This year’s recipients of Fulbright Student awards — one alumna and four graduating seniors — will pursue English teaching assistant grants in Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Thailand, and research awards in Cyprus and Norway during 2024–25.
Bates has been recognized as a Top Producer of Fulbright Student awards for 13 straight years, most recently last February.
The Bates Fulbright Committee described these five international ambassadors as positive and hardy; eager and spontaneous; adaptable, dedicated, and devoted; and one as a passionate “teacher-as-learner.”
The winners bring a wealth of international experience with deep personal ties to the nations where they’ve chosen to serve. The fact the research grant work constitutes half of Bates’ Fulbright awards this year is a positive sign, said Robert Strong, Bates director of national fellowships and a lecturer in English.
“Bates has traditionally been very strong in the English teaching assistant category, so it has been wonderful to see growing numbers in research applications in recent years,” Strong said. “This year, for the first time ever at Bates, research grants matched ETAs, and we look forward to being a leader in both categories in the years to come.”
This year’s Fulbright Student award recipients:
Caroline Barnes ’19
Caroline Barnes ’19, a double major in anthropology and in classical and medieval studies from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., earned a Fulbright study/research award for Cyprus.
Relevant Experience Includes: Worked scanning and recording excavation plans for the Department of Antiquities in the Republic of Cyprus, co-founder and co-editor of a graduate academic journal, and the academic liaison for the Canadian-Hellenic Cultural Society.
Bates Activities Include: Varsity field hockey player; Alumni-in-Admission member.
Fulbright Research Purpose: To investigate the development of Cyprus’s first cities for a doctoral dissertation. Her work will look at both the macro-level settlement pattern changes through geographic information system (GIS) databases and analyses as well as micro-level changes to architecture at specific sites. Ultimately, Barnes hopes her work will not only contribute to a deeper understanding of Cyprus, but also challenge prevailing narratives about social complexity, urbanism, and Mediterranean archeology.
Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Cyprus: To volunteer at workshops and events hosted by the the Home for Cooperation community center and at events like the Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival, and to join a local running club.
Plans After Fulbright: To continue working on her doctoral dissertation at the University of British Columbia with the expectation of completing her dissertation in May 2025, and then publishing it soon after.
What the Bates Fulbright Committee Said: “Caroline is highly qualified to take on this research because of her expertise in Cypriot archaeology and the connections she has in Cyprus, namely with her affiliate, but also with multiple archaeological projects on the island. Caroline’s adaptability and maturity is demonstrated by her time living abroad in Greece and dedication to learning the Greek language. She is enthusiastic, devoted, and reliable, and will serve as an excellent steward for cultural exchange in Cyprus.”
More about Caroline Barnes: She has spent the last three years learning about Cyprus and Cypriot history, including archaeological field work and internships on the island. Barnes has cultivated relationships with both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot colleagues and she is proficient in the Greek language.
“I take pride in my capacity to bridge the gap between individuals from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds,” Barnes said.
“This is not only a skill that I have garnered from spending years away from home, but a cultural value that I exercise by building relationships and trust in the communities which I live and visit. So far, this has manifested in personal friendships in my day-to-day, and professional relationships garnered during archaeological field work.”
Caroline Cassell ’24
Caroline Cassell, a triple major in sociology, theater, and gender and sexuality studies from Woodstock, Vt., earned a Fulbright English teaching assistant grant for Bulgaria.
Relevant Experience Includes: Bates Student Writing and Language Center writing fellow and course tutor; camp counselor in Umbria, Italy, teaching English; cultural exchange coordinator at the Alice Storyteller Libreria cultural center in Florence and Tuscany, Italy; and a tutor and mentor at Hillview Head Start, a free preschool in Lewiston.
Bates and Community Activities Include: Robinson Players executive board; Merimanders vice president; Bates Outing Club water sports director; St. Mary’s Nutrition Center intern; Safe Voices intern (domestic abuse resource center).
Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Bulgaria: As a theater major, Cassel seeks to join or help to create an after-school drama or movie club. They also will continue their tradition of volunteering time in local libraries by hosting English talks or leading a book club. And one of Cassell’s favorite pastimes when traveling abroad is to go into a cafe with a chessboard or deck of cards and ask strangers to play — a tradition they hope to continue in Bulgaria.
Plans After Fulbright: To earn a master’s in library science with a goal of joining the Foreign Service as a regional public engagement specialist to design programs that support teachers.
What the Bates Fulbright Committee Said: “Caroline is not only a stellar student, but, more importantly, a well rounded and personable individual. Disciplined and caring, Caroline is an excellent representative of the US and its value of civic engagement. With intense eagerness to engage in cultural exchange, a clear commitment to education, and extensive knowledge about Bulgaria, Caroline will make a wonderful Fulbright ETA.”
More About Cassell: “I bring experience with girls’ empowerment to Bulgaria,” Cassell said. “In my conversations with high-school aged people, more specifically this past summer in Italy, several girls confided in me about societal pressure to fit a certain model of femininity. I found I was a role model, who both understood their struggles, and embodied what living confidently looked like. I look forward to continuing my tradition of creating empowering spaces for marginalized identities in Bulgaria.”
Jamie Hollander ’24
Jamie Hollander ’24, an earth and climate sciences major from Medfield, Mass., earned a Fulbright study/research award for Norway.
Relevant Experience Includes: Completing an honors thesis on carbon dynamics around a tidal restriction in the Drakes Island Salt Marsh in Wells, Maine; studying abroad in Denmark and researching in Svalbard, Norway; working as a Bates teaching assistant, researcher, and sediment lab technician in the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences.
Bates and Community Activities Include: Women’s club ice hockey member; captain of Cold Front (women’s club ultimate); president of the academic club Earth to Bates.
Fulbright Research Purpose: To examine the impact of climate change on methane emissions from retreating glaciers in Central Svalbard and to study the complex relationship between glacier melt, hydrological controls, and methane emissions.
Hollander also will study how these factors result from, and lead to, climate change, conducting the majority of the study at the Scott Turnerbreen and Paulabreen glaciers with a team from the Arctic University of Norway.
Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Norway: To partner with local schools in Tromsø to create programming for children in the Earth sciences and the outdoors and to join the Tromsøstudentenes Idrettslag (TSI) ultimate team to create meaningful connections in an unfamiliar setting.
Plans After Fulbright: To work as a researcher with either a governmental organization, such as the Forest Service or National Parks Service, or with an independent research organization before pursuing a master’s degree and Ph.D. in geochemistry.
What the Bates Fulbright Committee Said: “Having invested a lot of time in field work, including some time in the Arctic, Jamie understands the physical and mental demands of prolonged field campaigns and research. She is positive and hardy! She looks forward to this challenge, and in fact thrives in these sorts of environments. Jamie is an eager student, always the first to volunteer to get her hands dirty — often literally while doing field work.”
More About Hollander: Her research project will be rewarding, she says, because it continues the research begun at Bates, which culminated in her honors thesis. “Though my bachelor’s and Fulbright projects are different in terms of scope and landscape, many of the field and analysis techniques are similar.”
She’s eager to return to Arctic research, which can be “intense,” she says, with long days, tough conditions, and the usual setbacks of research work. “That said, the tough moments make all the others so much sweeter. I am lucky to have found my passion in this work, and I look forward to my next adventures.”
Qi Schmidt ’24
Qi Schmidt ’24, a Chinese major from Brooklyn, N.Y., earned a Fulbright English teaching assistant grant for Taiwan.
Relevant Experience Includes: Teacher’s assistant in Connors Elementary School and a volunteer with the Girl Scouts in New York, where she helped children in the New York City shelter system.
Bates Activities Include: American Sign Language Club member; Southeast Asian Society member.
Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Taiwan: To share her deep love of American music in Taiwan; to seek out Taiwanese musical artists, particularly in the Taiwanese indie music scene; and to play pickup volleyball, “a great, engaging team sport that almost anyone can play.”
Plans After Fulbright: To return to New York and gain more teaching experience at a Mandarin and English bilingual school. She is also considering a master’s degree in education.
What the Bates Fulbright Committee said: “Qi has the wonderful spirit of teacher-as-learner. She will arrive in the country with excellent knowledge about Taiwan. Qi is very ambitious in the best sense and will make a wonderful ETA in Taiwan. Her ability to maintain high energy and positivity will allow her to thrive teaching students at any level.”
More About Schmidt: Her decision to study abroad in Taiwan was fueled by her initial study-abroad visit to the island as a high school junior, when she studied environmental sustainability and permaculture practices.
“I was fortunate to be hosted by a family of the indigenous Atayal tribe,” Schmidt said. “They treated me to the most warm and wonderful experience an American student could ever have. My initial visit, coupled with my collegiate study abroad, have exposed me to how special Taiwan is. I want to return so I have sufficient occasion to investigate more deeply the people and the culture where I’m working.”
Phoebe Stern ’24
Phoebe Stern ’24, a religious studies major from Nashville, Tenn., earned a Fulbright English teaching assistant grant for Thailand.
Relevant Experience Includes: Tutor in Lewiston schools; working with Israeli and Arab students in Haifa, Israel; leading wilderness trips for children from 8 to 16 years old.
Bates Activities Include: Captain of the Cold Front club ultimate team; president of Jewish Student Union; AESOP trip leader; Multifaith Chaplaincy fellow.
Plans for Host-Community Engagement in Thailand: With extensive experience in the sport of ultimate, Stern intends to teach the sport to children in Thailand, highlighting the sport’s distinctive values of community, fun, and athleticism.
Plans After Fulbright: To work at a women’s rights advocacy nonprofit to help underserved communities, “aiming to leave spaces better than I found them.” After gaining experience, she intends to to attend law school to specialize in civil tort law and sexual abuse cases.
What the Bates Fulbright Committee said: In addition to being an exemplary academic performer at Bates, “Phoebe worked two part-time jobs, led a campus spiritual community, captained a sports team, and tutored students at the local high school. She has maintained a healthy work-life balance; she always has a smile and kind word for those around her, and is sought out by others for quiet conversations.”
More About Stern: In her junior year of high school, Stern and her family moved from Tennessee to Minnesota. Initially feeling uprooted and untethered, Stern embraced the experience as a formative opportunity.
Anonymity in her new community meant being “free to explore how I thought and what I wanted to get out of this life. I went through this time being true to myself in a way I had never previously allowed myself to do. This period of life gave me the confidence to think for myself and try new things that interested me, even if — or especially if — it did not make sense to people around me.”
