Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Matthew Robert Jagel Receives U.S. Student Fulbright Award for 2011-12



The Institute of International Education has announced that NIU doctoral student Matthew Jagel has received a Student Fulbright Fellowship for the academic year 2011/2012.  A student in NIU’s Department of History, Matt will be conducting research in Cambodia during his fellowship year. His research focuses on the story of Son Ngoc Thanh, one of Cambodia’s modern heroes, as the centerpiece of a broader study of the US-Khmer relations.  Matt hopes his research and project will result in a better understanding of the geopolitical considerations that influenced American foreign policy in Southeast Asia and provide a glimpse into the characters that attempted to steer an independent Cambodia.

The U.S. Student Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is coordinated in the U.S by the Institute of International Education.  The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers fellowships for U.S. graduating college seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to study, conduct research abroad or be an English teaching assistant for one academic year. 

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers three kinds of grants:  study/research, English Teaching Assistantships (ETAs) and travel-only grants. 

In recent years NIU students have been quite competitive in this prestigious competition, so Matt Jagel is following in the footsteps of some outstanding Huskies as he begins his Fulbright year in Cambodia. 

Applications for the 2012-2013 grants are now open, and the NIU campus deadline is September 23, 2011.  For more information contact Dr. Deborah Pierce at 815-753-1989 or via e-mail dpierce@niu.edu .

Thursday, June 23, 2011

College of Education Alumus Teaching in China

Ryan Hart, a 2006 graduate of Northern Illinois University's Elementary Education program, is teaching at the Beijing World Youth Academy in China.  To read about Ryan's reflections on his experience as an American living and working in Beijing, click here and you will be directed to the NIU College of Education's interview with Ryan.