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June 12, 2007

Students Net School Record 21 Fulbrights

Boston College students' prowess in earning coveted postgraduate fellowships has reached unprecedented levels this year with a schoolrecord 21 Fulbrights, including 18 to undergraduates. Three additional students have been designated as Fulbright alternates and await funding for their projects.

Other recent awards of note to BC students include a Beinecke Scholarship and a Jacob Javits Fellowship. Earlier this semester, juniors Kuong Ly and Ryan Heney were selected for, respectively, a Truman and a Goldwater scholarship (the latter supports undergraduate studies).

Fulbright winners this year will head off to El Salvador, Spain, Nepal, Indonesia, Belgium and Germany, undertaking studies of Salvadoran emigration and development, the Mahayana Buddhist tradition, and the potential role of music to cultivate religious tolerance in Spain, among other subjects; some students also will serve as teaching assistants during their stay overseas. Fourteen of this year's Fulbrights have gone to students in the German Studies Department, a new standard for a department whose track record in producing Fulbright winners ó nearly 60 in the past 12 years ó belies its relatively small size.

Boston College Fellowships Committee administrators are more than a little pleased by the results, especially for the federally funded Fulbrights, considered one of the most prestigious postgraduate study grant programs.

BC's consistent success with fellowships, they say, reflects students' desire for demanding yet rewarding international experiences that offer intellectual growth, academic challenge, and in many cases, insights into pressing social and political issues of the day.

"As faculty members, we can offer all manner of advice, support and encouragement to the students," said committee head Prof. Donald Hafner (Political Science), "but they're the ones who have to make it work. They have to clarify their ambitions, imagine their own futures, and advocate for themselves, making it clear how winning a national fellowship will be one of the most important things they've ever done."

Prof. Margaret Thomas (Slavic and Eastern Languages), who coordinates BC's Fulbright program, notes that BC's recent achievements in the program ó in 2003, 13 BC students won Fulbrights; last year the number was 14 ó have come at a time when Fulbrights are increasingly popular, and competitive.

"Six years ago, there were 3,164 Fulbright applications; nowadays it's over 5,000," said Thomas. "BC students are competing against students from across the country ó and make no mistake, these are among the best. The numbers of applicants are going up, but so is the quality."

While there may be no such thing as a "typical" Fulbright winner, Thomas says the students who earn the awards are those who show "ambition, resourcefulness, originality and clarity of plans." Students typically start the Fulbright application a year in advance, says Thomas, and the process doesn't just involve filling out a form: The students must present their project proposal to a panel of BC faculty, which is by no means deferential.

"[The faculty panelists] are pretty tough, and can be quite critical, although the criticism is constructive. Part of the interview is held in the language of the country in which the student plans to study, so they have to be articulate in two languages, and not just on paper."

The themes of Fulbrightwinning projects typically run the gamut of history, linguistics, education, chemistry, biology, literature and many other disciplines, says Thomas, and also can say a lot about the interests of students and their colleges.

"This year, we have several BC students who have immigrationrelated issues as a centerpiece of their projects," she said. "Immigration is a serious global matter, of course, and is of great concern within the Catholic Church community. It's wonderful to see how BC students are embracing the topic." Thomas works with Prof. Michael Resler (German Studies) and Elizabeth Chadwick, a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, as advisors to Fulbright applicants. More than 50 other faculty members also participate in interviewing and mentoring Fulbright applicants; many of them also assist students who are pursuing other fellowships.

"Having faculty members who are not only willing to spend the extra time with students, but are enthusiastic about doing so, is a major asset," she said. Boston College's Fulbright Web site is fmwww2.bc.edu/Fulbright/home.php. The University Fellowship Committee Web site is www.bc.edu/fellowships.

A look at this year's BC Fulbright awardees and other fellowship winners.

Atlas Anagnos
Hometown: Montgomery, Ala.
Destination: Germany
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language; do research on immigration issues
"My senior thesis topic involved tracing the situation of Turkish immigrants in Germany using novels written by Turkish authors in that country. Novels, as a mirror for the society in which they are written, should have a circular relationship of reflecting and effecting changes in society. I am interested in following this process as it pertains to the Turkish immigrants."

