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17 Undergrads Confirmed for Fulbrights

Twenty-one students, 17 of them graduating seniors, have earned the prestigious grants, which support a year’s post-baccalaureate study abroad

By Office of Public Affairs Staff |

The 2008-09 academic year has seen Boston College continue its success on the Fulbright front: 21 students, 17 of them graduating seniors, have earned the prestigious grants, which support a year’s post-baccalaureate study abroad.

In addition, at press time six BC undergraduates selected as Fulbright alternates were awaiting confirmation of funding for their projects.

The University’s achievements in competitive national fellowships this year also includes two winners of Beckman Scholarships, which recognize outstanding undergraduate students in chemistry and biological sciences research at select universities throughout the United States.

Prof. Margaret Thomas (Slavic and Eastern Languages), who coordinates BC’s participation in the Fulbright program, says this year’s awards affirm two positive trends. One is the increasing geographical dispersal of BC Fulbright winners across the world.

“In the past, most of our Fulbright scholars went to Western Europe, which is not surprising when a country like Germany offers some 200 grants,” she says. “But now we have students going to Hungary, Kuwait, Jordan, Turkey, Nepal, Oman and — this year, for the first time — Israel, while others applied to Andorra and Macao.

“BC students are getting educated at a place where faculty constantly ask them to consider the world. As BC’s consciousness of the world has grown, so has students’ ability to feel at home, and capable of putting their talents to use, anyplace around the globe.”

The subject matter and scope of BC Fulbright scholars’ projects have become similarly diversified, Thomas adds, and often demonstrate a concern for social issues as well as an interest in intellectual pursuits. Students’ projects this year include: water conservation in Oman; education programs for Arabic-speaking inmates in Israel prisons; women’s health issues in Jordan’s Palestinian refugee community; working on the first English translation of a 13th-century Chinese text; and the role of women in Kuwaiti politics.

“Every year, it seems, we find BC students creating more original, and more challenging, projects for Fulbright awards,” says Thomas.

2009 FULBRIGHT GRANT WINNERS

NAME: Sarah Alsamarai
HOMETOWN: Long Valley, NJ
DESTINATION: Jordan
PROJECT: Analyze research study on issues of women’s health among the female Palestinian refugee community in Jordan.
PLANS: Attend medical school; combine medicine and masters of public health programs.

NAME: Bede Bidlack (graduate student)
HOMETOWN: Pittsburgh
DESTINATION: Taiwan
PROJECT: After three months of intensive Mandarin training in Taipei, will work with Daoists at Zhinan Monastery and with scholars at National Chengchi University to translate 13th century Daoist text from classical Chinese to English – the first time this vital part of the Daost canon has been translated into English.
PLANS: Complete doctorate in theology at Boston College, and teach the subject at a research university.

NAME: David Bruin (Alternate)
HOMETOWN: Indianapolis, Ind.
DESTINATION: Malaysia
PROJECT: Teach English at a secondary school in Malaysia, combining conversational and compositional skills with presentations of American literature, culture and entertainment; observe and study both traditional Wayang Kulit theater and Malaysian adaptations of modern American theater that will culminate in the creation of an original ensemble-based theater piece.
PLANS: Obtain advanced degrees in performance studies or theater, focusing on theories of directing, Weimar theater, contemporary American theater and Balinese and Malaysian performance traditions; teach theater as public practice and a place of education.

NAME: Brittany Bryan
HOMETOWN: Shelburne, Vt.
DESTINATION: Germany
PROJECT: As a teaching assistant in English, to employ the question “What does it mean to be human?” in lesson plans to encourage students to explore the culture and history behind the language they are learning, while examining their own identity and putting it in terms of our underlying shared humanity.
PLANS: Graduate school.

NAME: Mark Buttweiler (Alternate)
HOMETOWN: Lindstrom, Minn.
DESTINATION: Bulgaria
PROJECT: Study the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, a political party that represents minority groups in Bulgaria, and its role in the National Assembly of Bulgaria; study of Bulgarian language and political system.
PLANS: Graduate study in international relations, focusing on Southeastern Europe and Eurasia; eventually work for US State Department as a diplomat or ambassador.

NAME: Cara Campanelli (Alternate)
HOMETOWN: Greenlawn, NY
DESTINATION: Japan
PROJECT: Jazz in Japan: Japanese integration of a western musical genre
PLANS: Continued study of musicology and jazz performance in Japan, India and the US; graduate-level study of ethnomusicology.

NAME: Kevin Conroy (graduate student)
HOMETOWN: Arcade, NY
DESTINATION: Ireland
PROJECT: Linguistic study of verbal inflection in dialects of Connemara, located in the Gaelic-speaking western region of County Galway.
PLANS: Complete master’s degree in linguistics at BC in 2010, then doctoral studies in Celtic languages in order to teach at the university level.

NAME: Jessica Cusano
HOMETOWN: Jacksonville
DESTINATION: Kuwait
PROJECT: Kuwaiti women and politics: the effects of female suffrage on parliamentary elections
PLANS: Master’s degree in international relations with a concentration in Arabic and Arab studies and pursue a career in diplomacy.

NAME: Carly DeFilippo (Alternate)
HOMETOWN: Madison, Conn.
DESTINATION: Belgium
PROJECT: English teaching assistantship: American popular music and modern art in America.
PLANS: Work for an international organization devoted to advancing foreign language instruction and cultural exchange, with an emphasis on French-speaking countries; teaching French language and culture.

NAME: Ariel Goldberg (Alternate)
HOMETOWN: Newton, Mass.
DESTINATION: Macau
PROJECT: English teaching assistantship: American musical genres.
PLANS: Teach for America.

NAME: Christopher Inkpen
HOMETOWN: Pennsburg, Pa.
DESTINATION: Mexico 
PROJECT: Research on the duality of Guatemalan immigrants in Mexico, through the examination of a visa program in the southern state of Chiapas, Mexico for Guatemalan seasonal workers, and how or if that affects immigration into Mexico or the US.
PLANS: Law school, to pursue a dual degree in law and public policy, with an eye toward policy development in Washington, DC.

NAME: Michael Madormo (Alternate)
HOMETOWN: Wyckoff, NJ
DESTINATION: Indonesia
PROJECT: English teaching assistantship
PLANS: Work for Teach for America in Hawaii for the next two years.

NAME: Christopher Maroshegyi
HOMETOWN: Sun City, Calif.
DESTINATION: Hungary
PROJECT: Work under Budapest Mayor and Member of Parliament Laszlo Hajdu on a project that will investigate the impact of the European Union’s (EU) Structural Fund on the economic development of Hungary’s poorest region.
PLANS:  Work for a non-governmental organization or consulting firm in the economic development field; obtain a dual master’s degree in public policy and business administration, focusing on business and economic development in the developing world.
 
NAME: Michael A. McGovern 
HOMETOWN: Bayonne, NJ
DESTINATION: Germany
PROJECT: Will serve as an English teaching assistant during which time he hopes to work on a classroom project involving media stereotypes in the US and Germany.
PLANS: Career with an international aspect.

NAME: Heather R. McIlvaine
HOMETOWN: Torrance, Calif.
DESTINATION: Germany
PROJECT: Will serve as an English teaching assistant and implement a classroom writing project that would have the students plan, write, edit and produce their own English language newspaper.
PLANS: Graduate school for English or creative writing.

NAME: John C. McQuade
HOMETOWN: Garden City, NY
DESTINATION: Germany
PROJECT: Will serve as an English teaching assistant during which time he plans to establish a film club where students can view and discuss American films and produce their own film project.
PLANS: Law school.

NAME: Eric Miller
HOMETOWN: Rochester, NY
DESTINATION: Germany
PROJECT: Study and teach in Rheinland-Pfalz, help students learn appreciation for music, both German and American, popular and classical.  
PLANS: Teach German at university level, or work in German international relations.

NAME: Daniel Neer
HOMETOWN: Baldwinsville, NY
DESTINATION: Germany
PROJECT: Help teach young German students English; in his application, Neer writes: “Through cultural exchange and understanding, I would hope to inspire in my students a passion for English that parallels my own passion for German.”
PLANS: Law school or graduate school in education administration.

