From researching regenerative medicine in Sweden to teaching in Vietnam, 11 Wake Forest students and recent graduates have been awarded Fulbright scholarships to go abroad during the 2013-1014 academic year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program — the most prestigious international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government — offers opportunities for students and young professionals to conduct research or teach English in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Jason Green (’13) of White Plains, N.Y., will conduct regenerative medicine research in Sweden, and Diane Hazel (’05) of Washington, D.C., will study law in Namibia.

Nine students were awarded Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships and will be teaching English abroad:

• Sal Badillo (’13) of Tampa, Fla. is teaching in Spain
• Theodore Barton (’13) of Pinon Hills, Calif., is teaching in Poland
• Amanda Cain (’13) of Alexandria, Va., is teaching in Vietnam
• Elizabeth Cannon (’13) of Atlanta, Ga., is teaching in South Korea
• Carter Kenyon (’13) of Brentwood, Tenn., is teaching in Germany
• Carleigh Morgan (’12) of Greensboro, N.C., is teaching in Turkey
• Annie Ornelles (’11) of Winston-Salem, N.C., is teaching in Andorra
• Becky Perry (’13) of Monroe, N.C., is teaching in Germany
• Renee Slawsky (’13) of Knoxville, Tenn., is teaching in Russia

Including the 11 named here, 83 Wake Forest graduates or students have been named Fulbright scholars since 1992.

Two students who were recommended by the U.S. Fulbright committee to the host committees in other countries are currently listed as alternates for English Teaching Assistantships (ETA) abroad:

• Molly King (’13) for Ecuador
• Ken Meyer (’13) for Turkey

Maggie Rodgers (’13) is an alternate for the Fulbright ETA to Germany. She is the recipient of an Austrian Fulbright Commissions ETA for 2013-14.

One Wake Forest graduate, Paige Haynes (’11), was chosen as an alternate to conduct political science research in Poland.

The 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro is just over one year away. But while fan excitement builds, 170,000 Brazilians may be relocated from their homes as the city makes room for construction and infrastructure projects to accommodate the millions of expected visitors.

It’s a story that might not make the news without help from foreign correspondent Jawad Wahabzada, a graduating senior who was recently named a fellow for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The journalism program at Wake Forest is a member of the Center’s Campus Consortium, which brings foreign correspondents to campus and provides funding for the fellowship.

This August, Wahabzada will travel to Rio de Janeiro to film a short documentary about Betto Guaraciaba and his work with children living in the favelas, many of whom will be affected by the loss of their family homes as shantytowns are destroyed to prepare for the World Cup.

A retired boxer and now a photographer, Guaraciaba began his life in the streets of the favelas. He now dedicates his time to impoverished children, teaching them to box, giving them hope and keeping them away from drugs and violence.

“Through the eyes of Betto, I plan to explore how the World Cup preparations are affecting the residents of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas as families are forced out of their homes. I hope to present an original perspective to this issue from the eyes of those who have experienced it firsthand.”

Wahabzada is Wake Forest’s second recipient of the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting’s student fellowship. Majoring in communications and minoring in film and religion, he is an experienced documentary filmmaker whose previous work, “Children of Kabul,” has been mentioned on CNN iReport and CNN Backstory. Wahabzada’s proposal was selected from among many strong applications with assistance from staff members at the Pulitzer Center in Washington.

“Jawad will be working one-on-one with a Pulitzer Center editor on a multimedia project that will include blog posts, photographs, stories and a short film. His work will be published on the Pulitzer Center website and possibly in national news outlets,” says Justin Catanoso, director of Wake Forest’s journalism program. “He’ll receive mentoring on how to refine his work and prepare a final story that will inform and inspire. It’s a fantastic opportunity.”

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an innovative award-winning non-profit journalism organization dedicated to supporting the independent international journalism that U.S. media organizations are increasingly less able to undertake. The Center focuses on under-reported topics, promoting high-quality international reporting and creating platforms that reach broad and diverse audiences. The organization is based in Washington, D.C.

The University’s affiliation with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is made possible through funding from Wake Forest’s Office of Global Affairs.

“My name is ‘Sheetza,’” Shanghai native Xizi Liao says when introducing herself. “It rhymes with pizza.”

With support from her professors and friends, Liao has embraced her American education and is well known around the Wake Forest campus. The senior has held several leadership positions during her four years of college, including president of the Resident Student Association. This fall, she will attend graduate school to study college student development.

But not all international students are as determined to get through the challenges of adjusting to college life in America as Liao, nor do they all find the support they need when they arrive on campus.

Liao, a business and enterprise management major, is one of 143 international undergraduate students who call Wake Forest home, and one of nearly 200,000 students from China enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities.

“From my first days on campus, faculty mentors have helped me conquer my fears and acclimate to my new environment. But it’s not the same for every Chinese student in the U.S.,” says Liao. “If you want to be immersed in the academic and social culture here, you have to speak English and learn to ask questions.”

Addressing the so-called “China conundrum”

There are significant differences between Chinese and American education systems that create challenges for Chinese students. In addition to the inherent language difficulties, the Chinese high school curriculum is designed to prepare students for the high stakes national exam where answers come from memorization. That focus lacks opportunities for critical thinking, problem solving, creative expression, and collaboration—skills that are critical for academic and social success in the U.S.

“At Wake Forest, it’s the student’s responsibility to do much of the learning outside of class time. Discussions take place in class, and if you don’t ask questions, your professors and peers assume you know the answers. In China, students depend on the teacher for information. The teacher helps the student walk the walk. It’s a very different style.”

To help bridge the academic and cultural differences between educational experiences in their home country and those in the U.S., Wake Forest is introducing the Wake Forest Advantage program. The initiative is designed to help international students prepare for higher education in the U.S. before they arrive on campus.

Piloted and rolling out first in China, the program is designed to benefit both the students who complete the program and the institutions that enroll them.

Liao was introduced to American culture before starting at Wake Forest — attending summer programs and competitions in the U.S. But many Chinese students apply to American colleges and universities having little or no understanding of English and American culture.

Chinese students sometimes struggle academically and socially once they arrive in the U.S., in part because admissions offices lack the information or validation they need to choose among Chinese applicants. In addition to language and cultural barriers, challenges arise from a significant number of falsified application documents, letters of recommendation and high school transcripts submitted by prospective students.

Wake Forest Advantage is the only program of its kind to address the challenges higher education faces in determining which international applicants are prepared for study in the U.S. and which may have trouble adjusting.

Wake Forest Advantage highlights

The goals for the curriculum, designed by Wake Forest faculty and developed collaboratively with EdisonLearning, are to help improve oral and written English skills while increasing students’ awareness and understanding of performance expectations in American college classrooms. Sessions include lessons on academic research, writing, and speaking and provide students with practice working collaboratively with their peers. The activities include content that helps Chinese students understand American culture and history.

There are three models available to Chinese families:

The first model, the traditional Wake Forest Advantage program, is an after school supplementary model with teachers employed and trained by Wake Forest. The program runs in collaboration with partner high schools. Students and teachers meet once a week for three hours — providing Chinese students with approximately 90 hours of educational and cultural training.

The second model for the program is the embedded Wake Forest Advantage, where schools in China use the traditional Wake Forest-designed curriculum within the regular school day. These schools have their own expat instructors who are trained by Wake Forest to deliver 90 hours of training during normal instructional hours.

Finally, the Wake Forest Summer Academy incorporates much of the content and methodology from the traditional and embedded models delivered in a shorter time frame (72 contact hours). Wake Forest professors, alumni from the Wake Forest Teacher Education programs, and students currently enrolled in Wake Forest Teacher Education programs deliver the instruction.

Students in the traditional and embedded programs create a Digital Portfolio — a video-based reflection that combines student performance in class with video reflections composed by and delivered orally on camera by the student.

Created by the student in China, evaluated at Wake Forest University, and mailed directly from Wake Forest to the colleges and universities where program participants apply for admission in the United States, this validation of students’ abilities provides admissions officers with incontrovertible visual and audio confirmation about their Chinese applicants’ readiness.

