Seven out of ten Notre Dame graduating seniors who have received Fulbright awards for research, teaching, and continued studies are undergraduate participants in Kellogg programs.
The Kellogg students, including three International Scholars, won funding for projects in seven countries on five continents. In the coming year, one awardee will pursue a master's degree, two will continue with research begun during their time with Kellogg, and others will assist English teachers in public secondary schools. All of the awards grow directly out of the students' Kellogg experiences.
"We are so proud that these students have achieved exactly what we know they are capable of—indeed, what we expect of them," said Kellogg Assistant Director Holly Rivers, who directs the Institute's undergraduate programs.
"Kellogg undergraduates shape their own educations in international studies through fieldwork and research, and the Fulbright is a wonderful culmination to their efforts. We look forward to what they will accomplish!"
The Fulbright winners include:
Claire Donovan (French and francophone studies) was awarded a Fulbright Research Award to conduct research in Togo, where she will be building on the International Development Studies (IDS) capstone research she conducted in Senegal last summer. Working with UNICEF, she will study pregnant womens adherence to iron and folic acid supplementation programs. An IDS minor, Claire received a Kellogg Experiencing the World Fellowship and a Summer Research Grant for independent research in Uganda and Senegal.
Leila Green (English) received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award to spend an academic year in South Africa. She will work in a public school as an English teaching assistant and promote education and literacy in the local community. She previously interned with WorldTeach in South Africa through the Kellogg Summer Internship Program.
Christina Gutierrez (French, Italian, and political science), a Kellogg International Scholar who has worked with Faculty Fellow Susan Blum on food issues since freshman year, received the Fulbright-Casten Family FoundationAward to pursue a masters in "food culture and communications: food, place and identity" at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy. She will conduct research on the role of food co-ops in supporting local farmers and providing people who are food-insecure with nutritious, affordable food, and she will develop a plan for establishing a food co-op in Pollenzo.
Alexis Palá (anthropology), a Kellogg International Scholar who has done research on intellectual disabilities since her freshman year, received a Fulbright US Student Award to conduct research, education, and an awareness campaign on the human rights of persons with disabilities in Santiago, Chile. She will work with La Pontifica Católica de Valapariso and other organizations she partnered with for her thesis research on the same topic. Kellogg has supported her research in Chile with an Experiencing the World Fellowship and a Summer Research Grant.
Kendra Reiser (psychology) received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award. She will assist English teachers in an Indonesian high school where she will also work to improve the language curriculum and local teaching methods. Kendra taught English with WorldTeach in Morocco through the Summer Internship Program.
Ryan Schultheis (political science and international economics) received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award to assist in teaching English at a Mexican public school. Building on his work with people seeking asylum during his Kellogg Summer Internship with the Minneapolis-based Advocates for Human Rights, he will also pursue a supplementary research project on US–Mexican migration policy.
Deandra Cadet (political science and peace studies), a Kellogg International Scholar, was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award in Guatemala. She has declined the offer to pursue a social venture opportunity with a diversity education program rooted in the arts.