The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the nation's largest academic exchange program for students to pursue graduate studies at universities overseas. The Fulbright award provides students with complete financial and academic support to pursue graduate study abroad for one year.
"There is no cookie-cutter mold of a Fulbright. They are all impressive and have a long commitment to research," said Kristin O'Rourke, the College's scholarship advisor. "All the students that won were sophisticated as researchers."
Dartmouth's Fulbright recipients represent diverse departments and research interests. Students will study in a variety of internationally renowned universities, from the Wuhan University in China to the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.
"To be honest I was really surprised and couldn't be more proud to receive an honor that allows me to represent my country in another country I have come to I love," said Hema Mohan '06, an Arabic language and literature major.
Mohan will research the path of English words that have infiltrated the Arabic language and are found in common Middle Eastern parlance. Her research stems from her experience as an administrative intern at the American University of Kuwait.
"I am fascinated by Arabic and I want to document the work I'm interested in," Mohan said. "My department has been phenomenally awesome, they have been so helpful in advising, so this is a great achievement for our small department."
The Fulbright application process begins a year before the grants are awarded, when students apply to receive a nomination from the Dartmouth College Committee on Graduate Fellowships in June. Selected applications are sent with recommendations to the Fulbright Foundation in late October, and Fulbright finalists are announced in January. The awards are presented throughout April and May.
"Winning the award feels great," said Peter Hughes '06, a German studies and history double major. "It's great to have all my friends and teachers congratulate me."
Hughes will be attending the Center for European Integration Studies at the University of Bonn in Germany. He plans to study U.S.-German relations.
"I think there is a lot of misunderstanding between the U.S. and Germany, I feel a lot can be done to bring American values to Europe and bring a European outlook to the United States," Hughes said.
Hughes' thesis explores the politics of European integration, and he believes his research in Germany will allow him to extend and more fully develop his findings.
For many Fulbright winners the award represents the culmination of years of dedication and hard work in a particular area of research. Cayelan Carey '06 has been researching algal blooms since she was 15 and will pursue a Ph.D. at Cornell University's School of Ecology and Evolution.
"I think algae is incredibly fascinating and important to human life," Carey said. "The Fulbright will allow me to work on this topic with some of the greatest researchers in the world."
Other Fulbright winners this year include Christopher Foster '06, Jennifer Krimm '06, Elizabeth Swedo '06, Nicholas Taranto '06 and Peter Verovsek '06. James Redfield '06 won the Fulbright's German equivalent, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauch Dienst.