Each student’s application arrives at U.S. college admissions offices in a distinctive package, with a Wake Forest Advantage logo and a gold, silver or bronze seal. Gold signifies that the student presented in the portfolio is ready for the most challenging undergraduate institution. Silver and bronze indicate progressively lower levels of readiness, but in every case admissions officers will know that the student applying has been through a rigorous preparation program and is familiar with what is expected for study in the U.S.

A global education: Why preparedness matters

In our increasingly global society, international student enrollment at U.S. colleges and universities continues to increase. The more quickly international students are able to become acclimated and engaged in their education, the more quickly the campus community benefits from the global experience of international education.

In her role as a campus life residence hall advisor, Liao says she sees first-hand the communication challenges between American and Chinese students.

“American students are scared of what to say to international students, but they are definitely curious. We can build community faster if international students come to campus already familiar with the American culture. Even something as simple as responding to “What’s up?” can be uncomfortable if you don’t know that’s a typical greeting.”

“Chinese students who come to the U.S. have both academic and social challenges,” says Associate Provost for Global Affairs Kline Harrison. “In order for Wake Forest students to enjoy the benefits of a global educational experience, it is important for Chinese students to feel confident in their academic abilities and confident about interacting with American peers. Students coming to Wake Forest with the Wake Forest Advantage experience are more likely to fully benefit from their college years as true Demon Deacons and are also much more likely to reach their potential as sources of enrichment for the university community as a whole.”

To learn more, visit the Wake Forest Advantage website.

Lion dancers, drummers, and kung fu performers joined Wake Forest students and the community to celebrate the “Year of the Snake” at The Chinese New Year Festival on Feb. 16.

This annual event, hosted by the Wake Forest Asian Student Interest Association (ASIA) with support from the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Chinese Student Scholar Association, featured performances and activities to highlight Chinese culture.

Students from the Chinese School of Winston-Salem (K-6 graders) gave a special presentation. Dressed in traditional red, blue and purple, they presented a talent show including poetry and musical acts.

Festival goers sampled authentic Chinese dishes such as dumplings, rice cakes and fried red bean cakes. Red envelopes filled with chocolate gold coins were given out as part of the celebration. These represent the Chinese tradition of presenting money to friends and family during the holiday. The red color is thought to bring good luck.

“We love opportunities to share our cultural practices not only with the Asian student community at Wake Forest but also with the rest of the students and the community,” said senior Ting Jiang, president of ASIA. “We want guests who are unfamiliar with our culture to experience it while learning the meaning and the significance of the holiday.”

The Chinese New Year is the most important traditional Chinese holiday. This 15 day festival begins on the first day of the lunar calendar and marks the beginning of spring. The holiday has been observed for centuries and is celebrated worldwide.

“My favorite part of the event is seeing that the guests love the delicious food and the exquisite performances we have prepared for them,” Jiang said. “Nothing is better than knowing that our guests will go home and share their experiences with their loved ones.”

Danielle Gallant, a senior sociology major, traveled to India during the winter break to lead a group of 10 students volunteering in the University’s City of Joy program. Below, Gallant shares her reasons for returning to India for a second time and what she learned from working with the late Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata (also known as Calcutta):

Words often fail me when I try to tell others about my experiences in Kolkata because the City of Joy is about love – a love that is too challenging and too deep to adequately articulate. I was initially drawn to the program for two main reasons. I have always been fascinated by Indian culture – the colors, the tastes, the smells, the sounds, the dances, the history, the beautiful way that chaos and peace harmonize in everyday life. Secondly, my mother’s deep compassion has inspired me to be a service-oriented person.

Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity consist of a series of homes throughout Kolkata. Linking them all is Mother’s Hour, where the sisters live and work just as Mother Teresa did. Volunteers are invited to Mass with the sisters every morning at 6 a.m Then,the sisters welcome everyone into Mother’s House volunteer room for morning announcements, prayer and breakfast. Each home houses residents of varying ages and physical abilities. Volunteering is split into morning and afternoon shifts where you work alongside sisters, local workers and volunteers from around the world. At each home the work consists of a combination of general housekeeping, resident care and resident stimulation.

