The U.S. Department of State this spring has offered 19 undergraduates or recent alums grants through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to study, conduct research, or teach English abroad.
The high acceptance rate follows recognition earlier this year of Dartmouth as a “top producing institution” of Fulbright student scholars.
“As the number of our students accepted into the Fulbright program continues to grow, Dartmouth’s global reach is becoming even more extensive,” says Christie Harner, assistant dean of faculty for fellowship advising.
“Whether it’s teaching English in Taiwan or researching sustainable agriculture in Uruguay, these students and recent alums are taking the skills and knowledge they learned at Dartmouth to help make a difference in more and more places around the world.”
The Fulbright program was created shortly after World War II to foster mutual understanding among countries, and since then more than 400,000 Fulbright participants from the United States and 160 other countries have taken part in the program.
This year, 16 of the 19 Dartmouth students and alums who were offered Fulbright grants will be participating in the program.
This year’s Fulbright cohort from Dartmouth includes:
Benjamin Chen ’24, who is majoring in neuroscience and minoring in chemistry on a premed track, grew up in San Diego and will be doing his Fulbright in Taichung, Taiwan.
“I hope to make a lasting impact teaching English to the kids in the classroom and to connect with my Chinese heritage by exploring the street market food scene and celebrating the local festivals,” Chen says.
Izzy Cheney ’24, an anthropology major, grew up in Easthampton, Mass., and North Carolina, among other places. She will be an English teaching assistant in Galicia, Spain.
“I hope to teach students about topics in sustainability, human evolution, and indigenous responses to colonialism around the world, building off my own studies here at Dartmouth. Galicia is an important place to do this work because of the Galician fishing industry, which shapes local culture and food system sustainability; the proximity to fossil sites where critical human evolution discoveries have been made; and the endangered native language of Galego that’s in need of embracing and sustaining. I look forward to honing my Spanish language skills, mentorship skills, and cultural competency next year in Spain.”
Tobias Choyt ’24, who is majoring in government and Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies, grew up in Hanover and will be in Uruguay with the Fulbright program.
“I will be studying the rotational grazing of cattle and carbon sequestration in an attempt to create more sustainable agricultural systems,” Choyt says.
Amadea Datel ’24 is a philosophy major and grew up in Brookline, Mass. Datel received one of two debate coach/trainer awards and will be in Taiwan.
“I hope to increase access to/expand the reach of competitive debate, an activity that has been so meaningful to me throughout high school and college, as it has given me critical thinking skills and introduced me to a breadth of content ranging from moral and political philosophy to international relations,” she says.
“Moreover, as a bicultural student (with family in both Argentina and the U.S.), I’ve always been interested in learning about other cultures and hope to immerse myself in Taiwanese culture by traveling within the island, interacting with local people, and taking Mandarin classes. While on the grant, I also plan to apply to law school with the intention of pursuing public interest and/or criminal law.”
Kylie Del Rosario ’24, a government and Asian societies, cultures, and languages double major, grew up in Yonkers, N.Y., and will be an English teaching assistant in Taiwan.
“I hope to deepen my linguistic, cultural, and historical knowledge of the country. I aim to use this knowledge and experience as I continue my studies in the Indo-Pacific at grad school in fall 2025,” Del Rosario says.
Clare Downey ’24 grew up in Washington, D.C., and is a history major with a minor in Spanish. Downey will be doing a Fulbright in Colombia.
“While in Colombia, I hope to focus on issues of international development and forced migration. I am specifically interested in learning more about how conflict impacts women and girls’ education. I have spent time researching and working in the immigration, refugee, and asylum fields and I hope to learn more about the root causes of those issues while in Colombia.”
Peter Estill ’23 majored in Hispanic studies and grew up in Ithaca, N.Y. He will be teaching English to high school and college-age students in Colombia.
“As a premed student, I hope to gain fluency in Spanish, with the goal of using it in my career as a physician to provide care in underserved communities. In my free time, I hope to volunteer at a local hospital, gaining experience in clinical settings.”
