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Fulbright Program: U.S. Applicant Podcast

Transcript For: Fulbright Guidance Session, June 17, 2008. Q & A. - Part 1.

Fulbright Guidance Session, June 17, 2008. Q & A. - Part 1.

June part 1

Walter: You will see a whole list of countries which administer programs under the Fulbright rubric. We will be joined shortly by Jody Dudderar who is the program manager for Mexico, Canada and South America. So now, San Francisco, if you have any country specific questions, now is the time to ask them.

Question: What if you select a country that has multiple languages, for example Switzerland has German, French, Italian, and Romanish as their national languages. Is it enough to be proficient in one of those languages or must you show proficiency in multiple languages?

Jon: Yes, well, it depends where in Switzerland you’re actually going to be. If you’re in Geneva, obviously French would be sufficient. Or if you’re in Zurich, German would probably be helpful. But yeah, it depends where you’re planning on being placed.

Question: I have a question about Cambodia. If I don’t know Khmer fluently, but I have a translator in the country who’s willing to work on the project the whole time, is that sufficient?

Jonathan: It depends upon the nature of the project. I mean, you’re not required to know Khmer to apply to the program in Cambodia, but the committee is probably not going to look at a project as being very feasible if you’re relying on the translator to be working with you on the entire project. So I think you might need to think about design. I mean, the Fulbright Program is not going to pay for a translator at all. And on top of that you’re supposed to be designing your own individual project, so it’s probably not really realistic to think that you’re going to have someone working with you for 10 months doing all the work that you need to be done. And, again, you really should design a project that’s more appropriate given your level of language skills. And for people who don’t come in with any, you should definitely incorporate language study into what you’re going to be doing when you get to Cambodia.

Question: I have a question about Nepal. I read in the brochure that it said for safety reasons you should mostly be based in Kathmandu, but I’m interested in traveling to a rural district that I’ve been to before, this last year, and I have contacts there. Where would I discuss the safety issues, and the fact that I’m [trails off].

Jonathan: If you design a proposal that’s based out of the Kathmandu Valley you’re running a real risk because if the situation changes over the year, your proposal could be nixed just because it’s in the wrong area. That’s why we tell people they need to design projects that can be carried out within the valley. That being said, once Fulbrighters get into the country and they’ve kind of established their connections and started their grant, if conditions are ok and the Fulbright Commission in Nepal is comfortable with letting somebody go out for certain periods of time it definitely can happen. But you know, predicting that a year, a year and a half out is really impossible and so you don’t want to kind of shoot yourself in the foot by having a project that can solely be done in one place.

Question: So then could I propose a project that could be done in either the city or the rural area? And then, if I get there, I see if I can …

Jonathan: Yeah, I think you want to design flexibility into your proposal as much as possible. Your proposal needs to demonstrate that you understand the security issues and that you might not be able to have as much access as you’d like to the particular area where you’d like to work out of the valley.

Walter: By the way, if we don’t get to all of your questions today, you can always contact us by email or telephone, and everyone’s name and contact information is on our website homepage in the contact us link. OK? Next question.

Question: I have a question about the program in the UK. I’m thinking about applying for a one year master program in UK and I looked at the country profile and certain schools have certain scholarships for a certain program area. I was wondering if there was any disadvantage for concentrating on and applying for a different program at the same school? Can we apply for any programs in UK or do we have to apply to a certain program and a certain school if they mention it?

Jon: No, no you can apply for anything. Those are just… the schools they list under the UK, of the 10 – 12 grants listed in the book, those are partner ones, those are actually just schools that they worked with in the past, but you can apply to go anywhere.

Question: I’m interested… I want to talk to the Asia guy. I have a question about the internship in Taiwan. Is it just that they’re going to place you based on your background? I was just wondering if you could talk a little bit about that process.

Jonathan: OK, basically the Taiwan internships are limited to people either in the field of international education or in journalism, so you have to have that kind of background just to begin with. And it’s definitely recommended that you identify an institution that you would want to work with on a grant, so we definitely encourage that. Obviously, as with all Fulbright proposals, it just makes your proposal look more developed if you’ve already thought out where the most appropriate place is for you to do your research or internship. So you’re welcome to propose— go ahead.

Question: So if you propose a place you’ll be able to work there?

Jonathan: We can’t guarantee it, obviously, because we, the Fulbright Commission can’t compel an organization to accept an intern, but they would take it into consideration in the review process and then they would work with you to set up your affiliation there.

Question: I was wondering how much jurisdiction does your host country have over the nature of your research, for example, if it’s something on censorship or an issue that the country, the government would already find perhaps sensitive, and by perhaps I mean definitely.

Jermaine: May I ask which country you’re considering applying to?

Question: I’m thinking of Egypt particularly, internet censorship.

Jermaine: OK, I’d be very careful with a country like Egypt, primarily because there’s a research clearance process for that country. Generally speaking, the rule of thumb for Egypt is that any project that even touches upon subjects that might be deemed sensitive or you know red flags in any way, I would steer clear of because they will more than likely be denied that all important research clearance. Again so your topic sounds like the kind of thing that would raise a lot of red flags and I wouldn’t recommend it for that country. There may be others in the region that are more open to that kind of subject, but Egypt is not one of them. Does that help?

Question: Thank you.

Actually I have a question on… I’m not sure for who but just in general how political are the decisions on the US side? And how political are they on the other side? I mean is it… are the people deciding it in both cases do they have government affiliation or do they have affiliation to the administration?

Walter; On the US side, politics doesn’t play any factor in the decisions. In the host country, political or cultural sensitivity to research or politics could so one needs to be familiar with the political, the social, the cultural things that are going on in the country to which one is applying and be conscious of it and be aware of the fact that there it may have an effect on the selection of an application.

Question: But here on the US side…

Walter: It does not. It does not. Politics does not come into the decision to make a recommendation.

Jonathan: The only sense in which politics might factor in is if something someone’s proposing is so politically sensitive in the country they’re applying to that it makes it not feasible. The people reviewing the applications the US are academics. We don’t have a political agenda, we’re not screening for any particular points of view. If the project is just… you know if a person wants to go be a human rights advocate in some country where that’s just completely inappropriate and just not going to be possible that would be screened out. But I think that’s kind of a different political consideration then what you’re referring to.

Question: Pushing back on the politics not being a factor, I’m actually really interested in conducting cultural research in Iran and I’ve noticed that it’s listed as a country that for different reasons Fulbright doesn’t offer any opportunities. I had a mentor who back in the day he actually got a Fulbright to Iran and I know that we have very delicate diplomatic relations to that country but is there anyway for someone to add or make a case- if I can get affiliation over there to try to develop a Fulbright for a country that’s considered not listed.

Walter: No, unfortunately we could not entertain an application for a country that is not part of the official Fulbright exchange program.

Question: There are two countries that I might apply for, and one is Austria and one is Germany. As I said before I have some background in Germany, so would that raise my chance of being considered as a candidate if I apply for Austria as opposed to Germany?

Jon: Well, given what you stated before, it wouldn’t affect your chances of being awarded the grant in Germany. Pretty much either one. You’d be ok with either one. And of course the number of applications we receive for each country varies by year but…

Question: Is there someone there in regards to Mexico?

Walter: Unfortunately Jody Dudderar who is the program manager for Mexico is handling a bit of a problem right now and might not make it up here. You can ask the question and we can answer it.

Question: This might be more of a general question, but for example, when submitting the application in completion is it recommended to already have certain permits, like the human subject approval if you’re going to be working, for example, doing interviews and things like that?

Walter: Well Fulbright itself as a program des not specifically require IRB clearance. Now, the institution that you’re getting your degree from may very well require it, but Fulbright is not necessarily going to require it.

Question: OK, I’ll check with the advisor then.

I need Jody as well, for Brazil, but it’s a basic question. There is mention of 5 ETA positions and in the details with affiliation it mentions two positions with the bi-national centers. With whom are the other 3 ETA positions?

Walter: I don’t know the answer to that, and unfortunately I would suggest that you email or phone Jody. Since we may get other questions about Jody’s countries, her direct dial is 212-984-5565 and I apologize but she is handling a bit of a crisis right now.

Question: I have a rather general question for the UK representative. Could you give me a basic overview of the university partnership process?

Jon: I mean, generally for the UK those are just partnerships that the Fulbright Commission in the UK works with. And generally they try to… if applicants apply to go to those schools they’ll try to work with those schools to just get them in their or try to get tuition waivers or something along those lines. But in general, those partnerships, they’re just part of the 10 – 12 grants offered to the UK. So if you have a preference for going to one of those, you’d state it on your application. But in general they’re just the regular Fulbright grants to the UK.

Question: Excellent, thank you

I have a question regarding Russia, especially I know there’s been a lot of changes in the Visa process. And it says in the packet that your affiliate would be an academic institution, I think. And I don’t know if that changes it, because I know, I actually know a student who is working over there on a Fulbright ETA and had trouble because they’re not allowed to stay for more than 90 days at a time, things like that. Does Fulbright help you figure out your visa status in Russia?

Jon: Yes, IIE has an office in Russia and they do work with the students to try and iron out the visa issues. I think as of right now, all grantees have to begin on September 1^st and they’re only allowed to stay in country I think it’s one year or something? It’s changed a lot recently, but I think the longest anyone can stay there is 12 months. Obviously the grants are shorter, but then they have critical language enhancement awards, which complicate it further, but the office in Russia does work with selected grantees.

