With five of 16 applicants awarded Fulbright Fellowships last year, Bowdoin has been named a "Top Producer of Fulbright Awards for American Students," according to the Institute of International Education.
The Fulbright Fellowship Program is funded by the U.S. government and allows graduating seniors to conduct research, engage in graduate study, or teach abroad. This year, 21 Bowdoin seniors have applied for Fulbright fellowships.
"This is the highest number on the records we've got," Director of the Career Planning Center and Director of Fellowships and Scholarships Anne Shields said. Four seniors have also been nominated for the Watson fellowship.
Shields noted that in addition to seeing an increase in the number of applicants, students are interested in traveling to a wider range of countries, including Germany, Korea, Taiwan, Spain, France, Brazil, and Slovakia.
Drew Friedmann '06 has been nominated for the Watson fellowship. The Watson fellowship is a one-year program funded by the U.S. government that allows students to do an independent study abroad.
If awarded the fellowship, Friedmann hopes to travel to the Netherlands, Bangladesh, the Pacific Islands, and Greenland.
"These countries have little in common but are all threatened by factors associated with a rise in sea level due to global warming," Friedmann said.
"Traveling by sea kayak, I will photographically document these shorelines and interact with coastal inhabitants as well as local climatologists," he said.
Fulbright applicant Anna Troyansky '06 would like to teach English in a primary or secondary school in France next year.
"I hope to gain experience teaching foreign languages, as I intend to eventually teach French in the United States," Troyansky said.
Jonah Popp '06 also hopes to teach abroad.
"I am hoping to get a grant to help teach conversational English to high school students in South Korea," Popp said.
"I hope to learn about Korean language, culture, and geography and gain some teaching skills and a more explicit understanding of English," he said.
Chair of the Bowdoin Fellowships and Scholarships Committee and Professor of Film Tricia Welsch urges students to apply for a fellowship, even if their future plans are still somewhat "unfocused."
"We find that whether or not the student wins, they are able to use the process to plan their futures," Welsch said.
"We work very closely with applicants. The attention they get from faculty and staff makes this a really encouraging opportunity," she added.
The marked increase in the number of fellowship applicants may be attributed to the efforts of the Bowdoin Fellowships and Scholarships Committee, as well as to the increased involvement in faculty urging students to apply.
Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Biochemistry Department David Page has been working as part of the committee to strengthen the Fellowship Program.
"It's really a team effort," Page said.
Shields noted that faculty members have been identifying potential fellowship candidates earlier, also adding to the recent strength of the program.
"We are now trying to identify them before senior year," she said.
According to Shields, Bowdoin encourages fellowship candidates to focus on the process and less on the end result.
"With our emphasis on 'you learn a lot from the process,' we make sure every candidate gets interviewed," Shields said.
Welsch agreed.
"Everyone gets a chance to be heard and gets feedback on their interviewing skills. They all get a hearing," she said.
"We really want students to learn how to think through a proposal. It's not about winning, but about becoming a stronger student. It's about learning how to present yourself through a process," she said.
The Fulbright applicants will find out if they passed the initial stage in February, but final decisions may not be made until as late as June. The Watson applicants will hear back in March.
"Our [committee's] larger scale goal is to make more of our students see themselves as viable applicants for the fellowships. We are missing candidates," Welsch said.
"We're trying to improve the intellectual life of the community but we're also helping people really dream big," she said.