American Magazine | Summer 2005

http://www.american.edu/weekly/summer05_aplusyear.html

An A-plus Year

2004-2005 Student Award Winners

From the coffee fields of Costa Rica to a chemistry lab in Ireland, 35 AU students who’ve received national scholarships are set to embark on the academic journey of a lifetime.

According to Paula Warrick, director of the Office of Merit Awards, AU students fared particularly well this year. By semester’s end, ten students received the prestigious Fulbright Grant, which will allow them to undertake a year of study in a country of their choice. Kristy Stephenson declined to accept another award.  Thirteen students – more than any other university – were award the NSEP/David L. Boren Graduate Fellowship, which will also allow them to travel abroad, focusing on less commonly taught languages and cultures.

Also, three of the four AU students nominated for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship were recognized this year. Junior Forrest Dunbar won the $30,000 scholarship, while Jacqueline Ingber and Lacey Rosenbaum were named national finalists. “To have three of the four students recognized is just extraordinary,” said Warrick.

 “The strong showing among students is a testament to their talent and hard work. But it also speaks to the caliber of faculty at AU,” Warrick continued. “No one wins these awards without a faculty member helping them along the way.”

STUDY ABROAD GRANTS

The following students received Fulbright Grants, which promote multicultural understanding between United States citizens and people of other nations.

Sylvia Johnson, MA candidate, SOC, will spend a year in Salvador, Brazil, developing an arts education program for girls from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Johnson, a film and video major who grew up in Latin America,  will create a documentary film about her experiences in Brazil.

Alexandria Katis, MFA candidate, SOC, is a  film and electronic media major who will study the disappearing tradition of puppet animation in Czech cinema.

Brian Kim, senior, SOC/CAS, will teach English to South Korean school children. Although the journalism and international studies major is already proficient in Korean, Kim hopes to refine his vocabulary with respect to politics and media studies.

Colleen Kohashi, senior, SIS, will serve as an English language teaching assistant in Korea. Kohashi, an international studies and Japanese language major, will focus on Korean defense and foreign policy in preparation for a career in U.S.-Japanese-Korean trilateral relations.

Carey Myers, senior, CAS, will spend a year in the laboratory of Professor Timothy Smythe, senior lecturer in organic chemistry at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Myers, a biochemistry major who received this year’s university-wide award for outstanding undergraduate scholarship, will focus on the development of novel penicillin derivatives.

Michelle Salomon, senior, SPA, will spend a year in Spain investigating the reintroduction of the jury system in 1995. Salomon, a justice, law and society major, will interview jurors, examine archival materials, and intern with Magistrate Luciano Varela Castro, one of the key authors of the 1995 law.

Anna Welch, third-year JD candidate, WCL, will analyze Peru’s efforts to privatize and decentralize its water systems management. Welch, a senior staff member of the AU Law Review, will evaluate ongoing efforts to balance efficiency goals with human rights needs.

Monica Wells, PhD candidate, SIS, will examine the growth of the home schooling movement in North America and its subsequent “fracturing” along racial lines. Wells, an international affairs major, will compare black home schooling practices in Toronto, Canada, and Washington, D.C.

Erika Whobrey, senior, SIS, will undertake structured graduate study at the Heidelberg Institute for Political Science at the Karl-Ruprechts University in Heidelberg, Germany. An international studies major, Whobrey’s work will focus on the evolution of the transatlantic relationship since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The following undergraduates received NSEP/David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarships, which encourage U.S. citizens to study less commonly taught languages and cultures.

Stacy Aldinger, sophomore, SIS/SPA, will spend the summer and fall in Beijing as part of the World Capitals program. An international studies and political science major, Aldinger will take courses in Mandarin and political science.

Robert Bailey, sophomore, SIS, will spend a year in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. An international studies major, Bailery will study intensive elementary Vietnamese and the history of Indochina.

Arthur Pang, sophomore, SIS, is a student of international relations and business. Pang will spend the fall semester in the World Capitals program in Beijing, where he will take advanced Mandarin and study Chinese political reforms.

Matthew Parin, sophomore, SIS, will spend a year at American University in Cairo. An international studies major, Parin will study  intensive Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, his major area of interest.

The following graduate students received NSEP/David L. Boren Graduate Fellowships, which enable students to focus on less commonly taught languages and cultures.

SaMee Burrage, MS candidate, SIS, will attend classes at Korea University in Seoul. Burrage, an international communication major, will focus on international commerce and Korean.

Anisha Dewan, MA candidate, SIS, will travel to Beirut to study Arabic. The international communication major will focus on Lebanese-Syrian relations.

Timothy Essam, MA candidate, SIS,  will spend a year in Bosnia-Herzegovina. An international development major, he  will study the causes and extent of youth alienation and how local NGOs can intervene to increase economic and political participation among youth.

Kelly Feltault, doctoral student, SIS, will conduct a case study of Maryland-based Phillips Foods Inc., which has operations in Maryland’s Eastern Shore and in Thailand. An anthropology major, Feltault plans to investigate the role that multinational corporations play in creating environmental security risks.

