Leeds postgraduate receives Fulbright Award
Rebecca Macklin, a postgraduate researcher in Comparative Literature has received an All Disciplines Fulbright Award. This award will enable her to research at Cornell University.
She has been selected to spend a year at Cornell University as a visiting student researcher, under the supervision of Professor Eric Cheyfitz. Rebecca will carry out research into postcolonial and indigenous engagements with globalisation, with a specific focus on Native American and South African fiction. Situated within the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, she will have the opportunity to work with leading scholars in the field as well as undertake engagement work with local indigenous communities.
Rebecca and the other 44 British grantees of the 2017-18 Fulbright cohort will celebrate their success at a reception hosted by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Commenting on receiving the award, Rebecca said: “I am very proud to have been selected as a Fulbright Postgraduate Scholar and I am excited to spend a year at Cornell University, which would not be possible without the support of the Fulbright Commission. This is a particularly interesting time in the US in the context of indigenous rights, where issues such as the Dakota Access Pipeline have taken center-stage, and my research will be vitally informed through being immersed in the landscapes and cultures that my work engages with. Having studied Native American literature from afar for years, it will be invaluable for me to have access to the unparalleled resources and dynamic research culture at Cornell, which I look forward to contributing to.”
Penny Egan CBE, Executive Director of US-UK Fulbright Commission said: “The impact of the Fulbright programme can change the world. Our Fulbrighters will return to the UK having been exposed to different cultures, value systems and schools of thought. They will have the capacity to be more empathetic global citizens and be better prepared for collaboration across borders, between the US and the UK, and beyond.”
The Fulbright Commission provides the only bi-lateral, transatlantic scholarship programme, offering awards for study or research in any field, at any accredited US or UK university.
The Commission selects scholars through a rigorous application and interview process, looking for academic excellence alongside a focused application, a range of extracurricular and community activities, demonstrated ambassadorial skills, a desire to further the Fulbright Programme and a plan to give back to the UK upon returning.
Posted in: University news