Undergraduate and graduate students engaged in research related to Asia and the environment are invited to submit posters and papers for presentation at the first in a series of annual conferences.  

Today it is impossible to think seriously about the challenges of sustainable development and the environment without understanding the local and global environmental footprint of rapid economic growth in Asia—and the Asian response. At the same time, Asian Studies students increasingly require familiarity with the scientific, cultural and political dimensions of environmental crises and sustainable development.

With the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, Bard College is sponsoring an annual student research conference, providing a venue for students to present undergraduate, masters and PhD level research at the intersection of these critical issues. The conference seeks to shed critical light on how we all might live sustainably—or not—in a 2050 world with three billion more people, limited resources, a thickening blanket of carbon dioxide heating the planet, and a global economic development process increasingly defined by Asian models and leadership.

The conference will be held on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, which is easily accessible by train from New York City. Registration is $30, and housing and meals will be provided for student participants. Meals are included for non-student registrants. The conference will begin at 4 PM on Thursday, April 16, and end at 9 PM on Friday, April 17. 

To submit a paper for a panel, or a proposal for a poster presentation, please send a one paragraph abstract to Env-Asia@bard.edu. Undergraduate students must also include a letter of support from a professor. 

From the American Society of the French Academic Palms (ASFAP): 
http://www.frenchacademicpalms.org/scholarships.html

"The American Society of the French Academic Palms (ASFAP) offers 2 summer scholarships annually to be used in a French-speaking country to students whose interest in the French language and Francophone cultures has been identified by their French instructors. Their primary purpose is to provide students with the opportunity to become more proficient in the language and to understand and appreciate cultures found in the French-speaking world."

See 2015 SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION for an application.

Application deadline: January 20, 2015

CEA is committed to making study abroad more accessible for UMBC students, so they offer multiple financing options and support services. From now through August 31, UMBC students applying for an eligible Spring 2015 study abroad program through CEA will receive a $1,000 grant toward their program price. All they have to do is enter promo code SPRING151000 on their CEA application.

Remember, all students studying abroad must apply through the UMBC Study Abroad Office by October 10, 2014. You can find the UMBC study abroad application on our website. Contact the Study Abroad Office for more information.

Door to the World

Meet UMBC’s 2014 Fulbright Scholars.

Mitchell Donovan describes his study abroad in New Zealand as an incredibly valuable, eye-opening experience, but it didn’t quench his thirst for cross-cultural knowledge. It left him with an even greater appetite for learning. After receiving an M.S. in geography and environmental systems, Donovan is now preparing to study abroad again, this time as a Fulbright scholar in Finland.

Donovan is among four UMBC students who were awarded 2014 Fulbright grants. Two earned English teaching assistantships for Indonesia: Joshua Gehret ’14, English and ancient studies, and Lauren Raubaugh ’11, English and history, and ’13, M.A., TESOL. Two others won Fulbright research grants: Ke “Coco” Tang ’14, political science, history and visual arts, and Donovan ’11, geography and environmental systems, and ’14 M.S., geography and environmental systems.

The prestigious Fulbright Student Program was established by the U.S. government in 1946 as the country’s flagship international educational exchange program. The program offers opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to conduct teaching and advanced research in more than 155 countries worldwide.

“They all had very specific research agendas that they really wanted to dive into,” observes Brian Souders, associate director of international education services and Fulbright program advisor, describing this year’s scholars.

Building on research completed through a previous Boren Scholarship and UMBC Undergraduate Research Award, Coco Tang is returning to Jordan to explore the politics of water access among Jordan’s Syrian refugee population. “This is tremendously meaningful,” Tang says. “I feel extremely honored, and this is a great privilege that not many people get to experience.”

Donovan plans to research river water quality and sedimentation in Finland through the University of Turku. Specifically, he will examine agricultural sources of sediment and how they’re affecting the Baltic Sea – a similar system to the Chesapeake Bay, which he studied as a graduate student.

“I’m excited to pursue environmental science in a new culture and mindset, with scientists who might have completely different beliefs on how to approach a scientific question,” says Donovan. “I think that diversity of perspectives will strengthen my work.”

Through teaching assistantships, Gehret and Raubaugh will offer English language instruction in Indonesian villages and small towns where residents have little to no exposure to Americans. “I look forward to meeting the other teachers and students, and to learning how they see themselves and Indonesia’s place in the world,” says Gehret. “It’s a country with great global importance in the 21st century.”

“I can’t describe how meaningful and powerful it is, and will continue to be, to apply the education I received at UMBC to an entirely different culture and part of the world,” Raubaugh shares. “I want the students to learn from me, but I also want to learn from them – their cultures, their languages, anything I can. The mission of the Fulbright program is cultural exchange on both sides, so that is what I am looking forward to the most.”

Fulbright recipients are selected based on their academic and professional achievement and demonstrated leadership within their fields. At UMBC, the application process for the Fulbright program begins several months before the October application deadline. Students develop research ideas, write essays and statements of purpose, gather letters of support, and receive advice throughout the process from mentors like Souders.

As UMBC begins to recruit applicants for the 2015 Fulbright Student Program, Souders has a powerful message for any student who is considering applying: “The Fulbright experience can open doors for you that you never knew existed, and can dramatically shape your career and outlook on the world. With hard work, students have been very successful in applying for these competitive grants. We are so proud of all of UMBC’s Fulbright applicants and recipients, who go on to act as cultural ambassadors, researchers and teachers, and take those experiences with them throughout their lives.”

(06/24/2014)