First recognized as a top Fulbright producer in 2008, the University of Redlands continues to help students pursue and win the highly competitive award that enables them to teach or perform research abroad for an academic year. To date, the University’s Fulbright Scholars have traveled to locations including Germany, Mexico, India, New Zealand, Guatemala, Norway, Spain, Japan, Morocco, and Taiwan.
The Fulbright Program was created to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
More than 2,200 U.S. students and more than 900 U.S. college and university faculty and administrators are awarded Fulbright grants annually. Additionally, some 4,000 Fulbright foreign students and visiting scholars come to the United States annually to study, lecture, conduct research, or teach their native language.
Most recently, two Redlands alumni received Fulbright awards—Theo Whitcomb ’19, and Jackson Keene ’22—bringing the University’s total to 27 Fulbright recipients.
Kenai Class ’18, received a placement in the Teaching Flagship Program, associated with Fulbright and sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Foundation for Scholarly Exchange. Learn more about them and their assignments below.
Theo Whitcomb ’19
Where will you be located?
Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu in India.
What work will you be doing?
I'll mainly be doing research and writing. My proposed research will focus on the politics and infrastructure of climate adaptation. I'm mainly interested in how international development institutions and multinational companies are shaping the politics and ecology of the region and the city.
What are you looking forward to the most and why?
I’m looking forward to hanging out with my friends and spending time working on projects that got postponed because of the pandemic.
How did your Redlands education help to prepare you for this work?
It’s been the foundation for my post-college professional and creative work. Being able to move between knowledge of government documents and economics and the politics I’m studying; basically, being able to work in a variety of different contexts. Johnson provided me with a few different tools, whether it be learning different forms of writing, more experimental or artistic forms, and being trained in more formal academic ways of writing and analysis. Being able to move between those has been very helpful for me and has definitely informed my work.
Jackson Keene ’22
Where will you be located?
Hamburg, Germany
What work will you be doing?
My Fulbright scholarship is an English Teach Assistant (ETA) position, so I will be working to teach English. I am waiting to hear about my school placement until around June or July, but I hope now that I will be able to work with Ukrainian refugees or any other refugees who would benefit from learning some English and German.
What are you looking forward to the most and why?
In addition to working as an ETA, I hope to volunteer in the community with refugee communities. Originally, I had applied because I wanted to volunteer with Syrian refugees. I am currently in Europe for a Salzburg May term and met with an alumna in Berlin last weekend who said that Germany is expecting at least 100,000 of the Ukrainian refugees currently in the country to remain permanently. I would love to be able to help make their transition smoother and to help them adjust to living in Germany. I’m also hoping to find a musical outlet in the community. I am not sure whether I will be able to sing in a choir or in an opera chorus, but I hope I will be able to find a place in the community to sing.
How did your Redlands education help to prepare you for this work?
Redlands helped to prepare me for Fulbright by allowing me to take classes that let me develop my interests in other communities and learn to consider others more diligently. In addition, my HMS (Health, Medicine, and Society) internship project at Project Horseshoe Farm in Pomona led me to want to work with more migrant communities, even those abroad. Redlands helped me become a more capable and responsible person, and I now hope I will be able to bring my skills to Germany and apply myself and have a positive impact.
Kenai Class ’18
Where will you be located?
My placement site is Penghu, an island archipelago, in Taiwan.
What work will you be doing?
I will be teaching English alongside local teachers in public schools.
What are you looking forward to the most?
I am so excited for the whole experience of living, learning, and working abroad in Asia. I look forward to immersing myself in Taiwanese culture, with all its diversity, and to reconnecting with Asia, as I’m a Chinese adoptee. My goal is to be in Asia for several years, and I am confident that the English Teaching Flagship opportunity offered through Fulbright Taiwan will be an incredible and worthwhile launch point for my journey.
How did your Redlands education help to prepare you for this work?
My education at Redlands helped me grow in my confidence to achieve my goals and develop my critical thinking skills and has connected me to amazing travel opportunities, like the Hanson International Service Award and studying abroad in China. I also initially heard about Fulbright while I was a student at Redlands. I am so grateful for my education and all the guidance and support I have received and continue to receive.
Learn more about global opportunities at the U of R.