In 2012, I worked in Prem Dan, meaning “a gift of love,” the home for sick and disabled adults and Kalighat, the home for the sick and dying. On this trip I found myself thoroughly overwhelmed by the entire experience. The grinding poverty throughout the city coupled with the most challenging service I had ever done were more than I thought I could handle. For the first few days I was miserable, but one morning at Prem Dan changed my whole experience. Beyond the language barrier, I saw the unmistakable look of humiliation on the face of a woman I had become quite fond of. She was very sick and had lost control of her bowels. Through this moment of realization when I clearly understood how she was feeling, I lost my fear of the unknown and fell in love with the people of the missionaries and all of Kolkata. I was finally able to see past the barriers of culture, ability, and illness to understand the devotion of Mother Teresa and her sisters. I learned that even in the midst of chaos some things are universal like kindness, that laughter bonds people, and the power of human touch.

Back at Wake Forest I felt called return to Kolkata, and was fortunately granted that opportunity.

As a student leader for the 2013 group, I worked in the morning in Shanti Dan, meaning “gift of peace,” a home for disabled women and girls. In the afternoon I worked in Daya Dan, meaning “gift of mercy,” a home for disabled children. This year, I traveled to India full of love rather than fear, ready to serve in the motto of Pro Humanitate. The City of Joy program showed me the beauty in uncertainty. I may not know where life will take me, but wherever I go, I will go with passion and whatever I do, I will do with love.

Twenty-one nations in the world use Spanish as their primary language. But a basic Spanish course, with its entry-level lessons on uno, dos, tres and rojo, blanco, azul, is unlikely to make it easier for students to communicate when studying abroad in one of these countries.

“Spanish is often taught as if it is a uniform language, but it varies from region to region and country to country to different extents,” says Jerid Francom, a Spanish language and linguistics professor. “Finding the unique features in the way a particular culture uses Spanish means students will be better prepared for their study abroad. The more quickly a student feels comfortable in a culture, the more he or she will take away from their experience.”

With funding from The National Endowment for the Humanities, Francom has been using language from film to learn more about how conversational Spanish is spoken in three Spanish-speaking countries — Argentina, Mexico and Spain — collecting data on word usage that may someday change the way language courses are taught.

The research

Jerid Fracom

More than 300 films from these three countries studied formed the basis of his research. Francom collected the available subtitles from an online repository. Using cutting-edge computer technology, he merged 1.5 million words from films, looking at the appearance of these words and the context in which they were used.

“By pulling dialogue from all movie genres, from comedy to horror, we learned more about the similarities and differences in the Spanish that people speak in Argentina, Mexico and Spain,” he says.

Francom next traveled to each of the three countries and conducted tests with native speakers to determine if the information on word use collected from the film subtitles would hold up against in-field testing.

“One cannot know beforehand if the words collected from a source will truly be reflective of those people actually use or how these words will be used in context. In collaboration with colleagues from Spain, Mexico and Argentina, we consulted more than 80 native speakers in each country and used word recognition response time and personal evaluation tests to gives us the psychological validation we needed to assess the language data.”

The results look promising.

The future of language instruction

To best prepare for study abroad, students need a working knowledge of authentic, real-world language in order to confidently interact in meaningful ways in their host country. Effective preparation needs to incorporate those words and their meanings that are specific to the country being visited, Francom says.

Unlike a textbook, Francom’s language database is dynamic and will evolve as he and his researchers add more movies. In the next phase of the research, he plans to examine word phrases rather than just individual words.

“Some day, I hope to make our research accessible in an easy to understand and usable fashion by creating a website where anyone will be able to search for word and phrase usage information to learn more about a country they will be visiting. After all, language is a window into culture.”

Francom joined the Department of Romance Languages in 2009.

That Steve Folmar’s research in Nepal has been funded by the National Science Foundation’s cultural anthropology program for more than $150,000 is reason to celebrate. For students, however, the best news is that the support brings additional opportunities to be a part of the project.

In this landlocked country wedged between China and India, Folmar, whose research focuses on issues of identity and social justice, is gathering anthropologists, psychiatrists and psychologists to explore the connections between social status, identity and mental health.

