Fulbright Awards fund research and teaching for 13 - including three from Public Health

Roger Dunaway roger@tulane.edu
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Pictured above are five of the 13 Fulbright Award recipients. Top row from left: Vanessa Castaneda and Sarah Haensly. Seated, from left: Gabriel Rodriguez, Hannah Kaufman (SPHTM), and David Chatelain. (Photo by Ryan Rivet)

Twelve students and one recent graduate from Tulane University have received grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to conduct independent research or work as English teaching assistants abroad in 2017-18.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Earlier this spring, Tulane was recognized as a top producer of US Fulbright students for 2016-17.

Tulane placed a total of 19 students among the semifinalists for the prestigious Fulbrights – 13 were awarded grants and two others were selected as alternates, should one of the winners not be able to complete their grant assignments. The Tulane contingent consists of one alumnus, seven undergraduates and five graduate students who will travel to 10 different countries on five continents, including North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Three of the 13 are School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine students: Katharine “Kayla” Bruce (MPH, Epidemiology), Hannah Kaufman, PhD student in Public Health, Research Grant (Paraguay), and Jessica Tran, Public Health, English Teaching Assistantship Grant (Vietnam).  

The Tulane Fulbright winners will use their expertise to explore a variety of subjects, including evaluating archival texts from 1791-1804 in Spain, examining the perceptions of the health of adults over 60 years old in Paraguay, evaluating archaeological sites in Guatemala and studying gaps in reproductive health knowledge between adolescents and their parents in Uganda.

“The Tulane Honors Program is pleased to offer advising for nationally competitive scholarships like the Fulbright U.S. Student Program,” said Charlotte Maheu Vail, Tulane’s Fulbright Program Advisor. “We believe that awards like this one can provide students the opportunity to have a richer and more nuanced intellectual experience, whether they are using the Fulbright year as a springboard for what’s next after Tulane or whether this funding supports the dissertation research they’re conducting in one of our graduate programs.

“The Honors Program is committed to providing an enhanced academic experience for Tulane students through their curriculum, faculty engagement, time abroad and service, and advising for nationally competitive scholarships is another way we can help promote students’ intellectual autonomy and support the discovery of their individual passion.”

Tulane’s 2017-18 Fulbright Grantees:

  • Katherine (Kayla) Bruce, MPH student in Public Health, Research Grant (Uganda)
  • Vanessa Castaneda, PhD Student in Latin American Studies, Research Grant (Brazil)
  • David Chatelain, PhD student in Anthropology, Research Grant (Guatemala)
  • Jaclyn Cole, Political Science, English Teaching Assistantship Grant (Mexico)
  • Hannah Dean, Latin American Studies and Political Science, English Teaching Assistantship Grant (Colombia)
  • Claire Dockery, Economics and German, English Teaching Assistantship Grant (Germany)
  • Sarah Haensly, Economics and Latin American Studies, Binational Internship (Mexico)
  • Alexa Haverlah, Art History and Spanish, English Teaching Assistantship Grant (Mexico)
  • Hannah Kaufman, PhD student in Public Health, Research Grant (Paraguay)
  • Christian Nguyen, Cell and Molecular Biology (alumnus), English Teaching Assistantship Grant (Spain)
  • Gabriel Rodriguez, Psychology and Italian, English Teaching Assistantship Grant (Italy)
  • Jesus Ruiz, PhD student in History, Research Grant (Spain)
  • Jessica Tran, Public Health, English Teaching Assistantship Grant (Vietnam)