Nathaniel Campbell
Hometown: Bailey, Col.
Destination: Germany
Plans: Research medieval writings
"I'm going to study the work of Gebeno von Eberbach, who in the 1220s wrote a compilation of the prophetic and apocalyptic writings of Hildegard von Bingen called Speculum Futurorum Temporum. I will study this both in its specific time period and in the wider context of the reception and transmission of Latin literature in the later Middle Ages."

Cody Canyon '06
Hometown: Ojai, Calif.
Destination: Spain
Plans: Study music history and its cultural significance
"I want to examine the multicultural history of Andalucian music and then work with Spanish young adults to record an album that displays a postmodern response to Spain's heterogeneous musical history. My hope is that this project will illustrate how music can bring people together and contribute to a culture of religious tolerance between Christians and Muslims in contemporary Spain."

Stefanie Casillas Hometown: New York City
Destination: Germany
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language
"The project I would complete in addition to teaching would involve helping students realize their future goals. I would push my young charges to ask themselves: ëWhat brings me joy? What am I good at? And what does the world want me to do?'"

Amy Cram
Hometown: Norwood, Mass.
Destination: Bourgas, Bulgaria
Plans: Teach English to Bulgarian high school students
"My research will examine the assumption that English is, and will continue to be, a ëglobal language' by looking at Bulgarians and their motivation for choosing English over another lingua franc, their attitudes toward speaking English, in what ways their identity is tied up with English, and which kind of English ó American or British ó is taught and learned."

Keith Fleischer
Hometown: Medway, Mass.
Destination: Germany
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language
"As an English teaching assistant, I would attempt to display the vital link between classical literature and the current problems of the day. Through the compelling connections I would uncover, the German students would be given an excellent opportunity to discuss various issues facing the world and, above all, to develop their abilities to express themselves in an educated, diversified and sophisticated manner in English."

Daniel Halgin
Fulbright Alternate
Hometown: Amherst, Mass.
Destination: Hong Kong
Plans: Study the impact of working in a global economy on Asian professionals
"The majority of research on global careers has focused on Western expatriates or the experience of immigrants arriving in Western economies. I am hoping to extend our understanding of global careers by focusing on individuals who have repatriated voluntarily to Hong Kong after working in the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom."

Katherine Hubler
Fulbright alternate
Hometown: Glendale, Ore.
Destination: Berlin
Plans: Research the role of men in the German women's movement from 18651919
"I want to study male ëfeminists' and the husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers of women activists in order to see how each of these (at times ambivalent) male ëallies' contributed to feminist activities and thought over the course of the imperial period, the Great War, and the founding of the Weimar Republic."

Lauren Kestel
Hometown: Kennett Square, Pa.
Destination: Germany
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language
"The curriculum I would use in my teaching will be based around America and an accurate depiction of the country through the use of popular media, history and comparison to Germany."

Christine Kochefko
Hometown: Trumbull, Conn.
Destination: Germany
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language
"I plan on enhancing language and cultural awareness though film and discussion. Each week, as a supplementary activity to the language experience, I will offer students an afterschool film program and round table discussion to follow."

Erica Marcus
Fulbright alternate
Hometown: Medway, Mass.
Destination: Bonn, Germany
Plans: Work at the Center for Development Research
"I aim to take cultural and statistical data that ZEF has gathered in their doctoral projects, identify which development theories are being pursued, and trace the effects each theory's values have on different areas of the country's development."

Kaitlin McCann
Hometown: Walpole, Mass.
Destination: Indonesia
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language
"In addition to my teaching placement, I intend to study Bahasa Indonesia, Indonesia's national language, and conduct a research project that encompasses my interest in international finance."

Anne McGinness
Hometown: Shaker Heights, Ohio
Destination: Lisbon, Portugal
Plans: Conduct research on Franciscan and Jesuit evangelization in Brazil
"Missionary work and colonization were inescapably interconnected; therefore I will examine how the missionaries interacted with social forces of the colonial era, such as African slavery and the treatment of the indigenous peoples."

Patrick McGroarty '06
Hometown: Boston
Destination: Germany
Plans: Study immigrationrelated issues
"German society is at a pivotal moment in defining the role and identity of its growing immigrant population. I propose to study the impact that governmental policy and public opinion has had on the ability of one group, the Vietnamese, to thrive in Germany. Working as an investigative reporter, I will focus specifically on the academic success of Vietnamese students in Berlin schools."

