Students named as Fulbright scholars

Eleven Penn students will receive the prestigious grant for international study. Six Penn undergraduates and five graduate students with a passion for international living and a dream to conduct their own program of study have recently been awarded the prestigious Fulbright grant. As Fulbright scholars, these students have been offered the opportunity to travel to the country of their choosing and carry out a program of research and study that they have selected -- all paid for by the United States government. Additional students may still win the award. "I wanted to go to a new country and learn a new language," said College senior Katrin Fraser, a recipient of the grant. "And I will be able to learn the language at the beginning of this program." Fraser, an Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations double major, plans to travel to Korea as part of the program to teach English as a foreign language. The most current list of this year's undergraduate Fulbright recipients also include College senior Kristina Herbert -- who will head to Germany to study force measurements of nucleosome DNA using atomic force microscopy -- and College senior Miriam Joffe-Block, who will be researching migrant labor and civil society in Bangkok and northeastern Thailand. Also on the list are College senior Laura Robbins, who plans to go to Spain to study Spanish views on race in colonial Alta California; Wharton junior Adam Kaufman, who is traveling to Mexico to study information systems; and College and Wharton senior Christopher Murray, who has a bi-national business grant to Mexico. The grants provide students with travel expenses, tuition, language orientation courses and overall living expenses for one academic year. As part of the intensive application process, recipients conceptualize and plan their own intended course of study, which may include independent research, field work and/or traditional university course work. Fraser -- who has already traveled extensively to the Far East to countries such as Japan and Singapore -- said she is pleased that her year-long Fulbright will allow her to explore before committing to a "serious job." Her plans eventually include graduate school and extended study in China. And Murray, who is fluent in Spanish, said the program gives him an interesting post-graduation option. "I did not know what my plans would be after graduation," he said. "So I applied for the grant." The Fulbright program was created by the United States government after World War II. As a result of a piece of legislation sponsored by Senator J. William Fulbright, the grant allows American students to engage in a cross-cultural exchange with over 100 nations worldwide. With over 4,000 applicants nationwide, the program is very competitive. Of the thousands of applications received, only 800 students are offered the grant. Each year, Penn has approximately 55 applicants. Of those an average of 10 to 12 undergraduate and graduate students receive the grant, according to Clare Cowen, the on-campus Fulbright advisor. "Basically, Penn has a good way of working with the students," Cowen said, noting the high percentage of Penn student recipients. So far, graduate students in the College who have received the grant include Jeanne Nugent, who will travel to Germany to study history and identity in Gerhard Richter's photo paintings; David Heaney, who will also go to Germany to research Leberecht Migge and modern landscape in Weimar Germany; and Bruce Baird, who will travel to Japan to work on Butah philosophy and the burden of history. Also, Solimar Otero will go to Nigeria to study the Brazilian and Cuban Yoruba community in Lago, and Nick Sawicki will spend his time in the Czech Republic studying Czech art. "It is a prestigious award with an international reputation," Cowen added.

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