Renee Shaktivel
Staff Writer
International education is a common dream for many college students, and the Fulbright Program makes it possible for thousands of individuals to achieve.
ISU recently announced English and philosophy professor Alan Johnson as the new Fulbright Advisor on campus. He took over the position from Spanish professor Sharon Sieber, who had been the advisor for the last 10 years.
As the new advisor, Johnson will be responsible for publicizing the program and events on campus, along with guiding individuals through the application process, conducting interviews and deciding award finalists.
Fulbright is an internationally based program that awards students and teachers with grants in order to study or teach in their given fields of interest abroad. Over 8,000 grants are awarded each year throughout 150 countries, with only 1,900 applicants coming from the United States.
The program was established in 1946 by Senator J. William Fulbright as a way to strengthen cross-culture exchanges.
Johnson won the teaching Fulbright in 2010 and traveled to Mumbai, winning again in 2016-17. During his last award, Johnson returned to India for a research project focusing on images portraying forests from modern Indian literature in Chennai.
As a two-time award winner, he will be able to contribute firsthand experience, as a teacher and researcher to those who are interested in applying.
Johnson was born and raised in India and has benefited from an international background and hopes others will be able to gain similar experience through this program.
“I’m excited to continue to foster the climate of international scholarship and exchange that the Fulbright program offers,” he said.
With the hope of bringing one culture to another, the Fulbright Program offers over 10 programs to choose from. Applicants are able to select the fields of science, humanities, administration, teaching and more.
Those who are granted the awards tend to continue on to pursue work in education, community fields, consulting companies and government positions.
ISU currently has two semi-finalists for the 2017-2018 award year: Samra Culum, a doctoral student with an emphasis in migrant research with the goal of studying across Europe for ten months, and Caitlin Vitale-Sullivan, a senior pursuing research in musical instrument training in Sweden.
“I think this will elevate my career to a whole different level,” Culum said. “The Fulbright Scholarship will give me global experience, and in this time and age, you need something that makes you stand out.”
To be a candidate, Johnson noted that students need to have a high GPA, strong recommendations, writing skills, leadership and the ability to adapt to new experiences.
“You learn about another culture, about yourself and about how the world is so interconnected,” Johnson said. “You also contribute to the kind of mutual understanding that’s vital to the well-being of our world.”
