Student Fellowships & Research

Description.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program aims to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills. In most cases, English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) grantees are assigned various activities designed to strengthen English language instruction by establishing a native speaker presence to improve the students’ language abilities and knowledge of the United States. At the same time, U.S. participants are encouraged to conduct community work, gain from intensive cross-cultural interactions, and possibly increase their own language skills and knowledge of the host country. Fulbright English Teaching Assistant activities may include:

1. planning and conducting conversational classroom activities;
2. providing small group tutorials;
3. serving as a resource in language labs and language table discussions; and
4. giving presentations related to the U.S. (culture, society, history, etc.) in English classes, civic/school organizations, and the local community, among other things.

See the Participating Country Summary for details on placements, responsibilities and opportunities for research or coursework. All Fulbright ETA affiliations will be made by either the Fulbright Commission or the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in the host country.

Last year, approximately 870 awards were made in 70 countries from 4,500 applications.

Benefits.
English Teaching Assistantship grantees will be provided with round-trip transportation; maintenance for the academic year; supplemental health and accident coverage; tuition assistance, in some cases; and language or orientation programs, where appropriate.

Eligibility.

• Applicants must be U.S. citizens at the time of application.
• Applicants must hold a Bachelor's degree or the equivalent before the beginning date of the grant.
• Applicants may not hold a doctoral degree at the time of application, but may hold a J.D. degree.
• Applicants must be in good health. Grantees will be required to submit a satisfactory Certificate of Health from a physician.
• The language requirements vary greatly by country. Applicants should review the applicable country profile to ensure their written and spoken language skills are sufficient.
• Preference will be given to those applicants who have undertaken their higher education primarily at educational institutions in the United States. Foreign study during junior year or other periods of undergraduate study that are integral parts of the curricula of American institutions will not be considered a disadvantage.
• Preference will be given to those applicants who have not resided or studied for more than six months in the country to which they are applying for.

For complete details please visit the "Eligibility" portion of the Fulbright website.

Bowdoin's Initial Application Process. 

• Provide a signed and witnessed "Permission Form and Waiver" to the Office of Student Fellowships and Research.  This document can either be hand-delivered to Emily Briley in 113 Kanbar Hall or electronically submitted to ebriley@bowdoin.edu.
• Electronically submit a completed Fulbright ETA application. By clicking the "submit" button in the online application, you will be releasing your application to Bowdoin's Office of Student Fellowships and Research, not to Fulbright. The Office of Student Fellowships and Research is responsible for distributing your application to the campus review committee and will electronically return your application to you in a matter of days. A complete Fulbright ETA application includes the following:

Parts B - E

Part F (References and Evaluation)

1. Foreign Language Evaluation** (Form 8). Applicants must enter their language evaluator's name and email address into the online application well in advance of the deadline. Doing so triggers the online system to send an email with instructions for foreign language evaluators. The evaluator must complete the form online and electronically submit the form. (View a sample Foreign Language Evaluation.)
2. Three ETA References.  Three separate recommendations (Form 9B) must be electronically submitted. Please note Form 9B is NOT a general letter of recommendation; referees must respond to specific prompts (view a sample ETA Reference Form 9B). Applicants are strongly encourage to read the "References" section on the"Tips for ETA" page of the Fulbright website well in advance of the deadline for guidance on who the applicant should ask to serve as a recommender and for an explanation of the process. Applicants must enter each recommender's name and email address into the online application well in advance of the deadline. Doing so triggers the online system to send an email with instructions to the referee.  Recommenders will complete Form 9B online and electronically submit it.

**Indicates "if applicable"

Bowdoin is required to rate all Bowdoin applicants (scale is from 1 - 4; 1 = exceptional, 4 = not recommended); this is accomplished through a brief interview. If all of the above materials are submitted on time, you will be scheduled for a campus interview. Once the interview is complete, it is your responsibility to continue revising your application in preparation for the final submission (see "Final Bowdoin deadline" above).

Materials for Final Application. By the "Final Bowdoin Deadline" (see above) applicants must electronically submit their completed Fulbright application. Please note that the "Final Bowdoin Deadline" is several days earlier than the submission deadline posted on the Fulbright website to allow the Office of Student Fellowships and Research the needed time to process your application before releasing it to Fulbright. Without exception, Bowdoin students are expected to meet the "Final Bowdoin Deadline."  A complete Fulbright ETA application includes:

**Indicates if applicable

Laura Armstrong '12
Costa Rica
Armstrong coupled a history major with a teaching minor during her time at Bowdoin. She will teach English part-time and hopes to volunteer with at least two types of organizations — one focused on women’s issues and a second aimed at promoting sustainable business or conservation. Armstrong is also eager to learn more about Costa Rican public art. After her Fulbright experience, she plans to complete her teaching certificate in high school social studies through Bowdoin’s Teacher Scholars Program and says she would one day love to use her Spanish language skills teaching in a bilingual school. (Read more)

Elijah Garrard '12
Argentina
Garrard graduated with a double major in Spanish and Latin American studies and a minor in film studies. He first became interested in language teaching while studying abroad in Buenos Aires, where he worked as an English tutor with adult members of the Kolla indigenous community. While in Argentina, in addition to teaching English, he plans to involve local children in a community art project, teaching them to tell personal and family stories through the medium of comics. He also hopes to organize an oral history project to record the stories of community members and older citizens in particular. Upon completing his Fulbright, Garrard intends to continue teaching English in the U.S. and abroad, possibly as a member of the Peace Corps. In the future, he expects to pursue an advanced degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages or Spanish. (Read more)


For a comprehensive list of Bowdoin fellowship winners, click here.