UW–Madison students, faculty receive 2012-13 Fulbright Program grants

A group of UW–Madison students and faculty have received 2012-13 grants from the Fulbright Program, the country’s flagship program for international educational exchange.

Fourteen students have won fellowships from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program; three graduate students have received Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad grants; and four faculty members have been awarded grants through the CIES Fulbright Scholar Program.

Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given approximately 310,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

UW-Madison has been among the leading U.S. research institutions producing Fulbright fellows and scholars.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides recipients with funding for a full academic year of study, research or assistant teaching abroad. The program is sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with significant contributions from participating governments and host institutions.

Eight UW–Madison recipients (listed with degree, destination country, field and research topic) received Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards for graduate study abroad:

• Charlie Cahill (Ph.D.), Germany, history, “Mea Res Agitur: The Kierkegaard Renaissance in Weimar Germany”;
• James Homsey (Ph.D.), Japan, history, “Leveling the Legions: Suiheisha Struggles against Discrimination in the Japanese Army”;
• Terrence Peterson (Ph.D.), France, cultural and intellectual history, “Pacifying the Muslim Body: the French Military and Social Engineering in the Algerian War”;
• Ryan Wolfson-Ford (Ph.D.), Laos, cultural and intellectual history, “A Time of Confusion: Upland-lowland wars in the 19th c. borderlands between Laos and China”;
• Rachel Goc (Ph.D.), Japan, ethno-musicology, “Popular Music and Mixed Root; Communities in Japan”;
• Samuel Kanson-Benanav (B.A.), Ecuador, sociology, “Sumak Kawsay: Alternative Resource Management in the Ecuadorian Amazon”;
• John Prusynski (B.A.), Norway, Scandinavian studies, “Research and Study in Norwegian Dialectology and Sociolectology”; and
• Brandy Trygstad (Ph.D.), Germany, linguistics, “No, Seriously: Perception of (Non-) Seriousness in Conversation.”

Six UW–Madison recipients, who recently received undergraduate or graduate degrees, received funding through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for English teaching assistantships:

• Anisa Ali (M.A.), Turkey;
• Erin Bennett (B.A.), India;
• Rebecca Mostofi (B.A.), Germany;
• Megan Munroe (M.A.), Czech Republic;
• Janelle Peifer (B.A.), Germany; and
• Willa Song (B.A.), Spain.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Education recently awarded more than $3.2 million in Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) grants to 84 individuals at 34 institutions of higher education — including three doctoral students at UW–Madison (listed with destination country, field, research topic, and grant amount):

• Nick Abbott, India, history, “Household, Family and State in the Awadh Nawabi, c. 1700-1860,” $36,614;
• Brandon Lamson, China, political science, “Local Worlds of Welfare: State and Non-State Public Goods Provision,” $40,560; and
• Kyle Marquardt, Russia/Moldova, political science, “Language, identity, mobilization: Regional grievance and collective,” $35,128.

Also, four UW–Madison faculty members (listed below with department, destination country and topic) received grants through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), to support research, teaching and sharing ideas abroad:

• Paul Bredeson, emeritus professor of educational leadership and policy analysis, Norway, literature;
• James Leary, professor of folklore and Scandinavian studies, Iceland, area studies;
• Lisa Naughton, professor of geography, Chile, environmental studies; and
• John Ralph, professor of biochemistry and biological systems engineering, Austria, chemistry.