“Most would assume that people of high social status have fewer mental health issues and those with low social status have more. But this is not a neat relationship,” says Folmar.

A person of low social status who views their position in society as being influenced by culturally constructed boundaries, is more likely to see a way out of their current conditions in life than a person who sees their status as a result of something uncontrollable, such as gender or skin color, Folmar says. “What we are hoping to discover is whether the freedom for social and economic movement in a society is connected to a healthier mental outlook.”

Why Nepal?

A husband and wife of the "tailor" caste working in their shop.

Socially, religiously, medically, economically and in any other way you can think of, Folmar says the caste system puts a heavy burden on the Dalits in Nepal — the group most discriminated against under the system. “It is one of the most intransigent systems of oppression on earth and creates a bad environment for the people at the bottom.” This social system provides barriers between groups that go beyond class designations and makes social status easier to study.

Folmar and co-principal investigators Lisa Kiang, an assistant professor of psychology who studies self and identity and Guy Palmes an associate professor in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, are focusing on how Nepalese teens form ideas about their identity during this critical time in human development.

Though the project site is based in Besisahar, 90 miles or so west of Kathmandu, Folmar and his team anticipate that the results or their work will help inform studies looking at identity in marginalized groups in other countries, including the United States.

The research

Folmar’s Nepal project will take existing research a step further by including upper and middle status people in the study.

“If high status people see their status as changeable, does this lead to negative mental health issues from the worry that they might lose their social position? If so, this is opposite of low status people who experience changeable status as a positive for their mental health,” Folmar says. “We are also curious what the middle status group will look like. Adding these components will provide a model that will cover more situations.”

When Folmar’s students travel to Nepal in May, they will assist his graduate research team in collecting and analyzing data. The interdisciplinary nature of the project means undergraduates with a variety of academic interests will enjoy unique opportunities to collaborate one-on-one, as well as with medical school students and the Nepalese.

Folmar has been conducting research projects in Nepal since 1979.

Less than a year ago, communication professor Alessandra Von Burg launched an ambitious project that invited people to share their ethnic and cultural experiences through one-on-one video interviews.

Von Burg’s vision was born of the idea that everyone has stories to tell whether they are lifelong U.S. citizens or recent immigrants. The compilation of these video stories is now online at the new Where are you from? Project multimedia website.

Alessandra Von Burg

The site, designed by documentary film program graduate student Chris Zaluski, includes short interviews of people discussing their heritage as well as an interactive feature where visitors can post a self-made video interview. A Google map info-graphic shows where people in the videos were born. The new website is the next step in creating a common history that will help connect Americans who come from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Von Burg, along with Zaluski and her team of Wake Forest documentary film program graduate students, undergraduate communication students and willing volunteer storytellers, has produced more than 30 videos. The project began with experiences of migration and mobility told by students, faculty and staff at the University. Now, interviews from permanent residents, green-card holders, foreign-born naturalized citizens, as well as undocumented residents and refugees, are also included.

While video submissions continue, and all are invited to participate, the next phase of the project is in planning. Full transcripts of the interviews will be made available for data analysis as open source material on the website.

Math professor Kenneth Berenhaut and communication professor Ananda Mitra will be analyzing data from the interviews. Von Burg has presented preliminary findings from the project at domestic and international conferences. “We anticipate the interviews and the conclusions from the data analysis will inform and influence policies about immigration,” she says.

Computer science professor William Turkett and students in his department are developing an application for mobile devices that will allow users to watch the interviews, leave comments, record and write their own story, upload video and pictures and invite others to submit interviews.

The website launch was announced at an international dinner hosted by World Relief, an organization that assists with immigration and relocation in the Triad area. The organization is developing an outreach campaign to help identify new community partners for the Where are you from? Project.

The Where are you from? Project is made possible in part by funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Wake Forest University ranks third among doctoral U.S. colleges and universities in number of students studying abroad, according to the Open Doors report recently published by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

According to the IIEs methodology, 72 percent of Wake Forest undergraduates received credit for study abroad in the 2010-2011 academic year, with students spending anywhere from a few weeks to a summer to a full academic year visiting countries around the world.

The University, ranked sixth in 2009-2010, jumped three positions.

