Four Johns Hopkins Graduate Students Win Fulbright US Student Awards

Last week, all four Homewood graduate students who had been named finalists in January were awarded Fulbright Academic/Arts Grants to pursue dissertation research abroad in the coming year!

The Fulbright U.S. Student program supports study or research abroad in over 140 countries, promoting cultural exchange and mutual understanding. Students design their own projects, and collaborate with experts and researchers at academic and cultural institutions worldwide.

Mariam Banahi, a PhD student in anthropology, will travel to Hamburg, Germany next year, to research the kinship practices of Afghan refugees living there. She will conduct extensive interviews of her subjects, working in partnership with the Hamburg Institute for Cultural Anthropology. Mariam has rich experience working with populations in the Middle East, already having conducted research in Jordan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Egypt (the latter through a Fulbright/CLEA grant). While living in Hamburg, she will foster cultural exchange through volunteer work for First Contact e.V., an organization that assists foreign migrants residing in Germany.

Sue Kulason, a PhD student in biomedical engineering, will spend her Fulbright year in France. There, she will research the shape of brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s patients in the lab of Dr. Alain Trouvé, at the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan outside of Paris. Sue will continue her study of French language while in country in order to actively participate in the rich scientific community there. She is eager to bridge cultural connections between the Trouvé lab and her Johns Hopkins lab. For advice from Sue on applying for a Fulbright, click here.

Harry Lang, a PhD student in mathematics, will also live in France in the coming year. Working in the Geometrica lab, in the Saclay suburb of Paris, Harry will pursue research in the new and growing area of topological data analysis. While abroad, he plans to engage in cultural exchange by participating in events at the Institut du Monde Arabe, and volunteering at the charity organization France Bénévolat.

Misha Mintz-Roth, a PhD student in history, will spend a year in India, researching Gujarati-language sources to inform his dissertation on Indian-African relations in colonial Kenya. Having already consulted numerous archives in Kenya and conducted preliminary research and language study in India, Misha will focus his attention on sources he has identified in Ahmedabad, Surat, and Mumbai, during his Fulbright year. He will use his past teaching and mentoring experiences to volunteer for organizations that aid children from low-income urban families.

Fulbright finalists are notified of their results at different times during the spring semester; more news is forthcoming for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships and undergraduates finalists for the Fulbright Academic/Arts Grants.

For more information on these awards, please visit the pages on our website (linked above), attend one of our Fulbright information sessions coming up in April (see Events and Deadlines for a schedule), or email Dr. Miller at [email protected].