Eight University of Colorado at Boulder students have been offered prestigious Fulbright scholarships to study overseas during the 2006 academic year, a record for the university.
CU-Boulder students have won a total of 95 Fulbright scholarships since 1977, but never eight in the same year, according to Larry Bell, director of CU-Boulder聮s Office of International Education.
聯The Fulbright Program gives these students outstanding opportunities to learn about other cultures and further their academic careers,聰 Bell said. 聯In addition to that benefit, when they have completed their programs, being a Fulbright scholar helps them get better jobs or get admitted to better graduate programs for further study. These are bright, capable students putting their best foot forward for the U.S.聰
Spain, Morocco, Turkey, Brazil, Ethiopia and Nicaragua are among the countries where CU-Boulder students will be conducting research and teaching.
Immigration to Spain will be studied this year by Fulbright winner Molly Franck, who graduated from CU-Boulder in December with a bachelor聮s degree in international affairs and a minor in economics. For nine months starting in mid-September, she will conduct research in Madrid and Grenada, Spain, focusing on housing, education and integration issues for Moroccan, North African, Latin American and Eastern European immigrant families.
聯I think there are definitely some parallels to be drawn between Spain and the immigration situation in the United States,聰 Franck said. 聯The U.S. has a larger percentage of immigrants, but Spain is currently gearing towards a more liberal policy on immigration. The government is hoping to avoid the type of ethnic clashes that we saw in France late last year.聰
Franck, who speaks English and Spanish, became interested in immigration law and related issues because of friendships at CU-Boulder with students from other countries. She studied abroad in Spain in 2004.
聯I really admire and respect these immigrants,聰 she said. 聯To leave behind members of your family, friends, native language and culture all in pursuit of a better life is very difficult and deserves our respect. I don聮t think we give them enough credit.聰
Sanae Elmoudden (SAN聮-ah el-moh-DEN聮) will use her Fulbright scholarship to study workers in a Moroccan customer service call center that contracts with a large American technology company.
Elmoudden is a doctoral degree candidate at CU-Boulder, studying communication with an emphasis on globalization and organizational communication. She is interested in the complex identity issues posed by Moroccan workers adopting western personas for their offshore call center jobs.
聯I聮m interested in how global business might affect the way we view our identities,聰 Elmoudden said. 聯An offshore call center is where global business and local customs meet. These workers are trained to sound and behave like westerners. They are 聭asked聮 to change their names from Mohammed to Michael, or Archita to Ariel. The customs these workers observe at work and at home can be totally different.聰
Elmoudden was born in Morocco, but left the country 20 years ago. Her husband and two young boys will be relocating to Morocco with Elmoudden for nine months beginning in mid-September.
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government聮s largest program for international educational exchange, offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. The U.S. Student Program is highly selective and currently awards approximately 1,200 grants annually in all fields of study, operating in more than 140 countries worldwide.