Two University of Iowa alumnae have been awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants to conduct research internationally in 2013-14. This year's UI recipients are Margaret Ross and Rebecca McCray.To learn about a third UI Fulbright recipient awarded after the initial announcement for 2013-14, visit now.uiowa.edu/2013/05/ui-graduate-student-receives-fulbright-germany-2013-2014To learn about a third UI Fulbright recipient awarded after the initial announcement for 2013-14, visit now.uiowa.edu/2013/05/ui-graduate-student-receives-fulbright-germany-2013-2014
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase understanding between people of the United States and other countries by providing participants opportunities to study, teach, conduct research, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. Below are the two UI recipients and a brief description of their projects.
Ross of New York City, N.Y., is a 2011 graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in poetry, and holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Harvard College. With her Fulbright award, Ross will travel to China to research and write a book of poetry exploring the cityscape in Nanjing, China, as well as to audit classes in Chinese literature and language with famed Professor Cheng Zhangcan at Nanjing University. She interacted last fall with a commission of Chinese poets visiting the UI’s International Writing Program in Iowa City, whose Life of Discovery program had participating poets write about urban space in the Midwestern U.S.
McCray of Iowa City, Iowa, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from the UI in 2010. With her Fulbright award, McCray will travel to Slovenia to research the successes of the Slovenian criminal justice system by researching and writing about Hostel Celica, a former Yugoslav prison. With one of the lowest incarceration rates in the European Union, McCray says Slovenia has much to teach the United States, which has the highest incarceration rate in the world. McCray will study Slovenia's transition to independence via the controversial transformation of this unique prison-turned-hostel, ultimately producing a work of long-form journalism from her research.
UI International Programs provides assistance to students wishing to pursue Fulbright grants. Undergraduates, graduate and professional students, and alumni wishing to apply for a Fulbright award should contact Karen Wachsmuth, International Programs' academic programs and student services administrator, at karen-wachsmuth@uiowa.edu, for assistance.
The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit fulbright.state.gov.
Update: To read about a third UI 2013-14 Fulbright recipient announced at a later date, visit now.uiowa.edu/2013/05/ui-graduate-student-receives-fulbright-germany-2013-2014.