28 Wesleyan Students and Alumni Apply for Fulbright Grants

Written by Genesis Garcia ’22

  • First Row: Jace Arouet, Will Briskin, Chiara Bercu, Elizabeth Edwards, Rodrick Edwards, Daphne Gampel, Kylie Han
  • Second Row: Cole Harris, Eliza Samore, Lupita Sanchez, Emma Shapiro, Tyla Taylor, Ericka Ekhator, Mira Guth
  • Third Row: Francesca Woodbridge, Benjamin Martinez, Justin Kim, Edward Yanez, Ji Yoon Park, David Vizgan, Nola Neri
  • Fourth Row: Nicole Veru, Rachel Pomeranz, Juliet Gelfman-Randazzo, Elizabeth Zaubler

This academic year, 28 Wesleyan seniors and alumni have applied to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Amongst all the challenges this year presented, these applicants have powered through the process.  

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is a federal program that offers year-long, fully funded research, study, and English teaching opportunities in over 140 countries to recent graduates and graduate students who are U.S. citizens. 

Fulbright Graduate Study/Research Grants allow recipients to pursue independent research or graduate study in any discipline in one of the program countries while serving as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. These grants are also available in the creative and performing arts.  

Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Grants place recipients an English language classroom in a country outside the U.S. while serving as a cultural ambassador for the U.S.  

We would like to highlight the applicants and wish them all luck as they wait to hear from the program. The bios below honor each applicant’s decision about sharing their proposed project. Two applicants preferred not to be featured in this story.  

Jace Arouet ‘21, a music major and a dance minor, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to France in music composition. 

Will Briskin ‘21, a government and history double major, applied for a Fulbright ETA grant to Malaysia. 

Chiara Bercu ‘19, who majored in sociology, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to the Netherlands. 

Lizzie Edwards ‘21, an anthropology and environmental studies major, applied for a Fulbright ETA grant to Vietnam. 

Rodrick Edwards ‘19, an environmental studies and theater major, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to South Africa in playwriting. 

Erika Ekhator ‘21 is completing a double major in Government and Hispanic Literatures and Cultures. She has applied for the Fulbright ETA in Spain; in addition to teaching English, she is eager to engage in the community through sports. 

Daphne Gampel ‘19, who majored in music, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to France in music composition. 

Juliet Gelfman-Randazzo ‘18, who completed an English major with a film studies minor, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to Canada. 

Mira Guth ‘18, who majored in the Science in Society Program, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to Norway in interdisciplinary studies. 

Kylie Han ‘19, who majored in the Science in Society Program, applied for the Fulbright Binational Internship in Mexico. 

Cole Harris ‘21, a chemistry and government double major and an environmental studies minor, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to Denmark in chemistry. 

Justin Kim ‘19, an American studies and film studies double major and a 2019 Watson Fellow, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant in filmmaking to South Korea. 

Jared Levine ‘21, a psychology major, applied for a Fulbright ETA grant to the Czech Republic. 

Ben Martinez ‘21, who is completing a double major in astronomy and physics with a minor in religious studies, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to Norway in physics. 

Nola Neri is a BA/MA student in the Molecular Biology Department whose Fulbright project would take her to Salamanca, Spain to investigate the regulatory events that help prevent meiotic errors in budding yeast, which will ultimately help us to understand the causes of infertility and miscarriage in humans. 

Ji Yoon Park ‘21, a College of East Asian Studies and government double major and a global studies minor, applied for a Fulbright ETA grant to South Korea. 

Rachel Pomeranz ‘21 is completing a psychology major with a data analysis minor. She applied for a Fulbright ETA grant to Spain. 

Eliza Samore ‘20, a sociology major, applied for a Fulbright ETA grant to France. 

Lupita Sanchez majored in Biology with the class of 2020 and is currently doing the BA/MA program at Wesleyan. She applied for the ETA program in Taiwan where she hopes to teach English to young children. 

Emma Shapiro ‘21, a chemistry major and art & art history minor, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to Israel in engineering. 

Tyla Taylor ‘21, a triple major in education studies, psychology, and Hispanic literatures and cultures, applied for a Fulbright ETA grant to Mexico. 

Nicole Veru ‘21, a government major with minors in global studies and history, applied for a Fulbright ETA grant to Cyprus. 

David Vizgan ’21 is an Astronomy and Physics double major. His Fulbright project will take him to Denmark to continue research he began on far-away galaxies at the Cosmic Dawn Center in Copenhagen. 

Francesca Woodbridge ‘20, an anthropology and sociology double major, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to the UK in sociology. 

Edward Yanez ‘21, a College of Social Studies and history double major and a Mellon Mays Fellow, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to the UK in history. 

Elizabeth Zaubler ‘21, an American studies and theater double major with a minor in African American studies, applied for a Fulbright Study/Research grant to the UK in drama and theater arts.