Twelve current or former Washington University in St. Louis students have been awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships to study, conduct research and/or teach English abroad for the 2011-12 academic year.
Eight are recently graduated Arts & Sciences seniors, three are Arts & Sciences graduate students and one is an architecture graduate student in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.
They are among 1,600 U.S. citizens who will spend a full academic year in a host country through the Fulbright Program.
The graduate students, along with their fields and locations of study, are: James Palmer, a doctoral student in history in Arts & Sciences, who will study cultural and intellectual history in Italy; Sara Potter, a doctoral student in Hispanic languages and literatures in Arts & Sciences, who will study language and literature in Mexico; Elika Pourbohloul, a master’s degree student in comparative literature in Arts & Sciences, who will have an English teaching assistantship in Turkey; and Maja Tokic, a master’s degree student in architecture in the Sam Fox School, who will study art and architectural history in Finland.
The May 2011 Arts & Sciences graduates and their fields and locations of study are: Kimberly Bolch, who earned a bachelor’s degree in international and area studies and a minor in English, has an English teaching assistantship in Brazil; Lucy Gellman, who earned a bachelor’s degree in art history and archaeology with minors in French language and literature and in women, gender, and sexuality studies, is studying art and architectural history in France;
Kimberly Hartstein, who earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and anthropology, is conducting research in Germany; Amber Jennings, a double major in international and area studies and Spanish and a minor in psychology, has an English teaching assistantship in Brazil; Laura McGinnis, a double major in economics and Spanish and a minor in art, has an English teaching assistantship in Argentina;
Alexander Miller, a double major in Germanic languages and literatures and political science, has an English teaching assistantship in Germany; and Ariana Tobin, a double major in English literature and women, gender, and sexuality studies, has an English teaching assistantship in Belarus.
Recent graduate, Steven Winslow, an anthropology major with minors in South Asian languages and literatures as well as international and area studies, has an English teaching assistantship in Taiwan.
“It is a pleasure to see so many of our students selected to receive this highly competitive scholarship,” says Amy C. Suelzer, PhD, assistant director of international and area studies in Arts & Sciences and the university’s Fulbright Program adviser.
“Their success is an acknowledgment of the caliber of individuals who attend the university. We wish our Fulbright recipients much success in their Fulbright year and beyond,” Suelzer says.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.
Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.
The U.S. Congress established the Fulbright Program in 1946 under legislation introduced by then-Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.
The primary source of funding for the program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State.