NAME: Jeffrey R. Nagengast (graduate student)
HOMETOWN: Arlington Heights, Ill.
DESTINATION: Andorra
PROJECT: Will serve as an English teaching assistant
PLANS: Complete the second year of his master’s degree program in Linguistics at BC; plans to use the research data collected in Andorra for his master’s thesis.

NAME: Patricia Pernes
HOMETOWN: Hattiesburg, Miss.
DESTINATION: Germany
PROJECT: Work as a teaching assistant in a German gymnasium to help students improve English skills and overall knowledge of American culture.
PLANS: Law school.

NAME: Matt Porter
HOMETOWN: Lawrence, Mass.
DESTINATION: Turkey
PROJECT: Cross-cultural exchange through production of a documentary while serving as a university English teaching assistant; produce an interactive Web site during the trip to upload segments of the film as they are created and to bring the views of Turks and Americans together on a Web forum; compile all materials into film after returning to the US.
PLANS: Career in journalism; foster greater understanding and more informed coverage of Muslims and the Middle East.

NAME: Alexander Prounis
HOMETOWN: Setauket, NY
DESTINATION: Germany
PROJECT: English teaching assistantship/cultural exchange through theater.
PLANS: Law or business school with a focus on international economic policy and finance; doctorate in international affairs and comparative politics; career in international economic development or teaching.

NAME: Dorothy Rimmelin
HOMETOWN: Perrysburg, Ohio
DESTINATION: India
PROJECT: Work in rural health clinics to provide quality health care and education to women and children; conduct research alongside professors at the Institute for Development Studies in Jaipur and Mohanlal Sukhadia University.
PLANS: Graduate study and career in international development and public health.

NAME: K. Morgan Rood
HOMETOWN: Lexington, Ky.
DESTINATION: Israel
PROJECT: Development and assessment of education programs for Arabic-speaking inmates in the Israel Prison Service.
PLANS: One-year service under National Security Education Boren Scholarship; graduate study and career in Middle Eastern languages, sociolinguistics and multilingual public policies.

NAME: Jonathan Sege
HOMETOWN: Sudbury, Mass.
DESTINATION: Nepal
PROJECT: Assess the efficacy of ceramic water filters in several Nepalese communities; use results to help in adapting projects for different conditions.
PLANS: Graduate study in environmental engineering with focus on aqueous chemistry and water filtration; career in water resource development, perhaps as NGO consultant.

NAME: Dorothy Smith
HOMETOWN: Baltimore
DESTINATION: Oman
PROJECT: Study water conservation education; help establish a campaign to reduce groundwater over-pumping; share best practices with other water-scarce states.
PLANS: Graduate study combining Arabic language and international environment and resource policy; possible career in US government that utilizes Arabic language skills and knowledge of environmental concerns in Middle East.

NAME: Kevin Vander Schel (graduate student)
HOMETOWN: Grand Rapids, Mich.
DESTINATION: Germany
PROJECT:  Research at Humboldt University on the 19th-century German Protestant theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher and his conception of the influence of Christ in human history and culture.
PLANS: Return to BC to complete doctorate in systematic theology; continue teaching and research in theology at a college or university.

NAME: Malak Yusuf
HOMETOWN: San Antonio
DESTINATION: Tajikistan
PROJECT: Work with Relief International Global Connections and Exchange Project to install modern computer equipment with Internet access, develop training and learning projects for teachers and students; establish and analyze Internet-based connection between a Tajik and US school.
PLANS: Master’s degree in development economics and international development; career focus on women’s development and access to education in Central Asia.

BECKMAN SCHOLARS

NAME: Stephen Bohlman,’11
HOMETOWN: Port Jeff Station, NY
Beckman Scholar Mentors: Professors Larry Scott and Marc Snapper

NAME: Courtney McKee,’11
HOMETOWN: San Anselmo, Calif.
Beckman Scholar Mentor: Prof. Junona Moroianu