Scholarship and Fellowship Awards
Awardees for 2011-2012
Fulbright U.S. Student Program Recipients:
- Erica Charves – United Arab Emirates
Women’s Participation and Leadership in Emirati Urban Planning and Sustainability- Erica received her Bachelor’s degree in June of 2011. She has been involved in the Muslim Student Association at psu, an experience which helped her decide to major in Community Development and Communication with a minor in Arabic. She looks forward to spending the year in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and studying urban planning with a women’s leadership focus.
____________
- Sandra Derrick – Azerbaijan
English Teaching Assistant with a research and writing project on Muslim Women Voices- Sandra received a Master of Fine Arts-Fiction degree in 2011 from PSU and has worked in the past with PSU’s Ooligan Press. During her Fulbright year she will teach English part-time in an Azerbaijan classroom. For her project, Sandra will teach the interview process to women and help them begin to write their own stories and those of other women in their communities. She plans to publish this collection of stories as a way to share female voices of the Muslim world.
____________
- Samuel Nickilaus McLain-Jesperson – Morocco
English Teaching Assistant with a research project on the role of hip hop in North African youth culture- Sam is currently in the Master of Arts TESOL program in PSU’s Department of Applied Linguistics. He will teach English part-time during his Fulbright year and will do research in his spare time on codeswitching between Arabic and French in North African hip hop music. Upon completion of his Fulbright, Sam will return to PSU to finish his thesis on this topic and complete his degree. In addition, he will continue his study of Arabic while in Morocco.
____________
- Nick O’Gara – Turkey
English Teaching Assistant with a community project on interfacing with local culture through music- Nick received a PSU Bachelor’s degree in Applied Linguistics in the Summer of 2010. He studied Spanish in Chile and tutored young Chileans in English before setting his sights on learning Turkish. During his Fulbright year, when he isn’t teaching English to Turkish youth in the classroom, he plans to enhance his Turkish language skills and interact with local musicians, using a portable device to record musical traditions in order to encourage cultural exchange.
____________
- Julia Ruppell – Laos
Ecology of Crested Gibbons (primate research)- Julia is a PhD candidate in Biology at PSU. Her Fulbright project will focus on studying the ecology of a little-known ape, the White-Cheeked Crested Gibbon, which are among the world’s most endangered mammals. She has a background in Anthropology and experience traveling in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, where she first discovered her interest in working in the field of wildlife conservation.
____________
- Sarah Taylor – Germany
English Teaching Assistant, with Projects on German K-12 Educational System and American Culture Clubs- Sarah graduated from PSU in the Summer of 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Linguistics and German. She will be living in Baden-Wuerttemberg Germany in the year ahead, teaching English to German high school students and involving herself in the local community through volunteer and project work. Her work as a Peer Mentor for University Studies helped prepare her for this Fulbright experience.
_______________________________
Boren Awards:
- Katherine Fuxia Stankus – China
Mandarin Language Study- Fuxia is an undergraduate student at PSU, majoring in Environmental Physics and minoring in Chinese Language. This Fall she goes to Nanjing University in China to study Mandarin through the CIEE Intensive Language and Culture program. Upon graduation, Fuxia plans to pursue a career focused on global environmental issues. She knows that Chinese language fluency will allow her to work in a variety of technical fields both in the U.S. and China.
____________
- Alisha M. Reinhart, Russia
Russian Language Study- Alisha is an undergraduate student at PSU majoring in Russian Language and Applied Linguistics. She is also a student of PSU’s Russian Flagship Partner Program which helps prepare Russian students for professional careers in the language. She will go to St. Petersburg during 2011-2012, taking advanced classes and completing an internship with an organization in St. Petersburg. Alisha’s background as an Army translator of Russian many years ago left her with a desire to return to the language and achieve a career goal that allows her to utilize her valuable skills.
_______________________________
Fulbright Scholars Program (Faculty):
- Kelly Doherty – Germany
Fulbright International Education Administrators Seminar- This October, Kelly will go to Germany to participate in the German Administrators Seminar through Fulbright Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES). She will participate with a group of fellow university and college administrators to learn about the German higher education system through briefings, government appointments, campus visits and cultural events. Kelly is the Assistant Director of Marketing and Recruiting at PSU’s School of Business Administration.
____________
- Jeff Gerwing – India
Fulbright Scholar- From October 2011 to January 2012, Jeff will be in India researching the role of community-based monitoring in collaborative forest management. This is a field of study that has grown rapidly over the past two decades and it’s goals are to increase of social equity and improved forest management. Results have been mixed and this research aims to make improvements by involving the community to achieve success. Jeff is an Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences and Management in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
____________
- Mark Kaplan – Sweden
Fulbright Senior Specialist in Public/Global Health- In April of 2011, Mark started a six-week project at the University of Gothenburg’s Neuropsychiatic Epidemiology Unit in Sweden in order to deepen and broaden scientific and pedagogical programs to enhance their expertise. His research is in the field of public health, with a special focus on suicide, alcohol-related problems and social determinants of mental health over the life cycle. Mark is a Professor in PSU’s Department of Community Health in the College of Urban and Public Affairs.
____________
- Dannelle Stevens – Turkey
Fulbright Senior Specialist in Education- In October of 2011, Dannelle Stevens will go to Ankara, Turkey, as a Fulbright Senior Specialist to participate in a project that will help establish a center for academic excellence at Atilim University. The center and its workshops will orient faculty to use current research-based methods in their teaching so they can develop better academic studies, improve teaching, implement new methods, share their experiences with other faculty and motivate students to be lifelong learners. Dannelle is a Professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department, Graduate School of Education.
________________________________________________
Last Year’s Award Winners
| 2010-11 Fulbright Awards | Country | Project Title |
|---|---|---|
| Jean-Paul Zagarola | Chile | A Community-based, Eco-system Services Approach to Watershed Management and Conservation |
| Robin Pipkin | Croatia | English Teaching Assistant |
| 2010-11 Boren Awards | Country | Program |
| Ghislaine Cravalho | Japan | International Studies and Business |
| Kelsey Lundgren | Jordan | Conflict Resolution |
| Daniel Auger | Turkey | International Studies and Business |
| 2010-11 Freeman Indonesian Non-Profit Internship Program Scholarship | Country | Program |
| Fraya Saquin | Indonesia | Business Administration |
| 2010-11 Boesch Awards | Country | Program |
| Claire Adamsick | Germany | Conflict Resolution |
________________________________________________