This spring, six Rochester students and one alumna have been awarded 2014-15 Fulbright U.S. Student Grants to advance their studies, perform research, and teach English abroad while serving as young ambassadors to their host countries. Fulbright faculty committees at both the River Campus and Eastman worked to endorse candidates in the recently completed competitions. These new Rochester Fulbright student scholars will be heading to six countries in Europe, Asia, South America, and the Middle East.
The Fulbright program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, offers opportunities for career-launching study, teaching, and research abroad and are designed to promote education and cultural exchange between the United States and other nations. Postgraduate scholars pursuing study or research design their own programs and arrange institutional affiliations in the host countries. English Teaching Assistants are placed in educational institutions in various locations around the host countries.
All Fulbright grantees participate in community engagement activities to promote cross-cultural understanding. The grants cover expenses such as travel and health insurance, and also provide a monthly stipend. Established by Congress in 1946, Fulbright is the largest federally sponsored international educational exchange program. From 2008 to 2013, 45 Rochester students and alumni were selected to receive a Fulbright Grant, which is among the most prestigious and competitive post-graduate fellowship programs.
Anisha Gundewar ’14
This fall, University of Rochester student Anisha Gundewar ’14, will pursue an independent research project in India through the 2014-15 Fulbright U.S. Student Grant program. Since 2002, six Rochester students have been selected to conduct research or teach English in India through the Fulbright program.
For Gundewar, a Fulbright-Nehru Study/Research grant to India will be an opportunity to add to an impressive portfolio of public health research. A double major in Health, Behavior and Society along with Microbiology, she will work with Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action, and Research, a non-profit organization and research collective based in Mumbai, conducting a study that explores the relationship between community health and how residents in the urban slum of Mandala share resources and collect information. “I’ll be looking at which individuals and agencies are trusted sources of information in the community, as I believe they can be valuable resources for developing community-based health interventions,” explained Gundewar.
Between Gundewar’s sophomore and junior year, she decided to take a gap year, spending the summer and fall of 2011 conducting molecular genetics research at UMass Medical School, and spending the spring of 2012 working for a nonprofit community health organization in a small Andean village in Peru. It was during this year that she developed a passion for the field of public health. “I’m really focused on how we can translate research into practice,” she said, noting that there is a gap between researchers and grassroots workers.
When she returned to her studies at Rochester, Gundewar began working with Public Health Sciences and Anthropology professor Nancy Chin, and traveled with her and several other Rochester students to India in summer 2013, to conduct a field study on tobacco cessation programs for youth in Ladakh. As a three-year member of Rochester’s chapter of GlobeMed, she went on to intern with the student-run global health organization, traveling to Peru to work with its grassroot partner, Kallpa Iquitos that same summer.
Before Gundewar begins her Fulbright study, she will spend the summer working at the Strong Children’s Research Center on an independent research project to better understand the treatment and management of asthma among children in Rochester under the mentorship of Dr. Jill Halterman.
Nominated by Rochester in fall 2013 for the Rhodes Scholarship, Gundewar, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, graduated magna cum laude, and earned highest distinction and high honors in research in public health. As a Rochester Early Medical Scholar, the Marlborough, Mass., resident plans to return to the University to complete a medical degree after her Fulbright year in India. After her medical training, Gundewar hopes to integrate her research findings into nonprofit frameworks.
Erin Slocum ’12
This summer, University of Rochester alumna and Rochester, N.Y., native Erin Slocum ’12, will travel to South Korea as an English Teaching Assistant through the 2014-15 Fulbright U.S. Student Grant program. Slocum is the third Rochester student since 2009 to teach in South Korea through the Fulbright program.
For Slocum, a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to South Korea brings her closer to her goal of a career in education administration or policy, by providing valuable experience teaching English as a second language in a formal classroom setting. This year, she also was accepted into the English Opens Doors program in Chile, but declined to pursue the Fulbright.
After graduating from Rochester with a degree in brain and cognitive sciences, Slocum has worked to expand her portfolio of classroom and administration experience and hopes the Fulbright will help define her future career goals. In 2012, she participated in AmeriCorps’s City Year, tutoring and mentoring sixth grade students in an urban school in Dorchester, Mass. She spent the last year with Horizons for Homeless Children, a nonprofit organization in Roxbury, Mass. that provides educational opportunities for children living in homeless shelters. The two experiences have given her greater knowledge of education systems, something she looks forward to learning more about during her Fulbright year. “South Korea has a phenomenal system, and they place a very high value on education,” she said. “Part of my Fulbright experience will be comparing the South Korean system to those I’ve experienced in America.”
As an undergraduate, Slocum spent her spring semester of her junior year studying in Copenhagen, where she lived with a Danish host family. She also served as a tutor for two years through the College Center for Academic Support and was a teaching assistant in a microeconomics course. She was a four-year member of the junior varsity soccer team and served as a student employee in the Admissions’ office pre-college programs. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she graduated magna cum laude from the University.