Kathleen O'Connor '04
Hometown: Redding, Conn.
Destination: Belgium
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language
"At a unique crossroads of Flemish, Walloon, German and other international populations, Belgium is the only country where I can examine bilingual education and the culture of language use and learning from the inside, as a teaching assistant. I will learn firsthand how languages operate individually, in schools and communities and internationally. The personal connections forged in and by teaching will enrich my understanding of education and expression."

Allison Ramirez
Hometown: Midland, Mich.
Destination: El Salvador
Plans: Examine how dominant images and discourses of emigration and development influence Salvadorans to go to the United States
"While millions of Latin Americans have come to the US in search of a better life, my experience has told me that many would rather remain in their homeland. I want to better understand why people from El Salvador rarely see development as a viable solution to the problems of immigration."

Sascha Rubin
Hometown: Mount Kisco, NY
Destination: Germany
Plans: Research German political thought
"First, I plan on tracing the nature of the liberalcommunitarian debate within German thought in order to understand the major contributors beyond [philosopher and sociologist] Juergen Habermas. Second, I wish to investigate the debate's implications in the German political sphere."

Melissa Ruhry
Hometown: Garden City, NY
Destination: Germany
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language; study immigrationrelated trends
"As a teacher's assistant in a German Gymnasium, it would be an honor for me to teach German students in the English language and about the culture and customs of the US. I would love to explore the different immigrant communities in Germany, and to examine how this is influencing the current state of the country. It would also be a personal way for me to connect to the country where my grandparents spent their youth."

David Saunders
Hometown: Hastings, Minn.
Destination: Nepal
Plans: Research health and healing practices
"I want to research pluralistic healing modalities in Nepal, specifically TB and other infectious diseases in the neighborhood of Boudha and the surrounding Kathmandu area. A hospital at which I worked in the fall of 2005, Shechen clinic, which houses a TB unit, serves as the starting point for my project. I will observe and interview doctors and patients so as to understand the perspective with which Tibetans approach tuberculosis."

Jennifer Thibault
Hometown: Latham, NY
Destination: Germany
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language
"I am particularly motivated to infuse a strong cultural component into my role as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant. Some lessons I would like to enact include: having students undertake a critical, comparative reading of contrastive American newspapers; reading and discussing a contemporary American novel; listening to popular American music; and learning about a different major US city, state or region each week."

Lauren Tran
Hometown: Randolph, Mass.
Destination: Germany
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language
"I am applying for a teaching assistantship specifically focused on the Vietnamese immigrant community, which makes up the largest Asian ethnic group in Germany. As a side research project, I would like to explore the issue of cultural assimilation between Vietnamese living in the United States and those living in Germany."

Amanda Watral
Hometown: Hauppauge, NY
Destination: Germany
Plans: Teach English as a foreign language
"As a learner of foreign languages, I recognize the need to capture my students' attention with topics and activities that will spark their desire to learn. I hope to simultaneously continue my study of German language and culture."

Paul White
Hometown: Scarsdale, NY
Destination: Germany
Plans: Research on German role in 1990s Yugoslavian conflict
"I will analyze the decision of the German government in 1991 to unilaterally recognize Croatia and Slovenia. This decision is significant since Germany broke with the stated policy of both NATO and the EC to maintain the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia."

Alexander Yiannopoulos
Hometown: New Orleans
Destination: Nepal
Plans: Study Buddhist philosophy
"My intention is to enroll in the master's program in Buddhist philosophy at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, with the goal of producing a series of articles for American philosophical journals seeking to elucidate how, precisely, the Mahayana Buddhist tradition understands the notion of ëtranslation.' This will aim at enabling the 21st century Western tradition and the Mahayana Buddhist tradition to effectively communicate with each other."

Beinecke Scholarship

M. Emily Neumeier '08
Hometown: Tampa, Fla.
Activities and Plans: Currently in Cairo studying Arabic; will curate exhibition on early Qur'an manuscripts for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's Islamic Art Gallery; hopes to pursue doctorate in art history; established first college chapter of the Daughters of Abraham, an interfaith book club for Muslim, Jewish, and Christian women "I really enjoy teaching, archaeology, and museum work. Hopefully I can coordinate all of those things by working in a museum, university, or nonprofit."

Jacob Javits Fellowship

William O'Dowd '06
Hometown: Braintree, Mass.
Activities and Plans: English major while at BC; currently pursuing a master's degree in science writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; hopes to eventually earn a doctorate in English from Columbia University's doctoral program. •