Published Friday, April 20th, 2018
The WSC senior has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Award (ETA) to serve in Indonesia.
Wayne State College is pleased to announce that senior Henry Dakota Miller of Crofton, Neb., has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award for an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) in Indonesia for the 2018-19 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Miller joins Anna Knezevic, a 2017 graduate, as the second Wayne State Fulbright recipient in two years.
Miller is one of more than 1,900 U.S. citizens who will study, conduct research, and teach abroad for the 2018-19 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.
“My interest in Indonesia emerged after studying abroad in Taiwan and China,” said Miller, who majored in sociology and communications. “Having been raised in rural Nebraska, the study abroad experience led me to place a high value on cultural immersion. This Fulbright award will enhance my cultural understanding, as well as create mutually beneficial relationships with the people of Indonesia. It is a great honor to represent my country, and Nebraska, and this is not something I take lightly.”
“The college is quite proud of Henry’s selection as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship finalist,” said Dr. Marysz Rames, president of Wayne State. “His year-long experience in Indonesia will provide him with a lifetime of experiences and memories that will fundamentally transform his approach to life, learning, and understanding.”
“Henry has spent his time at Wayne State College honing his intercultural communication skills,” said Dr. Deborah Whitt, professor of communication arts at Wayne State. “Those skills represent the core principles of the Fulbright mission in promoting international good will, engagement, openness, and mutual understanding. His study abroad trip to Asia two years ago developed into a joint communication research project between students at Providence University in Taiwan and Wayne State College students. The Fulbright opportunity will allow Henry to make new friendships and forge further cultural exchange of ideas.”
“As a former student athlete with a minor in international studies and public and global health, I am interested in projects related to sports and community health,” Miller said. “In addition, Indonesia’s motto ‘Unity in Diversity’ offers an opportunity to collect stories from different groups in the school and community to promote cultural understanding.”
“The Fulbright Award promotes intercultural understanding and service, and Henry has been selected because he is extraordinary among graduating students nationally,” said Dr. Barbara Engebretsen, professor of exercise science at Wayne State. “Henry has truly distinguished himself as a person who is committed to and passionate about not only understanding, but addressing biosocial determinants of health disparities locally and globally. To have had the privilege of walking alongside him for the time he has been at WSC is by far one of the brightest gifts of my years in this profession.”
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 380,000 participants -- chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential -- with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. More than 1,900 U.S. students, artists, and early career professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English, and conduct research annually in more than 140 countries throughout the world.
The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation by the United States Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.
In the United States, the Institute of International Education supports the implementation of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered at Wayne State College through the office of Multicultural and International Programs with the support of mentors: Dr. Eric Colvard (Fulbright - India); Dr. Barbara Engebretsen, (Fulbright Global Scholar - Ethiopia/Nepal); Dr. Jean Karlen, Professor Emeritus of Sociology/Service Learning; and Dr. Leah Keino, director of Multicultural and International Programs.
The next round of applications for the 2019-20 academic year is due Oct. 9, 2018. Interested students are encouraged to begin the application process as soon as possible. For more information, contact Dr. Leah Keino, Fulbright Program adviser, in the Multicultural & International Programs Center, Kanter Student Center #10, at 402-375-7749 or at [email protected].
For information about the Fulbright Program, visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright.