Seven University of Wisconsin–Madison students have been selected as recipients of the highly competitive Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Awards. UW–Madison boasts the highest number of DDRA awardees of any university in the nation for 2018, according to information released by the U.S. Department of Education.
Fulbright-Hays DDRA Awards provide funds to doctoral students to conduct doctoral research outside the United States in foreign languages and area studies for up to 12 months. The awards are funded through the U.S. Department of Education’s International and Foreign Language Education office.
“These are prestigious awards that speak volumes about the caliber of the awardees and the strength of programming offered by the university,” said Guido Podestá, vice provost and dean of UW–Madison’s International Division. “These students will be developing expertise in area studies and languages that are vital for the state and nation. I am pleased they will have this exceptional opportunity.”
All seven UW–Madison DDRA recipients will begin their research in the coming year:
Bailey Albrecht, Japan (12 months), advised by Louise Young, History
“Ecologies of Production in Postwar Japan”
Albrecht will reexamine Japan’s rapid postwar economic development by focusing on the role of two of today’s most pressing concerns, globalization and resource sustainability. She argues that Japan’s cultivation of natural resource import markets were crucial for enabling domestic growth and provided the foundation for the nation’s export markets.
Diana Famakinwa, Nigeria (8 months), advised by Lesley Bartlett, Educational Policy Studies
“Africa’s secret weapon – A case study of diaspora engagement in Nigerian higher education”
Famakinwa will examine the engagement of the African diaspora in the development and internationalization of higher education in Nigeria and its implications for Nigeria’s place in the “global knowledge economy.”
David Greenwood-Sanchez, Mexico (10 months) & Peru (2 months), advised by Yoshiko Herrera, Political Science
“GMO Contestation in Mexico and Peru: Biodiversity and Global Agricultural Markets”
Greenwood-Sanchez will examine why some countries adopt genetically modified crops, while others restrict their use. He will explore the ways in which states mediate conflicting pressures from interest groups and civil society, while attempting to secure strategic export positions within increasingly competitive global agricultural markets.
Kelsey Huisman, Ecuador (7 months), advised by Kenneth Cameron, Botany
“Rapidly Evolving Teagueia Orchids Within the Andean Biodiversity Hotspot”
Huisman will study the rapid speciation of Teagueia orchids, which will be useful in understanding and conserving rare plants within the context of geographically constrained populations in conjunction with their associated microbiome in the most biodiverse hotspot on the planet.
Isaac Leslie, Argentina (6 months), advised by Jane Collins, Sociology
“Alternative Agriculture as a Development Strategy: Certified Organic and Agroecological Food Systems in Argentina”
Leslie’s project is a comparative ethnography of Argentina’s certified organic and agroecological food systems, documenting the social, economic, and environmental opportunities and challenges of alternative agriculture as a development strategy.
Molly Minden, Guatemala (12 months), advised by Erica Simmons, Political Science
“Legacies of Violence in Social Mobilization – Resistance to Dams in Guatemala”
Minden explores the ways in which legacies of wartime violence inform social mobilizations against hydroelectric dams in Guatemala. She posits that the processes by which communities understand, engage with, and make meaning out of past violence can help explain variation in mechanisms, repertoires, and targets of mobilizations in Guatemala.
Choua Xiong, Thailand (12 months), advised by Stacey Lee, Educational Policy Studies
“Activating Hmongness in Thai Schools – Hmong Negotiation of Citizenship and Belonging in Northern Thailand”
Xiong’s dissertation examines how HMoob (Hmong) youth navigate exclusionary educational practices of citizenship and belonging in Phetchabun Province, Thailand. Xiong will observe and participate in youth activities inside and outside of school spaces focusing on how students, teachers, and the HMoob community talk about culture, national belonging, and citizenship rights and responsibilities.
For more information about the Fulbright-Hays DDRA Award, please visit www2.ed.gov/programs/iegpsddrap. For information about the Fulbright-Hays program and all Fulbright offerings at UW–Madison, contact Mark Lilleleht at awards@iris.wisc.edu.
Story by Steve Barcus