Lauren Houchens ’24 is a geography and linguistics major from South Burlington, Vt. She will be teaching English to middle and high school students in Slavičín, Czech Republic.
Caitlyn King ’24, an art history major from the New York City borough of Queens, will be studying and researching in Laos.
“This upcoming year, I will be working with the National Museum of Laos, located in the capital city of Vientiane, to assist the museum’s director with the collections by helping curate exhibits, researching and cataloging objects, and translating art descriptions into English,” King says.
“My main focus will be researching the textiles in their collection and building upon my senior thesis on Lao textiles and the ‘Secret War’ in Laos.”
Daniel Kotrebai ’24, an economics and philosophy double major, grew up in Cleveland and will spend the Fulbright year in Budapest, Hungary.
“I will be doing economic research with professors at the Center for Economic and Regional Studies through Corvinus University and Eötvös Loránd University. I will be studying what Central and Eastern Europe, Hungary specifically, can learn from the ‘East Asian Growth Miracle’ to support their future economic growth and competitiveness,” he says.
Alyssa Noseworthy ’24 grew up in West Allis, Wisc., and is majoring in romance studies, French and Spanish, with a minor in translation.
Noseworthy will be teaching English in Belgium and hopes to be “honing my skills as an ESL teacher and learning more about the Walloon language and culture.”
Manu Onteeru ’24 is a double major—biology modified with engineering sciences and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies modified with global health—and grew up in Sterling, Va.
Onteeru will be an English teaching assistant in New Taipei City, Taiwan, working with elementary and middle-school students.
“As an incoming medical school student after my Fulbright year, I’m hoping to improve my education and communication skills in a way that, as a physician, will help me work with populations, especially youth, not fluent in or learning English,” he says.
Samantha Palermo ’24 is a double major in neuroscience and religion, and grew up in Lincoln, Neb.
She will be teaching English at teacher-training institutes or universities in Argentina.
Cecile Tobin ’24 is a government major from North Haven, Conn. and will be an English teaching assistant in Lithuania.
“I worked at an enrichment program for refugee and immigrant students this past summer and spent a good portion of the past year doing research on partisan media bias in the U.S. I am excited to draw together my interests in teaching and political communication,” Tobin says.
“I plan to use news stories to teach English, helping students develop proficiency in English and media literacy. I also think that living in Lithuania will provide me with a valuable opportunity to practice communication across cultural and linguistic lines.”
She also notes that some of her great-grandparents were from Lithuania. “I have yet to visit Eastern Europe and am excited to learn more about Jewish history in the region.”
Nick X. Woo ’20 was a Native American Studies major and will be doing a Fulbright in Fiji in the South Pacific Island Nations.
Woo, who grew up in Seattle, plans to explore HIV health literacy, help-seeking behavior, and interventions among urban iTaukei, the indigenous people of Fiji.
Sydney Wuu ’24 is an economics and environmental studies double major, and grew up mostly in Pasadena, Calif., but has also lived in the Philippines, Spain, and Gibraltar.
Wuu will be teaching English in Taipei, Taiwan. “I am excited to practice the language in a real-life environment with locals, reconnect with my family roots, and build cultural dialogue between diverse communities,” Wuu says. “Teaching and working with students is incredibly rewarding for me, and I am passionate about making a positive impact in their lives. Additionally, as an environmental studies and economics double major with a minor in international studies, I am deeply fascinated by the potential for cross-cultural education to promote solutions to global problems like climate change and the energy crisis.”
Three students who received Fulbright offers have declined them.
Anna Byrd ’23, Thayer ’24, a biomedical and computer engineering major who grew up in Tulsa, Okla., was offered an English teaching assistant position in Germany but has declined to accept a job offer.
Diana D’Souza ’23 opted to pursue a Critical Language Scholarship in Taiwan.
And Monique-Marie Cummings ’24, a government major from McLean, Va., is instead taking a job with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
To learn more about how to apply for a Fulbright, or to explore other opportunities, visit Dartmouth’s Fellowship Advising Office.