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10/22/07
Pomona College is No. 1 in Fulbright Fellowships among
Liberal Arts Peers,
Tops Research Universities in Fulbrights Per Capita |
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Update: 11/27/07
Since the Chronicle of Higher Education story last month
on Fulbright recipients, members of the Pomona Class of 2007
have been offered two additional Fulbright grants.
Information on these two students has been added to the
release below.
Pomona College leads the nation in Fulbrights awarded per
capita and tops its peer liberal arts colleges in pure
numbers with 25 prestigious Fulbright Fellowships awarded to
its Class of 2007. The totals were released in today’s
edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Among all colleges and universities, the University of
Michigan had the most recipients with 37, followed by Yale
University with 27 and Pomona College and Brown University
each with 25. The next highest liberal arts college was
Smith College with 14.
In a comparison of the top research universities and liberal
arts colleges of awards per capita, Pomona did even better.
Pomona received 16.1 Fulbright grants per 1,000 students,
followed by Smith (5.4), Yale (5.1), Wellesley (5), Brown
(4.2) and the University of Michigan (1.5).
Since The Chronicle received the tally from the Fulbright
Program at the end of September, Pomona College received an
additional Fulbright award bringing the total to 26 for the
Class of 2007. Five graduates from earlier classes also
received Fulbrights, bringing this year's full Pomona total
to 31. The previous Pomona record was set last year with 15
recipients.
Among the Pomona College Class of 2007 recipients, 12 were
awarded Fellowship Research Grants, and 15 seniors were
awarded grants to teach English in a total of 19 foreign
countries, from Niger to New Zealand to China.
Ashley M. Jackson, a psychology major, is studying education
reform in Cotonou, Benin. “The blazing West African sun
filters through palm trees and a thick blue haze of exhaust
fumes to the busy, colorful streets of Cotonou, Benin,” she
reports. “I zip across town on moto-taxis to the primary
schools where I conduct my research. Pomona,” she reports,
“taught me to ask questions, think critically, and keep an
open mind. These skills have been invaluable to me on my
Fulbright Fellowship.”
Brian Kastl, a geology major, will travel to the North
Island of New Zealand where his studies will take place on
the flanks of the jagged volcanic edifice that was the scene
of Mount Doom in the recent film Lord of the Rings. “Here,”
he explains, “volcanic eruptions currently come without
warning, and the airborne debris and menacing mudflows
travel over 100 km to endanger the lives of those nearby. By
studying the geochemistry of ash from such eruptions, I hope
to better understand what triggers these eruptions within
the magma chamber under this deadly volcano.”
“The Fulbright offers me the opportunity to follow my
passion for the impressive power of nature, while improving
hazard mitigation through vital international
collaborations,” added Kastl. “Professor Richard Hazlett
inspired me to pursue this career choice through his
enthusiasm for cross-cultural understanding of volcanology.
He taught me how to bridge cultural divides to explore this
exciting, explosive field. I aspire to become the global
citizen and scientist Professor Hazlett is.”
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers opportunities for
recent graduates, postgraduate candidates and developing
professionals and artists to pursue research or to teach
abroad, with the goal of increasing cultural understanding.
The awards generally provide round-trip transportation,
language or orientation courses, book and research
allowances, and maintenance for the academic year, based on
the living costs in the host country.
Founded in 1946, the Fulbright Program, which was and
sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, has provided more
than 250,000 students, scholars and professionals worldwide
with the opportunity to observe each others’ political,
economic and cultural institutions, exchange ideas and
embark on joint ventures of importance to the general
welfare of the world’s inhabitants.
Pomona College is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts
institutions, offering a comprehensive program in the arts,
humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Its
hallmarks include small classes, close relationships between
students and faculty, and a range of opportunities for
student research.
Pomona College Fulbright Recipients and their Projects
FULBRIGHT RESEARCH GRANTS:
Allison Bailey, a biology major from Livermore, CA, who will
travel to Norway where she will study at the university in Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost town of more than
1,000 people. Here she’ll examine the relationship between
migrating geese and plants in the arctic tundra, and how they
are affected by climate change.
