor approached me about an opportunity to apply for a Fulbright award, I knew this was my chance.

Shortly after I heard about Fulbright, I worked as an intern in the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Education. Over the summer of 2014, I had the opportunity to meet members of the Dominican Deaf community. To my surprise, I discovered that American Sign Language and Dominican Sign Language were not that different after all. Suddenly, something that I had previously thought restricted me professionally to the United States, gave me an international connection to the Dominican Deaf community and a foundation for a Fulbright proposal.

Continue Reading

1 Comment
U.S. Fulbright

Program Update: Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships Now Offered to Timor-Leste

June 28, 2017

Timorese students engaging in English language learning activities at UmaAmerika, the first American-style cultural center/library in the country featuring a high-tech design space and a platform to access scientific and research databases open to the general public.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is pleased to announce that two Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships are now available to Timor-Leste for the 2018-2019 application cycle.

2018-2019 will be the first year in which the U.S. Department of State, in partnership with the Timorese government, will be sending Fulbright English Teaching Assistants to Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste became an independent nation in 2002, following over four hundred years of Portuguese colonization, twenty-four years of Indonesian occupation, and three years of United Nations transitional administration. The country faces the challenge of building a strong democracy and vibrant economy against a background of still-fragile institutions and limited human capital.

On May 20, 2017, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste celebrated its 15th anniversary of the Restoration of Independence. On the occasion, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson noted, “Fifteen years of independence is a remarkable milestone, reflecting the resolve and commitment of the Timorese people to build a new democracy based on respect for human rights and the rule of law. We are committed to deepening ties between the American and Timorese peoples in the years to come.”

Continue Reading

0 Comments
U.S. Fulbright

A Cowboy Rides the Rails Across Russia and Kazakhstan

June 26, 2017

Ryan Bell, 2015-2016, Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellow to Russia and Kazakhstan, visiting the ranch he helped start in Voronezh, Russia. (Photo Credit: Michael Hanson)

The train was stopped at a border crossing between Russia and Kazakhstan. I opened my cabin door and saw three guards walking down the aisle. One carried an AK-47, another led a bomb-sniffing dog, and a third held a briefcase, presumably for processing each passenger’s immigration documents.

My passport and visas were in order; however, my cabin was not. The small table was crowded with my laptop, audio recorder, and notebooks. Camera equipment and clothing spilled out from my roller bag where it sat on one of the vacant bunks. A messy cabin would not make a good impression, so I hurried to tidy up before the guards reached my door.

(A Russian friend had let me in on a secret of traveling by rail: you can often get a four-person cabin all to yourself by reserving a bunk next to the bathroom. “It didn’t smell that bad,” she said.)

As a Fulbright-National Geographic Storytelling Fellow, I logged 33 travel days riding in a train car, zigzagging 23,780 miles across Russia and Kazakhstan. That’s just a few hundred miles short of matching the Earth’s circumference – 24,901 miles. Mobility was key for my research project Comrade Cowboys about farmers in Russia and Kazakhstan who were rebuilding their livestock industries with the help of cattle and cowboys imported from the United States.

Continue Reading

0 Comments
U.S. Fulbright

Bringing the United States and India Closer Together: Discovering My Role as an Indian-American Fulbrighter

June 13, 2017

Shayak Sengupta, 2015-2016, India, sitting in front of output from WRF-Chem on his monitor, an atmospheric model maintained by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States. Sengupta used this model for his Fulbright research to simulate the atmosphere and air pollution over India and ran the model on HPC 2013, one of the fastest supercomputers in India located at IIT Kanpur.

“You grew up in the United States? But your Bengali is so fluent!”

“Why don’t you speak with an accent? Didn’t you have problems learning English?”

“It’s interesting that you came here. Don’t most people go to the U.S.?”

