As you all know, the Student Fulbright program is an excellent
opportunity for graduate study abroad or teaching abroad. Because you all have
contact with students in internationally oriented minors or majors, including
teaching ESL, I wanted to update you on the English Teaching Assistantship
program of Fulbright. This is a great way for seniors who may not be 100% sure
of what they want to do after graduation in May 2009 to gain some teaching
experience through a year-long sojourn abroad. You probably also know that NIU
currently has an alumna in Hong Kong doing such a Fulbright teaching
assistantship, Shari Meggs, who graduated from Communication in May 2008: https://www.niu.edu/PubAffairs/RELEASES/2008/may/fulbright.shtml
(We're so proud of Shari and Matt, our two Fulbrighters from last year's
competition!)
There are teaching assistantships available in a wide variety of nations,
including those in which I believe you're the most interested: Indonesia,
Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
Spain, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. In addition,
there are a number of countries where no local language proficiency is required,
such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Romania. Please check out this website for more
information:
https://us.fulbrightonline.org/thinking_teaching.html
There is still time for a student to prepare a competitive proposal for a
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, but that time is fleeting: our campus
deadline is September 26, or three weeks from tomorrow. If you have any
students who might be interested, please ask them to contact my assistant Sara
Clayton at 753-9526 or sclayton@niu.edu for an appointment. Also, you might
direct them to our website on Student Fulbright:
https://www.niu.edu/international/opportunities/fulbright/student.shtml
Plus, I'm always happy to hear directly from a prospective Fulbright applicant.
Dr. Deborah Pierce, Associate Provost
Division of International Programs
406 Williston Hall
dpierce@niu.edu