Phil Pierick, Eastman doctoral student
Saxophonist Phil Pierick, a doctoral student at the Eastman School of Music, has received a Fulbright Study/Research Grant and will spend the 2014-2015 academic year in Austria. There, he will be studying contemporary music performance practice with Lars Mlekusch at the Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität in Vienna.
A staunch advocate for new music, Pierick has commissioned more than a dozen new works and presented premieres in Europe, North America, and Asia. Together with Noa Even, he formed Ogni Suono in 2009 to expand and promote contemporary music for saxophone duo. They collaborate regularly with composers and other performers, presenting diverse performance and educational outreach programs across the United States and abroad.
Pierick is a recent recipient of the Eastman School of Music Teaching Assistant Prize. He was named a Vandoren Emerging Artist in 2011, is a three-time prizewinner of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National Young Artist and Chamber Music Competitions, and took third prize in the inaugural International Saxophone Symposium and Competition. As the national winner of the 2009 Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Musicians, Pierick studied with Jean-Michel Goury in Paris at the Conservatoire a rayonnement régional de Boulogne-Billancourt.
Currently, Pierick is in his second year of DMA studies in the studio of Associate Professor of Saxophone Chien-Kwan Lin and serves as the undergraduate saxophone coach. Pierick received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009 and 2012, respectively.
After finishing his year of Fulbright study in Vienna, Pierick will return to Eastman to complete coursework for his doctorate.
“I look forward to sharing my contemporary music experiences with the Eastman community when I return from Austria,” said Pierick. “I hope to increase my involvement with OSSIA (student-run new music ensemble) and perhaps even form another contemporary chamber ensemble at Eastman. My project in Vienna will involve performing new music in unexpected spaces in the city, a concept that I believe transfers well to the Rochester community.”
Said Lin, with whom Pierick studies, “Phil is the quintessential Eastman DMA student, a first class performer who is also eloquent in many musical subjects, He approaches every assignment I give him with sophistication, and works hard to achieve a level of excellence. I’m sure there are many deserving students for the Fulbright Grant, and I’m just thrilled that his hard work gets recognized in such a splendid way.”
Savannah Benton ’14
University of Rochester student and Los Angeles, Calif. native Savannah Benton ’14, has been awarded a 2014-15 Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to teach English in Malaysia. Benton, who will help primary school students improve their English communication skills, is the third Rochester student since 2007, to be selected for the Malaysia English Teaching Assistant program. While this is Benton’s first time in the classroom, during her 10 months abroad she’ll draw on six years of experience as a youth swim instructor and use her passion for visual arts and athletics to connect with her young students.
Benton, who, like the two previous South Korea Fulbrighter, transferred to Rochester as a sophomore, immersed herself in the study of international relations, foreign governments, and public policy to explore how countries communicate and cooperate with each other. The international relations major and economics minor hopes the ideas and concepts learned in the classroom will translate into a real-world experience while in Malaysia. “Being abroad will provide a better understanding of how people from different cultures view the world,” she said. “Malaysia is such a cultural hub; it will be interesting to see the intercultural politics, religion, art, dance, and music at work.”
Before Benton embarks on her Fulbright year, she’ll spend the summer in East Africa, serving as a teaching assistant for the University’s Malawi Summer Immersion program, which she participated in as a student last summer. Benton, who credits her parents and brothers for nurturing her academic interests, hopes her Fulbright experience will help shape a future career in public policy.
Outside of her studies, Benton was a three-year member of the Varsity women’s volleyball team, where she was a middle blocker and right side hitter. During her athletic career, she was named to the UAA All-Academic team in 2012, while also picking up UAA Player of the Week accolades in the same season. Additionally, for the past two years, Benton, along with her fellow teammates, organized a one-day leadership seminar for middle school children in the Rochester City School District, inviting the students onto campus for an afternoon of skill-building activities.
Shyam Venkateswaran ’14
University of Rochester student and Manhasset Hills, N.Y. resident Shyam Venkateswaran ’14, has been awarded a 2014-15 Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to teach English in India. As of 2014, six Rochester students have been selected to conduct research or teach in India through the Fulbright program. Venkateswaran, whose parents are natives of India, has traveled to the country several times to visit family and attend pilgrimages, but sees the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship as an opportunity to learn more deeply about his heritage by integrating fully into an Indian community while contributing to the education of Indian youth. His ETA placement will take him to Delhi, where he’ll teach at Kerala Education Society Senior Secondary School.
He brings with him a vast knowledge of Indian languages, having learned Tamil and Hindi at home, and Bengali through self-study. Additionally, Venkateswaran has formal education in French and Sanskrit. His affinity for language translated into a position as a language consultant in the linguistics department, where he served as a teaching assistant and guide in a senior seminar, demonstrating Tamil speech patterns and grammar for students to analyze. His role as a chemistry workshop leader, freshman fellow, and resident advisor adds to the strong language background that he will bring to his teaching duties in India. In addition to his pursuit of language education, Venkateswaran spent his three-year undergraduate career fostering his passion for medicine as a member of the Rochester Early Medical Scholars Program, the highly selective program that guarantees admission to the University’s medical school with college admission. The biology major, who graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, conducted clinical research on surgical procedures at Rochester’s Medical Center and also shadowed surgeons working in a charity hospital in Mumbai, India.
