Current City: Oakland, California
Undergraduate Institution: CUNY – Hunter College
Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow in Anthropology —Spain, 2007-2008
Email: Aurora.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Spain, Aurora Almendral carried out research on labor market issues, including labor marginalization and illegality, in affiliation with the Observatorio de Migraciones in Madrid. She also received a Critical Language Enhancement Award for study in Morocco. While in Madrid, Aurora worked closely with the capital’s Moroccan and Senegalese communities to produce a documentary film on urban immigration. She is currently a writer in Oakland.

Current City: Louisville, Kentucky
Undergraduate Institution: University of Louisville
Fulbright English Teaching Assistant—Thailand, 2008-2009
Email: Paige.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Thailand, Paige Battcher taught English as a foreign language at Princess Chulabhorn’s College in Chiang Rai. She also organized and facilitated English camps, a seminar for local primary school teachers, and an after-school club for students to practice their English while learning how to play American board and card games. Following her grant, Paige worked as a director for the University of South Florida’s Youth Impact Program, designed to develop the scholastic and academic potential of inner-city youth; more recently, she founded Louisville Grows, a consulting firm that promotes sustainable urban agriculture. Paige is currently a budget analyst at the University of Louisville.

Current City: New York City
Undergraduate Institution: University of Connecticut (applied to Fulbright as an alumnus)
Fulbright English Teaching Assistant—Brazil, 2008-2009
Email: Mark.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Brazil, Mark Beasley-Murray was an assistant teacher in English as a foreign language and program coordinator for The Sequoia Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. After his Fulbright grant, he was hired by the Foundation to develop a digital literacy curriculum for a “One Laptop per Child” pilot project in Piraí. Mark is currently a graduate student in comparative and international education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Current City: Savannah, Georgia
Undergraduate Institution: Spelman College
Fulbright English Teaching Assistant—Malaysia, 2008-2009
International Relations
Email: Clarissa.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Malaysia, Clarissa Davis taught English at SMK Tengku Mahmud secondary school in Terengganu. Outside the classroom, she shared with students her passion for world peace through art, panel discussions, and cultural exchange, including food, music, and film. Clarissa had previously studied Arabic in Tunisia on a Critical Language Scholarship, which – like Fulbright – is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. A native of Savannah, she plans to enter law school in 2011.

Current City: Glendale, New York
Undergraduate Institution: Colby College
Fulbright English Teaching Assistant—Taiwan, 2008-2009
Email: William.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

William Fong was in the first cohort of English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) to be sent to Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second largest city, where he partnered with a local English teacher to co-teach third through sixth grades. He and other ETAs also designed classroom curricula and worked in the city’s “English Villages,” rooms that simulate such Anglophone community locales as shops and restaurants, where students can practice their English. William’s time in Taiwan helped him to realize his passion for teaching; he is currently a graduate student in elementary inclusive education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Current City: Chicago, Illinois
Undergraduate Institution: Loyola University Chicago
Fulbright-mtvU Fellow in Anthropology—Mexico, 2008-2009
Email: Katie.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

Each year since 2007, the Fulbright Program has partnered with mtvU - MTV’s 24-hour university broadcasting network, which reaches 9 million U.S. college students—to promote the “power of music” as a global force for mutual understanding. On her Fulbright-mtvU grant to Mexico, Katie Day Good produced audio documentaries about urban-youth explorations of national history and identity through traditional Mexican music. Aimed at highlighting the diversity of such music, Katie’s project led her from the mariachi classrooms of Mexico City, to the nostalgic callejoneadas of Guanajuato in Mexico’s central highlands, to the rural fandangos of southern Veracruz. Her research and musical training were supported by the School of Mexican Music, the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City, the University of Veracruz, and the Centro de Documentación del Son Jarocho, also in Veracruz. Katie is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Media, Technology, and Society at Northwestern University.

Current City: Houston, Texas
Undergraduate Institution: Prairie View A&M
Graduate Institution: Florida A&M University
Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow in Public Health—Barbados, 2007-2008
Email: Misha.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Barbados, Misha Granado sought to understand, from a behavioral perspective, the intersection of culture and health status in order to determine the factors mitigating the presence of undiagnosed breast cancer among Barbadian women; she also began to explore the interventions that might decrease their risk of cancer. The findings of Misha’s project, conducted at Barbados’ Chronic Disease Research Centre, have been accepted for oral presentation to the Caribbean Health Research Council; she has also been invited to submit them to the West Indian Medical Journal for publication. Misha worked as a Program Coordinator for the Institute for Public Health and Water Research, an environmental public health organization focusing on water and human health, in Houston. Currently, Misha works as a Program Manager in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center, McGovern Medical School. Additionally, Misha is the owner and principal consultant for Love Grows: The Relationship Consultants, a boutique firm focused on cultivating and nurturing healthy relationships. 

