Twelve from Duke receive Fulbrights

It's a small world after all-at least for the group of nine recent Trinity graduates and three graduate students who have been awarded J. William Fulbright scholarships.

Most of the scholars will travel across the world next year, studying in countries ranging from Japan to Ethiopia.

"This is a really stellar group of students," said Rob Sikorski, acting director of International Studies. "If you look at the names... you're seeing some of Duke's brightest students."

Sikorski said that the number of winners this year-although only two more than last year-represents a significant change in the acceptance rate for Duke students. Twenty-two percent of Duke's Fulbright applicants received the prestigious scholarships last year. This year's percentage jumped to 34, but one student, Robert Rozenthal, declined the scholarship. Another recipient has not yet responded to the offer.

Sikorski also pointed out that this year's winners are "slightly more adventurous" in terms of the locations in which they will study.

Romania will be the destination for Colin Williams, Trinity '00, who will study the effect of the country's media on the political process. He said that although he anticipated receiving the award, he was still nervous when he finally heard back in May. "I was worried because I didn't expect it to take so long," he said. "But when it finally came, I was really relieved."

In an effort to better understand his heritage-his mother is Romanian-Williams spent the summer after his freshman year in Romania. He subsequently spent a spring semester in China and another summer in Romania with funding from a Comparative Area Studies grant.

"It was really interesting how Romania's mass media was really involved in boosting political awareness of NATO and getting admitted to the second round of invitation talks," Williams said of his first summer in Romania.

Kate Fiori, also Trinity '00, will study at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. Although she does not know what she will study, she is interested in examining the effect that the fall of the Berlin Wall had on the elderly. "I spent a semester abroad there my junior year, and I wanted to go back," she explained. "This institute for human development is one of the best in the world. It was perfect to try to go there."

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