Five University of Kansasstudents and three KU faculty have received Fulbright awards for research, study or teaching for the 2012-13 academic year. The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It's designed to increase mutual understanding between the American people and people of other countries. Recipients are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as leadership potential in their fields.
The KU faculty members receiving Fulbright grants are:
Debra Hedden, associate professor of music education and music therapy from the KU School of Music, who will teach, research music pedagogy and consult on the development of a music education curriculum in Vilnius, Lithuania;
John Janzen, professor of anthropology, who will lecture and carry out a study on health care in Democratic Republic of Congo; and
Burdett Loomis, professor of political science, who will work and teach in Adelaide, Australia with a special focus on Australian political interest groups and lobbying. For more information on their projects, click here.
The KU student recipients and their projects are:
Erin Atwood, who graduated in May 2012 with a bachelor’s in genetics. She has received a Fulbright grant to Peru, where she will be affiliated with the Centro Ann Sullivan in Lima and will enroll in classes at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru.
John Korba, who is a doctoral student specializing in Slavic linguistics in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. Proficient in both Russian and Czech, he has received a Fulbright grant to conduct research for his dissertation in the Czech Republic.
Laura Potter, a doctoral student in tuba performance in the School of Music. She has been awarded a Fulbright grant to study the new and innovative compositions written for tuba solo and tuba in chamber settings in Scandinavia since 1970.
Allison Schmidt, a doctoral student in modern European history with a special interest in modern German history. She has received a Fulbright grant to Germany, where she will conduct research for her dissertation on cultural affiliation and self-identification of Czech-speaking immigrants who crossed into Saxony in the late 19th century looking for employment in this rapidly industrializing area.
Andrew Toth, who graduated in May 2012 with a bachelor’s in environmental engineering. He has received a Fulbright grant to Germany to study in the master’s program in environmental engineering at the Technical University of Hamburg-Hamburg.
Fulbright grants provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident insurance and tuition. Since the program’s inception in 1946, 437 KU students, including this year’s awardees, have been awarded Fulbrights.
To read the entire KU news release on the student Fulbright winners, click here.