Current City: Medford, Massachusetts
Undergraduate Institution: Georgetown University
Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow in International Relations—The Netherlands, 2008-2009
Email: Hammad.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In the Netherlands, Hammad Hammad studied the differences between American and European approaches to ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, focusing on Palestinian refugees. He also completed a Master’s degree in conflict studies and human rights at the University of Utrecht. Following his Fellowship, Hammad was an intern in the White House Office of Public Engagement. He is the co-founder and president of Inspire Dreams, a non-profit organization that draws upon academics, athletics, and the arts to promote alternative methods of self-expression for Palestinian refugees. Hammad is currently a graduate student at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, in Medford.

Current City: Chicago, Illinois
Undergraduate Institution: Columbia University
Graduate Institution: Northwestern University
Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow in Journalism—Spain, 2008-2009
Email: Peter.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

During his Fellowship, Peter Holderness explored personal aspects of modern Latino immigration to Spain, where he worked with immigrant religious communities and an association of domestic workers. Peter is currently a freelance photographer in Chicago; his work, which has been widely published, often focuses on global immigration and labor.

Current City: New Brunswick, New Jersey
Undergraduate Institution: Oberlin College
Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow in Anthropology—South Africa, 2007-2008
Email: Chaunetta.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Grahamstown, South Africa, Chaunetta Jones sought to understand why South Africans diagnosed with HIV infection are refusing antiretroviral treatment. She is a medical anthropologist with research interests in inequality, HIV/AIDS, and structural violence, especially in Africa; she has served as an assistant for UNAIDS and has participated in HIV/AIDS education and prevention initiatives in South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana, the Dominican Republic, and the United States. Chaunetta is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Cultural Anthropology Program at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

Current City: Boulder, Colorado
Undergraduate Institution: University of Iowa
Graduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow in Creative Writing—Nepal, 2008-2009
Email: Franz.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

Franz Knupfer, who is deaf, carried out research in Nepal for a collection of short stories about the Nepalese deaf community, studying this community in both urban and rural settings ranging from Kathmandu and Pokhara to the Himalaya Mountains. He also taught art and American Sign Language at the Naxal School for the Deaf in Kathmandu, where he learned Nepalese Sign Language and helped to organize a backpacking trip through Kathmandu Valley for the school’s students. Franz is currently writing a collection of stories based upon his experiences in Nepal entitled “How He Lost His Golden Voice.”

Current City: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Undergraduate Institution: Cleveland Institute of Art
Graduate Institution: Virginia Commonwealth University
Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow in Painting and Printmaking—Iceland, 2008-2009
Email: Jessica.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Iceland, Jessica Langley created artwork relating to the contemporary Icelandic concept of landscape, investigating how this landscape is portrayed and used in art, myth, and industry. She also participated in several artist residencies across Iceland and spent considerable time in the countryside. She is currently an artist and art instructor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Current City: New York City
Undergraduate Institution: Dartmouth College
Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow in Business—Italy, 2007-2008
Email: Brett.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Italy, Brett Martin studied entrepreneurial resource allocation and decision-making in early-stage business ventures at the Universita` Bocconi in Milan. His research recently was subsequently published in the Harvard Business Review. Before his Fulbright, Brett worked as an Equity Research Associate at Thomas Weisel Partners, as a first mate aboard the sailing vessel Sea Pearl, and as an Internet Marketing Associate at VBS.tv. He is currently building, buying and investing in game-changing mobile technologies at www.AppFund.com, a mobile media company.

Current City: Washington, D.C.
Undergraduate Institution: Trinity College
Fulbright English Teaching Assistant—Uruguay, 2008-2009
Email: Marylin.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Uruguay, Marylin Rodriguez worked in public schools and in teacher- training programs. At the public school level, she collaborated with teachers to create activities that encouraged students to communicate in English through the arts; she also undertook an independent project to assess the impact of Afro-Uruguayan musical traditions on Uruguayan national identity. Upon her return to the United States, Marylin joined Teach for America in the Washington, D.C. area, and is currently teaching Spanish at a creative and performing-arts school in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Current City: New York City
Undergraduate Institution: Hampshire College
Fulbright U.S. Student Fellow in International Relations—Germany, 2007-2008
Email: Sophie.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org

In Germany, Sophie Woodruff investigated the influence of integration, racism, and social entrepreneurship in the lives of Turkish immigrants to Germany, after receiving a Critical Language Enhancement Award to study Turkish. She studied at Viadrina European University at Frankfurt (Oder), dividing her time in Germany between an internship at ISI e.V., an organization dedicated to the financial independence of immigrant women, and collaboration with Michal Buchowski, Professor of Comparative Central European Studies at the university. She is currently Program Associate at CDS International, Inc., a firm that promotes global training opportunities, in New York City.