USC named one of nation’s top producers of Fulbright students for 2018-19
Fourteen USC students received grants through the program to conduct research, teach or study abroad.
or the seventh year in a row, USC is among the top universities for U.S. Fulbright students.
Institutions with the most students accepted to the prestigious program are announced by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education. USC consistently appears on the list.
The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board selected 14 USC Fulbright winners for 2018-2019, the program’s most recent funding cycle. That number places USC among the top 30 research institutions throughout the United States. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides one-year grants for students to study, conduct research projects or teach English across the world.
During their time abroad, Fulbright students work, live with and learn from locals in their host country. Students must hold a bachelor’s degree before starting their grant project.
USC Fulbright winners tackle teaching, history, music and more
The university’s most recent Fulbright winners all graduated with bachelor’s degrees in 2018, unless otherwise noted:
Peter Bergmann majored in economics and mathematics. He is serving as an English teaching assistant in Taiwan and plans to pursue a career in social enterprise and impact investing in East Asia.
Carolyn Choi is a doctoral student in USC’s Department of Sociology. At Ehwa Women’s University in South Korea, she is conducting fieldwork in Seoul and other provinces on South Korean nationalism and youth return migration.
Mary Coates graduated with a degree in linguistics and minors in German and teaching English to speakers of other languages. Coates received a Fulbright grant to Germany, where she is an English teaching assistant.
Julianna Coleman majored in French and neuroscience. She received a research grant to Senegal to work with families of children with disabilities at the university hospital in Dakar and at two schools to illuminate sociocultural factors shaping the role of family in caring for a child with a disability.
Charles Junkins studied theater and global studies as an undergraduate. He is working as an English teaching assistant in Malaysia, where he incorporates drama and personal storytelling into his lessons.
Max Kapur earned dual bachelor’s degrees in jazz studies and art in East Asian languages and cultures. As a Fulbright teaching assistant in South Korea, he is practicing his teaching and storytelling skills and continue to develop his career as an author and public educator.
Natalia Lauricella is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Art History. She is spending the current academic year in Paris, conducting archival research for her dissertation on master lithographers who worked with avant-garde painters in France in the late 19th century.
Aditi Ramesh graduated with a degree in mathematics and economics. She received a Fulbright research grant to India, where she is designing a culturally sensitive civic education program to inform the intersection of Indian and American acts of civic participation.
Felicitas Reyes graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s in American studies and ethnicity and a minor in Spanish. She is serving as an English teaching assistant in Mexico.
Alejandro Schugurensky majored in sociology along with minors in spatial studies and education and society. He is in Brazil examining the impact of Brazilian social policies on education access and equity.
Geetha Somayajula studied choral music and business administration as an undergraduate. She traveled to South India to study the pedagogy, practice and performance of South Indian classical music in contemporary educational settings.
Hannah Thomas graduated with a major in global health and a minor in Spanish. She received a research grant to Ecuador to study intimate partner violence using an intersectional approach.
Rachel Udabe earned dual bachelor’s degrees in political science and public policy, in addition to a minor in education and society. She is an English teaching assistant in Taiwan and plans to pursue a career in education policy.
Sophia Wix majored in health and the human sciences. She is pursuing a research-based master’s degree in medical science at the University of Cambridge with a leading researcher in breast cancer genomics.
USC primed for success in next round of Fulbright student grants
The next group of Fulbright students will be announced in the next few months. USC has 30 semifinalists in the running for a grant in the 2019-2020 cycle. That represents more than half of all applicants from the university.
Virtually all of the semifinalists sought assistance with their Fulbright application from experts at USC Academic Honors and Fellowships. The office helps USC students pursue nationally competitive fellowships and other prestigious programs with support like essay reviews and committee evaluations.