“Wake Forest has made a clear commitment to increase the number of scholarships available for students studying abroad,” said Associate Provost of Global Affairs Kline Harrison. “In particular, we are working hard to bridge the gap between the amount of money a student raises through other University scholarships, departmental funding, or their own initiatives and the amount of money they need — particularly when this is the first opportunity a student has had to travel abroad.”

In addition to increasing funds available for overseas study, Harrison said there has been a concerted effort to work with faculty to streamline the process for developing summer courses that include a cross-cultural experience.

Opportunities for short-term study abroad are also increasing as faculty include week-long travel opportunities in their courses that take advantage of spring or winter academic breaks.

Another new initiative: training and planning assistance is available to support faculty who want to lead an overseas program as part of their course but are unfamiliar with the process.

Wake Forest offers more than 400 semester, summer and year-long study abroad programs in 200 cities in more than 70 countries worldwide. These programs have challenging coursework, and many have opportunities for internships, field study, independent research, language partnerships, community service, organized group excursions and personal travel.

Harrison said the Wake Forest University Center for International Studies does an outstanding job getting the word out about the wide range of study abroad opportunities available.

“We wouldn’t have the study abroad numbers that we do without our staff of experts who work with students to find the opportunities for overseas travel that match their academic needs and their personal interests.”

“When I was looking for an abroad program, I knew that it had to be in the summer and it had to offer business school credit,” said finance major Amy DeSalvo. “I found several programs that fit my requirements, and eventually chose one that allowed me to study in several countries that I always wanted to visit. The many opportunities at Wake Forest allow students of any grade, major, or financial status to find a program that’s a perfect fit.”

On July 6, 2012, I left my home in small town Pensacola, Fla., and headed to Melbourne, Australia. With a carry-on bag full of journal articles on influenza that felt as weighty as my 20 kilo luggage allowance, I was en route to the lab of Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty to work on T-cell immunity with the hope of informing the design of a universal vaccine strategy against influenza.

Influenza is an acute respiratory disease that results in profound morbidity and mortality. In recent years, influenza has garnered much attention because of the global spread of the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus in 2009, proclaimed by the World Health Organization a pandemic.

Currently, our best tools against influenza A are antibody-based vaccines that target the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) surface glycoproteins of the virus. Antigenic changes and adaptations within HA and NA mandate, however, the costly production of a new vaccine yearly and render current vaccines completely ineffective in the face of novel pandemic strains, such as H1N1. Therefore, there is great need for a universal vaccine that would be effective on all strains of influenza.

To inform the design of a universal vaccine strategy, I worked with members of the Doherty lab for an action-packed six weeks. The people I met, conversations I had and experiences I lived redefined the way I think about science and medicine. The lab, a unique international mélange, showed me the breadth of the worldwide scientific community working together toward one end. Researchers included a graduate student from Mexico, a postdoc from China, a postdoc from Malaysia, a PhD from Russia, an undergraduate from Scotland, and me—an undergrad from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. On a regular basis, we were in contact with labs in Germany, the Netherlands, and even St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

I left Australia, however, with more than a long list of new technical skills and bragging rights to having spent my birthday enjoying Australian biscuits and chocolate cake with one of the most influential immunologists of the 20^th century. I returned with a greater sense of the significance of my work and more of a “big picture” understanding that transcends cultural boundaries and mitigates the scientific antagonism that can stem from the fight for grant money and the race for the consummate success in the scientific world—publication in peer reviewed journals.

Before I conducted research in the Doherty lab, I evaluated disease by the algorithm taught in virtually all textbooks—the pathogen’s virulence, biochemical mechanism, its natural reservoir, etc. Now, however, I see disease as a great equalizer that breaches the walls of race, gender, culture and socio-economic status, revealing humanity’s most visceral common thread—our biology.

Lauren Edgar is a junior biology and chemistry double major with a concentration in biochemistry. Her research work in Australia was made possible through the Richter Scholars Program. The program supports independent study scholarships for undergraduate students. Richter Scholarships are competitively awarded for students proposing an independent study project requiring travel away from Winston-Salem, N.C. International projects are especially encouraged.