For Molly Yunker, receiving a Fulbright Scholarship means a lot of things. She can do research, publish papers, experience a new culture and most importantly, she can continue learning without paying large tuition bills.
Yunker is one of four University faculty members who were recently named Fulbright scholars. All four people received the Core Scholarship, which is available only to those with a Ph.D. and university teaching experience. Each year 800 core scholarships are given out of the 1,100 Fulbright scholarships awarded in the United States.
With her scholarship, Yunker — who finished her Ph.D. in educational studies from the University last year — will study for two years at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She is examining the difficulties teachers face with outdoor classes in their efforts to enhance students’ understanding of Earth science.
Yunker wrote in an e-mail interview the experience has made her value her position as a representative of the United States.
“We were told at our pre-departure orientation that as Fulbright Scholars, we are cultural ambassadors. I’m constantly aware that however I present myself, I’m also representing the Fulbright program, the University of Michigan and the United States,” she wrote.
Joining Yunker in Israel is Peter Smith, a professor emeritus of chemistry. Associate History Prof. Farina Mir is studying in Delhi, India and William DeGenaro, an assistant professor of composition and rhetoric at the University’s Dearborn campus, is conducting research and teaching in Beirut, Lebanon.
The Fulbright Program is part of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and receives most of its funding from the federal government. The program has various scholarships it gives every year to applicants ranging from students to professionals.
Applicants must show proof of proficiency in a foreign language to be eligible for certain grants. Applicants also apply for a specific scholarship depending on the country, and each scholarship differs slightly in its award value and duration.
The faculty members at the University of Michigan received their awards to conduct research abroad in consultation with a university in their host country.
For Yunker, her research involves a large amount of interaction with Israeli students. She said this allows her to observe how Israeli students’ lives are different from those in the United States.
“As part of my research, I’ve gotten to travel all over (Israel) with middle and high school students participating in educational field trips through their geology classes,” Yunker wrote. “It’s truly an exchange of everything — conversation, knowledge, ideas, skills, friendship and emotions.”
DeGenaro is studying at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon for one year where he is evaluating a literacy initiative that works with students to teach English to staff at the university. He’s also working on a cross-cultural project in English classes between the University’s Dearborn campus and the American University of Beirut.
DeGenaro wrote in an e-mail interview that he is using his experience to increase his understanding of the cultural background of many of his students in Dearborn.
“Each term at UM-Dearborn, I meet students who grew up in Lebanon, or whose families live here or who go back to visit their villages and rave about life here,” DeGenaro wrote. “I’m not Lebanese, but I think I now have a more informed sense of what makes those students who they are — and what makes them love Lebanon, too.”
Like Yunker, Smith also has a two-year research fellowship at the Weizmann Institute. Smith is studying organic chemistry in Israel and will look at how peptide structural changes affect biomembranes.
Mir wrote in an e-mail interview that she is using her scholarship to research the influence of “Muslim socio-religious reform in late colonial India.”
She is studying at the University of Delhi in India for nine months and wrote that she hopes to publish a book about her findings. Living in Delhi is a major change in atmosphere from Ann Arbor, Mir explained she is adapting to and appreciating.
“It’s an exciting place, undergoing immense growth and change,” Mir wrote. “It’s a privilege to be here to be able to see it firsthand.”
Mir noted the significance of having four University faculty members receive a Fulbright award this year.
“For (the University), I imagine that securing faculty Fulbright awards is a sign of faculty commitment to research,” Mir wrote. “It is also a sign of the faculty’s engagement with the world at large, a sign of the truly global nature of our University.”
For the 2010-2011 school year, the University also had the highest number of students receiving Fulbright scholarships than any other school in the nation. According to an October 2010 University press release, 43 students were offered scholarships and 39 accepted. It was the fourth time since 2005 that the University ranked above any other institution.
The number of faculty members receiving Fulbright Scholar grants has lagged behind the number of students in past years. In an Oct. 25, 2010 article in The Michigan Daily, University Provost Philip Hanlon said that while he was aware of the difference, he was unable to give any reason for it.
“All I can say is I noted that as well and I want to try to understand that better,” Hanlon said at the time.