Occidental is one of the country's top producers of Fulbright scholarships, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education's new Fulbright rankings.
Occidental's nine 2011-12 Fulbright winners ranks it third among all liberal arts colleges, according to data released by the Institute of International Education, which administers the Fulbright program for the U.S. Department of State.
Colgate and Mount Holyoke also produced nine Fulbright scholars this year. Pomona was second with 15, and Pitzer and Smith topped the list with 19. Occidental's total of nine scholars is one of the largest groups of Oxy Fulbrights ever, second only to the 10 selected in 2008-09. Occidental students have won a total of 43 Fulbrights since 2003.
Alison Caditz '11, a Spanish and English and comparative literary studies double major from Mercer Island, Wash., has an English Teaching Assistantship in Argentina. Trevor Fay '09, an American studies major from Pasadena, is teaching English in Brazil, as is Vasti Mejia '11, a politics major from Riverside. Urban and environmental policy major Chandrika Francis '10 from Oakland and diplomacy and world affairs major Ana Chamberlain '10 from Santa Fe, N.M., are in Spain teaching English.
Diplomacy and world affairs major Julia Bleckner '10 from Oakland is researching the creation of all-female peacekeeping units as a deterrent to sexual exploitation and abuse by U.N. peacekeepers in Bangladesh. Katherine Allen '10, a critical theory and social justice major from Exeter, Pa., is in Argentina, examining queer subjectivity and the interactive treatment of gay youth and their families.
Michele Kanemori '11, a biochemistry major from Wahiawa, Hawaii, received a research grant to study the mechanism of stem cell fusion in vitro in Japan. Marzieh Goudarzi '11, a diplomacy and world affairs major from Los Angeles, is carrying out research in Jordan.
The Fulbright program, which covers travel, education, and living expenses, was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The research and teaching program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.
