Tufts Fulbright scholars work and study around the globe

Eight Tufts alumni and one current doctoral student have been awarded Fulbright grants to study, conduct research or teach overseas this year. The recipients are:

Maura Allaire, A06, a research grant for work in Ghana
Allaire, who majored in geology and economics, is researching the effects of reservoirs on groundwater recharge in small reservoirs that supply water to rural communities in Ghana. The interaction between groundwater and surface water are important, but the West African nation has not considered that in developing models for reservoir management. Allaire’s research will examine whether underground aquifers help replenish water levels and to what extent.

Elizabeth Bishop, A06, a grant to teach in Germany
Bishop is an English teaching assistant in Germany for the current academic year. She also is taking courses on German politics and history. At Tufts, she had a double major in German area studies and political science.

Rachel Brandenburg, A05, a research grant for work in Israel
In Israel, Brandenburg is studying Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution initiatives, examining the impact of bi-national and multi-national involvement in coexistence-building programs and government negotiation strategies. She is also studying Arabic and working with Givat Haviva’s Jewish-Arab Center for Peace. She majored in international relations and Middle Eastern studies at Tufts.

Amanda Fielder, G06, a grant to teach in Indonesia
Fielder is working as an English language teaching assistant in Indonesia this year. She received her MFA in studio art, and in addition to her classroom duties, she is studying Indonesian textile arts and learning specific dyeing and weaving techniques, including Batik, Ikat and Songket.

Benjamin Harburg, A06, a grant to conduct research in Germany
Harburg, who majored in international relations, is analyzing extremist tendencies among ethnic Turkish Muslims in response to new German anti-terror legislation and attempting to uncover solutions to reverse that trend. He is combining an academic study of the conflict between Islam and German society at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum and an internship with the Deutsches Institut Bochum. He will also be conducting interview-based research on the impact of recent German state anti-terror laws on ethnic Turks.

Tanya Paz, A06, a grant to conduct research in Chile
Paz is analyzing the “Open City” (Ciudad Abierta)—also known as the Valparaiso School—as a potential solution for displaced populations. The Open City is a self-propagating, self-maintained town with no imposed organizational infrastructure. She is interested in the way in which “the Open City’s paucity of resources and its physical isolation foster alternative architecture, site planning and construction methods. She majored in architectural studies at Tufts.

Iris Ponte, Ph.D. candidate, a grant to do research in China
A doctoral student in child development, Ponte is collecting quantitative and qualitative data in preschools in Beijing, focusing on misbehavior in the classroom. She will evaluate which intervention methods are used most often and why in an attempt to identify similarities and differences between American and Chinese preschools.

Stephan Vitvitsky, A06, a grant to do research in Ukraine
Vitvitsky is studying agricultural privatization and property rights reforms in the Ukraine since 2000. His goal is to analyze how the reforms have affected the agricultural industry and farm life. He received his Tufts degrees in political science and economics.

Naomi Moland, J01, a grant to teach and conduct research in Madrid, Spain
Moland is currently a doctoral student in multicultural languages and literacy at Arizona State University. After graduating from Tufts with a degree in anthropology, she taught at a bilingual charter school, Tertulia Pre-College Community, in Phoenix. While in the Tufts-in-Ghana program and during her field research in Zimbabwe for her senior honors thesis, she became especially interested in bilingual/bicultural education systems. “The very most salient experience for me in Ghana and Zimbabwe was watching teachers and schools trying (or not trying) to ‘Africanize’ the British education system that persists from colonial days,” she said.