These are just some of the pleasantly surprising comments I heard throughout my experience as a Fulbright-Nehru Student Researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), where I studied air pollution control at Indian coal power stations. While India’s economy continues to grow at a tremendous rate and the country works to deliver electricity to millions of its citizens who do not have power, it still faces challenges related to poor air quality, especially in urban areas. During my Fulbright-Nehru grant, I conducted field visits to coal power plants and used computational models to understand how better air pollution control at these stations would affect ambient air quality.

Continue Reading

0 Comments
Enrichment Foreign Fulbright

Two Words, Eight Letters: Thank You

June 1, 2017

Fulbright Amizade participants from left to right: Edward Lo, Fulbright U.S. Student to Brazil; David E. Natarén Oyuela, Fulbright Student from Honduras; Mylinh Huang, Fulbright U.S. Student to Vietnam; Kinga Zsofia Horvath, Fulbright Student from Hungary in front of 34:Ate, a Williamson local restaurant.

Editor’s note: In April 2017, twelve Fulbrighters engaged in a week-long service learning project in Williamson, West Virginia, an Appalachian community with valuable lessons to share about sustainability, perseverance and revitalization. This is one in a series of blog posts from the Fulbrighters who visited Williamson. The Fulbrighters were asked to focus on their experiences in Williamson, as well as their engagement with local American community leaders. Visit the Fulbright Amizade 2017 Storify for more details on their journey.

In the small coal-mining town of Williamson, West Virginia lie many gems: the wild and wonderful landscape, the hospitality of the community, and the persistent work of everyday heroes who make miracles there. In Williamson, it does not matter whether you meet an 8-year-old girl participating in an after-school program, a 40-year-old man playing basketball with underserved children, or a 70-year-old beekeeper, you can experience the fact that “giving back to the community” is ageless. During the first week of April 2017, twelve enthusiastic Fulbrighters were able to experience and contribute to the ways in which the residents of Williamson make a difference. We joined local residents in building community gardens, turning rocky mining lands into fertile soil, and teaching the next generation how to give back. This is a thank you note to all of the people who were part of the Fulbright Amizade service-learning project and made an impact on our lives, inspiring us to take our turn to build a better future for the next generation.

Continue Reading

0 Comments
U.S. Fulbright

A Letter to Fulbright Program Alumni

May 18, 2017

Ambassador Jeffrey L. Bleich, Chair of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board

Dear Fulbright Program Alumnus/a:

I write to you in my capacity as Chair of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, because you are a distinguished alumnus/a of the Fulbright Program. Senator Fulbright believed that the Fulbright effect is a life-long experience that demands continued engagement after scholars return home. Networking among alumni is critical to the long term vitality and success of the Fulbright Program: you have much to share with your fellow alumni and with broader audiences in the United States and abroad. That type of engagement has never been more vital, or more possible, than it is today. It is for this reason that I am writing.

Although over 370,000 Fulbrighters have completed their scholarships since the program started, there is currently no comprehensive way for all Fulbright alumni to find one another and connect on-line on projects of mutual interest. In the vast majority of cases, we do not even have email addresses, or an efficient way to share critical information or offer opportunities for you to engage with your fellow alumni. To address this, we have engaged the help of the Fulbright Association, which advocates for the Fulbright Program and offers programming through their network of 60 chapters nationwide. You can receive important information about Fulbright activities and ways to engage with other distinguished Fulbright alumni by joining a mailing list on the Association’s website. Because privacy considerations do not permit our Board to share your contact information without your permission with the Association or any other entity, we invite you (if you haven’t done so already) to provide your email and updated contact information via this link so that your colleagues may keep you up to date on alumni activities and the global Fulbright Program. You do not need to join the Association itself in order to be updated on these Fulbright activities going forward. Simply go to www.fulbright.org to learn more about the Association, and to join the mailing list.

Thank you for everything you do to keep the International Exchange Alumni community strong. With your help, we look forward to engaging you and other distinguished alumni to keep the Fulbright effect burning bright.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Bleich
Chair

0 Comments