Maggie Fick, an international relations major from
Bainbridge Island, WA, will travel to Niger to study the
changing role of women in Tuareg culture in urban and rural
contexts. Following coursework at Université Abdou Moumouni
(UAM), she will conduct field research in the capital city
of Niamey and in several rural, predominantly Tuareg
villages, as well as volunteer with a Niamey-based women’s
rights organization, called Tin Hinan. Her research will
focus on exploring how Tuareg women have been affected by
urbanization and environmental and political changes. She
will also study Tamachek, the language most commonly spoken
by Tuaregs in Niger. Following the Fulbright, she will apply
to graduate school in comparative African politics or work
for an African politics research institute or an NGO in the
United States or Africa devoted to women’s rights.
Anna Gressel, a neuroscience major from New York City, will
conduct a research project in women’s studies in Morocco.
Ashley M. Jackson, a psychology major from Seattle, WA, will
study education reform in Cotonou, Benin. She will examine
the implementation and efficacy of a recent nation-wide
reform of curriculum and assessment that aims to replace
rote learning with the development of skills. Using
interviews and questionnaires, she will evaluate the reform
and its effectiveness through the opinions of students,
teachers, and other stakeholders in the reform. She also
hopes to volunteer with an HIV prevention campaign in Benin.
Her future plans include pursuing a masters degree in
international education or public health.
Shayle Kann,, a psychology major from Madison, WI, will
travel to Canberra, Australia, where he will work with the
Center for Sustainable Energy Systems, at the Australian
National University, to study an innovative business model
to conduct and finance energy efficiency retrofits of
existing buildings. His research will focus on the economic
and political feasibility, as well as the environmental
impact of the model known as Solarization."
Brian Kastl, a geology major from Silverdale, WA, will
travel to the North Island of New Zealand to study the
eruption-triggering mechanisms of Tongariro Volcano, in an
effort to improve the accuracy of volcanic eruption
predictions. To that end, he will conduct geochemical
analysis at the University of Auckland to determine how
magma mixing events triggered the eruption. Tongariro
Volcano is situated next to the mountain that was filmed as
Mt. Doom in Lord of the Rings. He also hopes to tutor
students in math and coach youth soccer. Following the
Fulbright, he plans to attend the University of Hawaii,
Manoa to pursue a Ph.D. program with field research focused
on violent, volcanically-triggered mudflows that threaten
lives on New Zealand's North Island.
Lily Muldoon, a biology and public policy double major from
Denver, CO, will travel to Kenya to study public health and
tour three clean water projects to learn “best practices.”
Her major focus will be working to continue the development
and building of a water pipeline project in Kayafungo that
she helped create in collaboration with community leaders
and members, water engineers, Kenyan government officials
and U.S. students. The proposed nine-mile pipeline will
bring clean water to ten schools, the region’s only health
clinic in the region and hundreds of families. Currently
women and children walk up to six hours each day to collect
water. Following her Fulbright, she intends to earn a
masters degree in public health and a doctorate in medicine,
with future plans of returning to East Africa for clinical
work and in policy development.
Femke Oldham, a public policy analysis major from Vashon
Island, WA, will study the “Policy Implications of
Community-Based Water Projects in Mexico." In the
three-phase project, she will work alongside professors and
graduate students at the Colegio de Posgraduados at the
Institución de Enseñanza e Investigación en Ciencias
Agricolas, in Montecillo, to perform research that seeks to
answer the question: Are community-based water projects in
Mexico a successful form of water resource management? She
also plans to volunteer with a youth soccer league. Her
future plans include graduate school in environmental policy
in either the United States or the Netherlands.
Michael Piech, an Asian studies major from Holland, NY, will
travel to Nepal to study the emerging and evolving film
industry and its social and political effects on Nepali
culture in the Kathmandu valley. How Nepali people and ideas
are depicted by the film industry has political and cultural
ramifications due to the widespread dispersion of films
within the culture; especially among the youth. Currently,
the Nepali film industry is seeking to extricate itself from
the prodigious Bollywood system and form a uniquely Nepali
identity. His focus is whether or not an indigenous film
industry will strengthen traditional Nepali culture, values
and morals. He also plans to volunteer at Raksha Nepal, an
NGO which educates and rehabilitates women who have worked
in exploitative professions. After the Fulbright, he plans
to attend graduate school.
Lauren Robinson, a media studies major from Los
Angeles, will study the methods used in curating Maori art
exhibits at Te Papa Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand.
Her research will include interviewing both Museum personnel
and members of Maori tribes who have collaborated in Te
Papa's bicultural curatorial process. She will also take
courses in museum and heritage studies at Victoria
University of Wellington with a focus on how indigenous
artifacts and culture have been represented throughout New
Zealand's colonial and postcolonial history.
