KU News Release

KU students, alumni win seven Fulbright awards, two related languages awards

LAWRENCE — Seven University of Kansas students have won prestigious Fulbright awards for study and research abroad for the 2007-08 academic year, according to KU’s Office of International Programs.

Two of the students received a Critical Language Enhancement Award to be used with their Fulbright grants. This award, a component of the National Security Language Initiative, is intended to foster greater proficiency in targeted languages such as Arabic, Azeri, Pashto, Russian and Turkish. This is the first time KU students have received this award since it was established in January 2006.

Since the inception of the Fulbright program in 1946, a total of 401 KU students, including those announced today, have won Fulbright awards. This year’s recipients are:

— Cristin Burke, Eastham, Mass., doctoral student in geography to study in Kazakhstan and a Critical Language Enhancement Award to study Russian
— Hannah M. Franko, Gilbert, Pa., spring 2007 master’s degree graduate in architecture, to study in Japan
— Ryan Christopher Gaston, Greenwood, Ind., doctoral student in history to study in Spain
— Kahlil Nabil Saad, Wichita, spring 2007 graduate in Germanic languages and literatures, to study in Syria
— Meredith Seymour Lang, Leavenworth, 1997 graduate in English and 2005 graduate in law, to study in Oman and a Critical Language Enhancement Award to study Arabic
— Thomas B. Overly, Louisburg, master’s degree student in geography, to study in Denmark and Greenland
— Vera Vialievna Volchansky, Lawrence, doctoral student in orchestra conducting, to study in Russia

The U.S. Student Fulbright Program gives approximately 1,000 grants annually and operates in 140 countries. For more than 60 years, this U.S. government-sponsored program has offered highly qualified students an unparalleled opportunity to study, conduct research and teach in other nations.

Fulbright student grants aim to increase mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchange. A Fulbright grant provides funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident insurance and tuition.

KU’s Office of International Programs coordinates applications for Fulbrights and other graduate fellowships for study and research abroad.

KU students or graduates receiving Fulbright awards are listed below.

DOUGLAS COUNTY
From Lawrence
Vera Vialievna Volchansky will travel to St. Petersburg, Russia, to study with Peter Gribanov, music director of Rostov Orchestra and Orchestra Congress Orchestra of the Philharmonic Society of St. Petersburg. Volchansky will be affiliated with the St. Petersburg Conservatory and will concentrate on learning the repertoire of Russian 20th century composers. For the past two years, Volchansky has been conductor of the KU Camerata Chamber Orchestra. She has a bachelor’s degree from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., and a master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
From Leavenworth 66048
Meredith Seymour Lang has two KU degrees: a 1997 bachelor’s degree in English and a 2005 law degree with certification in International Trade and Finance. Lang received a Fulbright award to study in Oman and a Critical Language Enhancement Award to study Arabic in Oman four months before her Fulbright grant begins. She will study the impact of Oman’s decision to join the World Trade Organization in 2000 as well as entering into a Free Trade Agreement with the United States in 2005. She will be affiliated with the Modern College of Business and Science where she will work with the business faculty to develop a new course on Oman business law. She is the daughter of Bob and Mary Seymour. She is a graduate of Leavenworth Senior High School.

MIAMI COUNTY
From Louisburg 66053
Thomas B. Overly is researching the cultural response of Greenland natives to global warming. Overly will travel to Denmark to study with the Ice and Climate Group, part of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and conduct his research in Greenland. Overly hopes to describe the human dimension of the climate change. He has done some preliminary fieldwork in Greenland. Overly works at KU’s Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets as a graduate research assistant. He received a bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He is the son of Butch and Bobbie Overly.

SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Wichita 67212
Kahlil Nabil Saad received a Fulbright grant to study the dynamics of identity and community of Syrian Christians during Syria’s period under the French Mandate and after the country’s independence. He will be affiliated with the University of Damascus. In preparation, Saad has studied Arabic at KU and at a summer program at the Center for Arabia and Middle Eastern Studies at the American University of Beirut. He continued his study of Arabic and Arabic culture this year on a KU study abroad program at the University of Bonn, Germany, a with German Academic Exchange Service scholarship. He is the son of Nabil and Linda Saad and is a Wichita High School East graduate.

INDIANA
From Greenwood 46142
Ryan Christopher Gaston will spend his Fulbright year in Spain, where he will conduct archival research in Madrid, Simancas and Sevilla. His research examines how the gender assumptions in Spain in early decades of the 17th century colored the contemporary understanding of the causes for the decline of the Spanish empire and informed the reform polices that were proposed by the king through various “juntas.” He will be affiliated with the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Gaston has taught history as a graduate teaching assistant at KU for the past three years. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Evansville.

MASSACHUETTS
From Eastham 02642
Cristin Burke received a Fulbright grant and a Critical Language Enhancement Award for study in Kazakhstan, where she will research the impact of varying economic conditions on social interaction at the regional level. Burke will study intensive Russia in Almaty four months before her Fulbright grant begins. She will also take classes in Kazak. Her research will examine such factors as representative women’s groups, non-governmental agencies and foreign companies. While at KU, Burke has been the recipient of a Title VI Foreign Language Area Fellowship for Russian and a graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Geography. She taught “Understanding Central Asia,” a course for KU’s Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. Burke was also offered but declined a Boren Graduate Fellowship to Kazakhstan for the 2007-08 academic year. She is the daughter of Henry and Denise Burke. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Bridgewater State College.

PENNSYLVANIA
From Gilbert 18331
Hannah M. Franko will attend classes at a Japanese university as well as investigate sustainable design uses in Japanese architecture. She is especially interested in “eki,” or train stations and their supporting structures. For example, she plans to study the turnstiles used in many train stations that generate electricity each time a person walks through them. At KU, Franko studied Japanese for two years and traveled to Japan on a KU summer study abroad program. She also studied for a year at University of Dortmund in Germany on another KU study abroad program. She is the daughter of Michael and Mary Franko. She is a graduate of Faith Christina School.

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