Fonta Gilliam, MA candidate, SIS, is an international development major who will study in Seoul, focusing on the Korean economy as a development model.

Benjamin Goldstein, MA candidate, SIS, is majoring in natural resources and sustainable development. He will focus on trends in land use and stewardship in Central America following the international coffee market crisis. His research will take him to both Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Jesse Lynch, MA candidate, SIS, will study Arabic at Middlebury College and the American University of Cairo. A U.S. foreign policy major, Lynch will research Islamist movements and their role in promoting democratic reform.

Marsha Michel, MA candidate, SIS, will focus her research on the status of low-income Afro-Brazilian women. A comparative and regional studies major with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean, Michel’s program of study includes foreign language training in Portugese.

Emily Morris, MA candidate, SIS, will travel to Zanzibar, Tanzania, where she will investigate trends in Islamic education. A development management major who speaks fluent Swahili, Morris will take intensive course work in Arabic.

Jenny Presswalla, MA candidate, SIS, will travel to Mumbai to research how U.S. visa policy has affected Indian students’ decisions to attend graduate school in the United States. An international communication major, Presswalla is primarily interested in students in science-oriented fields.

Katherine Surber, MA candidate, SIS, will study at Korea University in Seoul. An international economic policy major, Surber will focus on international economic policy and East Asian area studies.

Tiwanna DeMoss, CAS, anthropology

Patrick Gaughen, SPA, political science

Students who received other grants to go abroad include the following:

Lori Felton, senior, CAS, received the English Language Teaching Assistantship in Austria. An art history major, Felton will spend eight months teaching conversational English in a horticultural school in Vienna, perfecting her German, and studying early twentieth century and contemporary Austrian art.

KristyStephenson, senior, Kogod/CAS, received the English Language Teaching Assistantship in Austria. Stephenson, a business administration and German studies major, will spend a year in Vienna studying European business culture. She previously interned at a Berlin accounting firm.

Fidel Medina, senior, SIS/Kogod, received the Freeman Foundation Scholarship, which funds tuition and fees for a master’s in philosophy at the University of Cambridge. Medina, an international studies and business administration major, will pursue a degree in modern Chinese studies, splitting his time between Cambridge and Beijing University.

Kevin Wadzuk, junior, SPA, received the Killam Fellowship, a grant designed to promote mutual understanding between United States and Canadian citizens. Wadzuk, who’s majoring in justice, law and society, will spend one year studying international law at York University.

TUITION GRANTS

Jessica Pfleiderer, sophomore, SIS, received the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship, which prepares students to enter the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service. An international studies major with a Spanish minor, Pfleiderer is a Presidential Scholar who serves as president of the AU Debate Society.

Janyne Quarm, sophomore, SIS, is a national finalist for the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship.

Forrest Dunbar, junior, SIS/CAS, received the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, which allots students $30,000 to pursue an advanced degree. An international studies and economics major, Dunbar will use his scholarship to continue his formal training in economics and international relations. Dunbar cofounded an international “think tank” aimed at uniting Japanese and international students around their mutual interest in international service careers; he also plans to enter the Peace Corps after graduation.

Jacqueline Ingber, junior, SPA, is a national finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.

Lacey Rosenbaum, junior, SPA, is a national finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.

Anthony Valdez, junior, SPA, received a scholarship to the summer institute at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, which focuses on economics, statistics, policy analysis, writing, and public speaking. Valdez is a political science major.

INTERNSHIPS                                          

Caroline Danauy, MA candidate, SIS, received the Drug Enforcement Administration Summer Honors Internship. Danauy, a comparative and regional studies major, will work in the DEA’s Intelligence Division.

Robert Levy, MS candidate, SPA, received the Drug Enforcement Administration Summer Honors Internship. Levy, a justice, law, and society major, will work in the DEA’s Intelligence Division.

The following students received two-year Presidential Management Fellowships, designed to attract outstanding graduate students into federal service:

School of International Service
Hayden Aaronson
Jennifer Anthony
Lyla Bashan
Sandra Campanella
Leanne Cannon
Daniel Cruz
Karl Dedolph
Elizabeth Dwyer
Timothy Essam
William Ferroggiaro
Helen Jimenez
Laura Jordan
Kevin Keene
Sarah Lohmann
Ami Margolin
Amit Mathur
Kelly Milton
Andrew Murrell
Paul Pavwoski
Clifford Rold
Kavita Sangani
Pamela Shepherd
Brooke Spitzer
Carol Werner

School of Public Affairs
Chantel Boyens
Joshua Franzel
Richard Garrett
David Gessert
Annica Larsen
Brian Levite
Meaghan Marshall
Travis Speck
Ana Tenorio

Washington College of Law
Michael Jensen
Paige Krause
Lisa Lockwood
Kristen McGeeney
Jennifer Ober
Gayatri Patel
Tamara Scott
Martina Tusek

School of Communication
Ramiro Martin Fernandez

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