Recent Brown alumni, current graduate students awarded 28 Fulbright Scholarships

By Press release submission

Jun 24, 2022

In Fall 2022, 28 awardees of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program will begin teaching assignments or independent research projects in 16 countries across the world.

Twenty-eight Fulbright scholarships were awarded to current students or recent alumni from Brown. From left, here are many of this year's winners: Back row: Scott Magid, Kaitlan Bui, Michael Lahiff, Julia Henke, and Benjamin Connor. Second row: Celia Health, Annie Huang, Rebecca Kirby, Olivia Howe, and Sabrina Bajwa. First row: Allison Singleton, Hanna Wells, Patrick Nasta, Lucas Kuan, and Samantha Plezia.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Twenty-five recent Brown alumni and three current graduate students have received Fulbright awards for the 2022-23 academic year to conduct independently designed research projects or teach English in locations across the globe.

Brown has ranked as one of the top two student Fulbright producers in the nation for the past six years, earning the highest spot on the list in 2021, 2018, 2017 and 2016, and the No. 2 rank in 2019 and 2020. The U.S. Department of State, which oversees the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, will release data for the 2022-23 award cycle next spring.

Founded in 1946, the Fulbright program promotes international peace through intellectual and cultural exchange. Applicants are selected based upon their academic and professional records, the quality and achievability of their proposals, and their capacity to engage culturally with their host communities.

"We are extremely proud of our Fulbright winners and all those who applied for the Fulbright this year,” said Linda Dunleavy, Brown’s associate dean of the College for fellowships. “The University's Fulbright program harnesses the innovation, global consciousness and commitment to impactful practice that Brown's unique curriculum cultivates."

Brown’s newest cohort of Fulbright winners submitted project proposals to teach and research in more than a dozen countries across Asia, Latin America and Europe. Teaching placements include elementary schools, high schools and universities, where awardees will provide classroom instruction and share cultural perspectives between the U.S. and their host countries. Research award recipients will pursue projects in a range of academic fields, from architecture to law and Asian studies.

Brown Class of 2022 graduate Lucas Kuan’s project will take him to the Paris Institute of Political Studies, where he will work with faculty to investigate the cultural integration of French Asians. His goal is to find some measure of how “culturally French” different generations of French Asians feel, and whether those feelings are reflected in voting rates, how closely they follow national politics, and other metrics of political participation.

In addition to my own experiences as an Asian American, I saw firsthand the immigrant experiences of other Asian Americans, and that made me curious about Asian diasporas everywhere.

Kuan says the research he’s pursuing through the Fulbright program is an ideal amalgamation of his interests: He’s been learning French for approximately seven years, but missed the chance to study abroad due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, and in his native Georgia, Kuan interned at a nonprofit that focused on civic engagement of Asian Americans.

“In addition to my own experiences as an Asian American, I saw firsthand the immigrant experiences of other Asian Americans, and that made me curious about Asian diasporas everywhere,” he said.

Kuan graduated from Brown in May, earning a bachelor’s degree with concentrations in applied mathematics and economics. He said he was peripherally aware of certain fellowships and scholarships students pursue after graduation, but he never envisioned it as a likely opportunity until he saw a Fulbright announcement from the Fellowships Office at Brown and began speaking with past awardees.

“I realized that I had as good, if not a better, shot to land a Fulbright here at Brown than anywhere else,” he said.

In addition to guidance from the Fellowships Office, Kuan said his participation in the Brown Consulting Club gave him valuable experience in scoping out projects, developing realistic timelines and breaking down seemingly insurmountable tasks into manageable chunks of work. And though he’s not sure exactly what his day-to-day responsibilities will entail in the lab, Kuan said he’s confident that his time spent in the classroom — particularly in smaller humanities seminars — will provide an extremely useful framework for his research.

Once he returns from France in June 2023, Kuan aims to work in government and public sector practice with an eye toward a law degree and a future in public interest or international law. Until then, he’s fully embracing the adventure of cultural immersion. From language learning to work-life balance, Kuan said he’s excited to cross the boundaries of his comfort zone and get to know what it’s like to live in — not just travel to — a different part of the world.

“Every time I go abroad, I’m always surprised at both how different and similar life is,” he said. “I can imagine some alternate universe where my parents decided to immigrate elsewhere, not the U.S., and I would be a completely different person. Living abroad feels like a glimpse into that alternate version of myself.”

This year’s recent alumni Fulbright Scholars are: