The UI honors seminar that Ian Dunshee attended his freshman year set the stage for his future research and Fulbright award.  Combining his interests in anthropology and geospatial technology, Dunshee hopes to pave the way for tourism, education, preservation, and research in the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles.

Victor Diaz understands the importance of learning languages and understanding culture. As a 2017-18 Fulbright finalist, he looks forward to encouraging students in Mexico to create original works of theatre and identify with the English language. Diaz studied abroad in India through the India Winterim program, and has since continued to pursue his desire to become an educator.

Des Moines native Kaché Claytor fused her academic interest in journalism and Spanish to share stories of people of color and understand how race is defined in different cultures. While in Colombia, Claytor will teach English, lead writing workshops, and research the African diaspora in Latin America.

Andrew Calvert looks forward to using his grant for research about American history abroad to inform the novel he is working on set in the Philippines. Calvert says he also looks forward to exposure to a new community of writers.

Following a longstanding interest in international relations, Ben Bush became interested in applying for a Fulbright after visiting Bulgaria for a conference on fiction-writing last summer. He was recently awarded a Fulbright award to live in Bulgaria and continue his work as a writer. In addition to teaching at Sofia University and running workshops, Bush will examine the exodus of Bulgarian youth and incorporate the impact into the draft of his novel.

University of Iowa Human Physiology & Psychology major Alexis Finer has been awarded a 2017 U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship.