UPDATED: April 14, 2:40 p.m.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the location where Steven Johnson resided for six months was misstated. He lived in an Indian neighborhood across from a Tibetan camp in Delhi. One of the two groups who experienced tension was also misstated. Johnson witnessed tension between the Tibetans and Indians who lived nearby. Johnson was also misquoted about the project’s purpose. The Daily Orange regrets these errors. 

Five years ago, Stephen Johnson lived in an Indian neighborhood across the street from the Majnu-ka-Tilla Tibetan camp in Delhi for six months.

During his stay, he noticed friction between the Tibetans and the Indians who lived adjacent from each other. The tension alluded to a complicated history between the two groups.

Johnson will return to India this year to research this relationship, thanks to a grant from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, a prestigious scholarship program that sends graduate students to the foreign countries of their choice to conduct research or teach English. Graduating seniors and recent bachelor’s degree recipients can also apply for the program.

“The project would be looking at some of the negative aspects that are being associated with conflict or resentment, but it’s also really focused on some of the positive forms of community that are coming up between Tibetans and the Gaddis,” said Johnson, a third-year anthropology doctoral student.

Syracuse University was named a top-producing institution for Fulbright students with 11 student winners this year, said Judy O’Rourke, director of undergraduate studies in academic affairs.

“It’s exciting for students to hear that. And as an institution, it makes us look great,” said Kate Hanson, counselor of academic services at the Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising at SU. “It’s a nice marker to share that we have students who are competitive at this level.”

The Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising is the university’s advising resource for Fulbright applicants, providing information sessions in the spring and guiding students through the application process. The first couple of information sessions take place this week.

The application process spans months. It includes preparing essays and gaining an affiliation with an institution in the host country. Applicants for the English Teaching Assistant scholarship also undergo a language evaluation.

The center has recently intensified its efforts to produce viable candidates.

“It’s stemming from the belief that SU students are doing incredible things, are talented and are competitive for these awards,” Hanson said.

High grades, community engagement and a strong interest in the chosen field round out a strong application, Hanson said. Students also need a sense of adventure, given the scholarship’s emphasis on being a cultural ambassador.

But Hanson said there’s a difference between a student who’s a strong applicant and a strong application.

Applicants typically start the process a few months before the mid-October deadline. Applications are submitted to Fulbright committees in the United States, and finalists are recommended to the host countries. Each host country has its own Fulbright committee that selects the scholarship winners from the finalist pool.

The scholars are announced sometime between late March and the beginning of summer, said O’Rourke, the director of undergraduate studies in academic affairs.

The center offers personal mentoring, which pairs students with professors to review and critique the writing portions of the application and offer specific advice.

Johnson’s adviser, anthropology professor Susan Wadley, told him to “avoid making it sound like your research is going to change the world.”

“You’re not inventing something new. You’re critiquing or expanding on what other people have already written or thought about,” Johnson said.

Johnson, an experienced traveler, said one of his main research methods will be “deep hanging out,” or spending as much time as possible with the people who live there.

“It means going to birthday parties, it means teaching English at the Hindi school, participating in farming activities,” he said. “It’s really being a part of the informalities of the everyday life.”

He said he hopes to gain insight into how the Gaddi are affected by living between two refugee communities. The Tibetan refugees receive significant government and foreign aid, causing some Gaddi to feel their culture is being overshadowed, Johnson said.

For Stephen Barton, the allure of the Fulbright scholarship was the challenge of “being placed in a city in Siberia,” surrounded mostly by Russians and becoming fluent in Russian.

“There’s a tendency for people to stick with other American students,” said Barton, who won a grant to teach English in Russia for the next year. “I studied in Madrid and I was guilty of that myself.”

Barton, who graduated from SU as a triple major in 2012, studied Russian in college and wanted to travel there, but was hesitant to pay for the trip.

Barton admitted he was reluctant to show his writing for the application to other people.

“When I submitted my personal statement to the university, I was the only one who’d seen it,” he said.

But he said the university does a “great job” of pairing students with professors with expertise in their chosen countries.

Said Barton: “I’m not sure I’m the greatest example of an applicant, but the lesson of my case is to utilize the resources that you can.”

Published on April 9, 2013 at 11:04 pm

Contact Natsumi: najisaka@syr.edu