On campus, Venkateswaran was a two-year co-president of the Hindu Students’ Association, where he helped plan the first ever Holi Spring Festival, sharing the Hindu devotion to Lord Krishna and celebration of spring with more than 200 members of the campus community. He also was a three-semester member of the Rochester Bhangra Dance Team, performing the traditional Indian dance at competitions throughout the Northeast. An accomplished classical Western and Indian musician, Venkateswaran plays the piano, harmonium, mrdanga (Indian drum) and kartaal (Indian hand symbols). He also built on 10 years of formal violin studies by taking classes for two years at the Eastman School of Music. He is also classically trained in Indian Carnatic and Hindustani music, and uses these skills in devotional chanting, kirtan programs.
Simone Zehren ’14
This fall, University of Rochester student Simone Zehren ’14, will travel to Turkey as an English Teaching Assistant through the 2014-15 Fulbright U.S. Student Grant program. Zehren is the third Rochester student in two years selected to teach in Turkey through the Fulbright program.
Zehren’s undergraduate career at Rochester has largely focused on the study of Turkey, a country that sparked her interest in high school. In college she pursued a degree with dual majors in history along with archaeology, technology, and historical structures, taking courses on ancient architecture and the civilizations that inhabited modern-day Turkey. To further her study of the region, she spent summer 2012 working on an archaeological dig in Gazipasa, a small coastal town in southern Turkey. From there, she honed her Turkish language skills and cultural knowledge as a Department of State Critical Language Scholar, taking intensive language courses and living with a host family in Bursa during summer 2013. Zehren earned Highest Distinction honors in each of her majors and graduated cum laude. “As an ETA, I really have the opportunity to fully immerse myself in Turkish culture,” she said, “and I’m looking forward to the long-term cultural exchange that the Fulbright affords its participants.”
At the conclusion of her Fulbright year, Zehren plans to advance her education in museum studies or Turkish culture. She hopes to one day further American-Turkish relations through a career with a nonprofit or think tank.
In addition to two summer experiences in Turkey, Zehren has traveled widely in Europe and Central America. As an Italian minor, she was awarded the Modern Languages and Cultures Sophomore Book Award for Italian as well as the department’s Burton Scholarship for summer study in Italy after her freshman year. Her junior spring found her studying in Copenhagen and living with a Danish host family. As a Fulbright ETA in Turkey, Zehren will bring not only this extensive background in international study and cross-cultural exposure but also her experience as a teaching assistant in history and tutor for local Turkish students in Rochester. Outside of her studies, she was also a member of The Sting, WRUR’s internet radio station; Interpres Yearbook; and a past member of Partners in Reading.
Quinlan Mitchell ’13/T5’14
University of Rochester alumnus Quinlan Mitchell ’13/T5’14 has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to travel to Argentina as an English teaching assistant. Mitchell is the third Rochester student since 2004 to be selected for a Fulbright grant to Argentina.
A Renaissance scholar, Mitchell graduated magna cum laude this May with dual majors in linguistics and comparative literature, focusing on Spanish and Chinese. He was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa and the Keidaeans Senior Honor Society. To enhance his studies, Mitchell spent a full year abroad, studying one semester in Beijing, China, and another semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He capped off his undergraduate career with highest distinction in comparative literature and high distinction in linguistics. The Fulbright grant provides Mitchell with the opportunity to return to Argentina and not only further his study of the country’s language and culture, but also develop his teaching skills while helping students in Argentine teacher training colleges improve their English and cultural understanding of the United States. The grant period is eight months and commences in March 2015.
“It’s hard to go abroad for a year and not be changed by the experience,” says Mitchell, a resident of Newtown, Conn. “Argentina has a rich history and an interesting mix of cultures. I’m looking forward to going back for the cross-cultural experience.” As a Fulbright scholar, Mitchell hopes to gain a greater understanding of the history, politics, and culture of the region as a way to enrich his study of Spanish literature.
“One motivation for going back is to explore Argentina’s politics,” says Mitchell, recalling his encounter with a cacerolazo—a form of protest consisting of a group of people banging pots and pans in the streets. “Argentina has such an active political climate and such a different environment from the U.S.” Mitchell also looks forward to representing American culture abroad and volunteering as a reading and literacy tutor for kindergarten to 8th-grade level children in his host community.
As a 2013-2014 Take Five scholar, Mitchell studied how American photos and films represented specific groups of women over the past half-century, combining coursework in Women’s Studies with Visual and Cultural Studies. Mitchell also won the 2014 Frederick Douglass Prize for best undergraduate research paper in African and African American Studies. Apart from academics, Mitchell participated in Project CARE, a tutoring and role-modeling program established by the University for elementary school students in the Rochester City School District. Mitchell was also a teaching and research assistant in the Department of Linguistics and a four-year member of After Hours, an a cappella ensemble. Following his Fulbright experience in Argentina, Mitchell plans to pursue a Ph.D. in comparative literature or Spanish language and literature.