Question: I actually have a question for South Africa. My question is in regards to the affiliation. It says there is higher consideration given to those who choose an affiliation with a previously disadvantaged host institution. Does that mean you’re giving the advantage to those who aren’t necessarily connecting themselves to a university?

Jermaine: No, it primarily means that we’re really trying to get people to look at institutions outside of the Western Cape area. Basically we’ve gotten a lot of previous applicants and grantees who tended to, who wanted to cluster at the University of Capetown, the University of Western Cape, and again other institutions in that part of the country and not really think about the fact that South Africa’s a very large country with universities throughout and many other kinds of institutions throughout the country as well. It’s really just to get you and others thinking about that there is more to do and more to see in that country outside of the cape area. Does that make sense?

Question: Thank you, thank you.

I had a question for Jon regarding the English Teaching Assistantship in Portugal. The language requirements say that knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is an advantage. I speak Spanish and I’m trying to learn Portuguese right now. Would it be helpful to submit a language proficiency in Spanish, even though [trails off]?

Jon: Yes, that would be helpful. If you do have strong Spanish skills I would definitely submit that. And for Portuguese if you’re trying to learn it now, I’d recommend submitting Form 8A, and there’s a question on there which states – I think it’s question 4 or something – what you plan on doing to get yourself to proficiency level in the host country language and you could certainly say you’re studying it now, I don’t know what method you’re using to do that, but you could state that and that will look good also.

Question: I had a general question. I’m wondering how important demonstrating past independent research experience is. I would be looking to use this grant to build research skills; I don’t necessarily have that experience already and I’m wondering how that will affect my application.

Jonathan: I think the important thing to keep in mind is that you need to develop a proposal that’s appropriate given the skill set that you have. Fulbrighters come in with a really wide range of backgrounds and skills. And, you don’t want to propose something that’s much more advanced than what you could reasonably be assumed to accomplish in the time that you’re going to be on your grant. But we’re not expecting people to have really developed advanced research projects that they’ve already done and are just continuing on their Fulbright. So just keep the appropriateness thing in mind when you’re drafting your proposal and seek advice from your advisors too in terms of trying to figure out what’s appropriate for someone at your level.

Question: I also have a general question and it has to do with the Fulbright mtvU grants. There’s a dearth of information on the website; I would like to know some more information about that if you have any.

Walter: What information do you want to know? Between our website and the Fulbright-mtvU website, the mtvU website for Fulbright, I think there’s pretty much a lot of information on both of those. So what are you specifically looking for that you’re not finding there?

Question: There’s no information on competition, for example, as there is on the Fulbright website. And also there’s only a list of previous grantees and their projects, but not the range of possibilities.

Walter: Alright, well the range of possibilities is endless, as it is in the Fulbright Program, provided that the project focuses on either a performance or an academic study, music as a force for cultural expression. So it’s pretty wide open. If you take a look at last year’s recipients, you’ll see that it’s pretty wide open between practical study and research. Last year we received 81 applications, and they ultimately awarded 5 Fulbright-mtvUs this year.

Question: And do you have the stats for the previous year?

Walter: The previous year I think it was 124, I’d have to double check this, and they ultimately awarded 4.

Question: Thank you.

Walter: You’re welcome. Next question.

Question: This is for the Africa representative. I’m planning to go to Niger, and part of my project I’d like to travel out to some pretty remote places, the Azoic Valley is one. And I was wondering if this would be considered too insecure, and I should focus my project maybe more near the capital.

Jermaine: I think that travel to a remote area should be fine. I’m not terribly familiar with the area you just mentioned so you might want to do a little bit of research on that on your own if you haven’t done so already just to make sure that it’s ok for someone in your shoes, an independent researcher to go to. I would just say though that the Fulbright grants to Sub-Saharan Africa, as are most Fulbright full grants, are budgeted primarily for travel to and from the host country as well as in country maintenance, in other words your basic living expenses, housing and food and whatnot. So, if you’re planning on doing a fairly extensive amount of travel in that country, then you might want to bear in mind that your Fulbright grant alone may not cover that, depending on how far a field you plan on traveling during your grant term.

Question: OK, thank you.

Jermaine: You’re welcome.

Question: This is for the Asia representative. I’m planning to do research in Hong Kong and I imagine my research would probably take me into the mainland, just short timeframe and short distance trips into the mainland that’s right surrounding Hong Kong. Would this be considered a multi-country proposal?

Jonathan: OK, Hong Kong and Macau are sort of special cases in the Fulbright program and it largely is because of the structure the State Department has set up in special autonomous regions is kind of unique. The consulate in Hong Kong actually acts almost like an embassy which is why we have a separate Fulbright Program there from mainland China. So technically yes, if you leave Hong Kong to go into the mainland that is considered a separate country, for lack of a better word. You would need to get permission from the consulate to travel to the mainland, and you wouldn’t be able to spend more than 2 weeks, because you’re not allowed to spend more than 2 weeks out of country.