Reed Schuler, a politics major from Seattle, WA, will study
mass transit and urban planning in Shanghai, China. Before
his research begins, Schuler will spend four months studying
Mandarin Chinese in Northern China, through a Critical
Language Enhancement Award from the National Security
Language Initiative. Beginning in December, he will research
the planning of Shanghai's public transportation system, in
the context of rapidly increasing car ownership, and amidst
preparation for the 2010 Expo. His research will have a
particular emphasis on access to public transit for
low-income communities and on the public policy mechanisms
in place for responding to the input and needs of citizens.
Kelvin Sun, an Asian studies major from Overland Park, KS,
will travel to Beijing, to investigate the impact of
information technology on China’s news media landscape. He
is particularly interested in the forces that led to the
development of internet news, its influence on the public
sphere, and the future implications of how China is adopting
communication technology to suit its own unique needs and
situation. He also hopes to take some classes on global
journalism and on-line communication at Tsinghua
University's School of Journalism and Communication. Sun
also received the Fulbright Critical Language Enhancement
Award and allowing him to study advanced Chinese for four
months before the Fulbright Research grant. Following the
Fulbright, he hopes to enroll in either a joint
journalism/law program or graduate program with a focus on
East Asian Studies.
FULBRIGHT GRANTS TO TEACH ENGLISH:
• Rebecca Abbey, a biology major, with an environmental
analysis minor from Tucson, AZ, teaching in Indonesia;
• Elizabeth Cobacho, a sociology major from Chicago,
teaching in Brazil;
• Christopher Dinkel, an international relations and
politics double major, from Victoria, KS, teaching in
Malaysia;
• David DeBey, a philosophy major from
Port Angeles, Wash., who
proposed to travel to Germany to teach English but declined
the award;
• Emily Durham, an English major, from Greensboro, NC,
teaching in South Korea;
• Kiyomi Gelber, an environmental analysis: race, class,
gender and the environment major, from San Anselmo, CA,
teaching in Thailand;
• Benjamin Jenson, an international relations major from
Minneapolis, MN, teaching in Hong Kong;
• Laura Kaneko, a sociology major, from Whittier, CA,
teaching in Spain;
• Doris Lee, a psychology major, from Los Angeles, CA,
teaching in South Korea;
• Julia Longenecker, a linguistics and cognitive science
major from Vermont, who proposed to teach in Brazil but
declined the grant;
• Katie Lenhoff, a Russian and East European Studies double
major, from Yorba Linda, CA, teaching in Russia;
• Alec Palmerton, a chemistry major, from Minneapolis,
teaching in South Korea;
• Alexandra Romano, a politics major, from Fort Worth, TX,
teaching in Germany;
• Samuel Stromberg, a math and history double major, with a
minor in Asian Studies, from Denver, CO, teaching in Hong
Kong; and
• Min Yoo, an Asian American Studies major, from La Cañada
Flintridge, CA, teaching in South Korea.
In many cases, recipients of English Teaching Assistantship
also pursue individual study or research projects.
CLASS OF 2007 FULBRIGHT ALTERNATE:
Laura Gamse, to South Africa for a project on
filmmaking.
ALUMNI FULBRIGHT RECIPIENTS
Julian Wong, Class of 1998, will travel to China to research
existing Chinese and international laws affecting the
development of wind energy, evaluate the effectiveness of
these laws and study the incentives or disincentives they
create for various stakeholders. He will then propose
improvements to the legal framework that will better
facilitate the development of wind power as a clean energy
alternative to coal. Currently, China relies on coal, the
most polluting of fossil fuels, for 70 percent of its
electricity needs, resulting in emissions that cause acid
rain formation over 30 percent of the country and that
contribute to climate change.
Christina Elmore, Class of 2006, was awarded a Fulbright to
teach English in Vrutky, Slovakia.
Andres Gonzalez, Class of 1999, will travel to Turkey for a
research project involving photography.
Alison Jones, Class of 1998, will travel to Nanjing to
conduct research on the reconstruction of religion,
specifically Buddhism, in urban China. She is currently a
PhD candidate in sociology at Harvard University.
Sarah Schaffer, Class of 2006, was awarded a Fulbright to
teach English in Chile beginning March 2008. She is
currently working for the U.S. House of Representatives'
Armed Services Committee on Military Readiness.. |
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