Turkey 65th Anniversary Graduate Degree Grants

Program Update from Fulbright: The Turkish Fulbright Commission is pleased to announce two awards in honor of the Commission’s 65th anniversary. These two Fulbright awards – one at the Master’s level, one at the Ph.D. – are open to students who wish to pursue a degree program at a Turkish university. More information on the awards is available here.

Nat Geo Fulbright Applicants

The first group of grant recipients were recently announced: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/09/first-5-fulbright-national-geographic-digital-storytelling-fellows-named/ . For those of you thinking about the Nat Geo Fulbright, in addition to the very helpful info and instructions on the Fulbright website, make sure you address the following in your project proposal:

  • Feasibility of your project in each country proposed.  How will this work in each country? Why is each country setting an important part of your proposal?
  • Who stands to benefit from your project and how? Think about the communities you’d be living/working with as well as US audiences
  • What is your language proficiency? How does lack of proficiency impact your project? How would you address that?

Reviewers will be looking for the demonstrated feasibility of your project in each setting, your demonstrated skills in digital storytelling, your connection to the topic and your genuine interest in exploring a topic (rather than approaching with a particular agenda or view).  The application tips are enormously helpful–read carefully!

Also, like any multi-country proposals, your proposal must be approved by each country you propose to visit. If you select three countries and one does not approve the project, your application will not be successful. So message is to choose what makes most sense for your project!

Thinking about a French ETA Program?

If you’re thinking about an ETA in France, you should apply to BOTH the the Fulbright ETA and the French government Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF).  The Fulbright awards 6 ETAs to France; the general French Government TAPIF offers an additional 1,100 positions.

To apply for both, you will need to make two separate applications, one for the Fulbright and another for the TAPIF.

For further information on the French Government Teaching Assistant Program in France, please consult the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. website:  http://highereducation.frenchculture.org/teach-in-france .  Note: you must be a native English speaker and US citizen or permanent resident to apply.

Cardiff, Wales

Day 5, traveled to Wales to visit Cardiff University. Like Ireland, the country is bilingual, and signs everywhere are written in both Welsh and English. I have always considered myself  pretty good with languages. However, we did have a Welsh lesson, and I can say with certainty, this is one language that I would have great difficulty with. Yes, it uses the Roman alphabet, but has far fewer vowels, new consonant arrangements are vexing (my rolled “R” in Spanish is brilliant in comparison to the Welch “ll”), and there don’t seem to be entirely predictable rules. Here’s the longest word:

But lucky for me, English is everywhere, just like in Ireland. Particular university strengths in Cardiff include Welsh studies (obviously!), performing arts (music, drama). You can find more about research agendas at Cardiff here. And for Dr. Who and Sherlock fans, those shows are filmed in Cardiff.