UofM Students Receive Prestigious Fulbright Awards to Study Keyed Trumpet, Teach English
April 17, 2018 - Two University of Memphis students have received prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards for the 2018-2019 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Robert Warren Apple, a PhD candidate in musicology and graduate assistant in the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, received the Fulbright-Mach Award, which will allow him to travel to Austria for nine months to continue his dissertation research on music composed for the keyed trumpet. He will have access to musical and archival collections in Austria, where the keyed trumpet came to prominence and where the initial compositions for the instrument were written.
"In the course of my dissertation research, I have already documented the existence of previously unknown pieces composed for the keyed trumpet," Apple said. "Unfortunately, many of these works only survive as unpublished manuscripts that I cannot gain access to here in the States. It's exciting that I can finally travel to Austria to study these pieces and, hopefully, rediscover more."
Danielle Porter, a senior majoring in psychology and Spanish and member of the Helen Hardin Honors College, received a Fulbright award to serve as an English teaching assistant in Spain. She will assist English language classes for pre-schools and elementary schools in the country's La Rioja region. Porter, who graduates in May, also will serve as a cultural ambassador to students, faculty, staff and the community.
"I'm proud to represent the University of Memphis and the South while fostering cultural exchange in the Spanish community," she said. "None of this would be possible without the support of my professors, staff, friends and family."
The two UofM students are among 1,900 U.S. citizens who will study, conduct research and teach abroad 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.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 370,000 participants with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. 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 some 140 countries throughout the world.
The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State and managed by the 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.
CONTACT
Chuck Gallina | 901.678.1756 l cgallina@memphis.edu