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Global Engagement Fellows Program

Overview | Eligibility | Apply | Current Fellows | Leadership & Mentors

Overview

two people shaking hands

The Global Engagement Fellows program helps create a multicultural, multilingual, and interconnected campus to better prepare its students to thrive in a complex and global society.

The Fellows (students) are paired with a Mentor (alumni and members of the Vanderbilt community) for the year. Together they explore Nashville’s multilingual community and share their passion about language and culture with the broader Vanderbilt campus.

Fellows provide culturally enriching programs for student audiences, often combined with content in languages other than English (readings, performances, music, media, television/films, speakers).

The Global Engagement Fellows program is supported by the Vanderbilt Center for Languages, empowering its participants through community, mentorship, and funding.

  • Fellows contribute to making visible a mix of international students, heritage speakers, third-culture kids, returnees from study abroad, or any student interested in crossing cultural and linguistic borders, in service to the greater goal of promoting language integration and cultural competence among Vanderbilt University’s campus communities.
  • Our Fellows are partnered with a Mentor who has more years’ experience crossing cultural borders and living in a multilingual world. As faculty members, staff, alumni, and community partners, our GEF Mentors contribute to the program by lending their expertise, by listening, and by bringing to the conversation a wealth of experience.

Join us for our upcoming events!

Eligibility

The following students are eligible to apply:

  • All students, graduate and undergraduate, are eligible to apply.
  • Preference will be given to sophomores and juniors.

Our Fellows often identify as part of one or more of these groups:

  • Study Abroad Returnees

The GEF program provides a landing pad for students returning from studying abroad.  It provides guidance, community, and support certainly, but also targeted activities that can ease their way back into campus life, connect them with similarly oriented Fellows, and contribute positively to campus culture.

  • International Students

The GEF program recognizes the unique perspectives of its international student members.  It values the contributions of international students to life at Vanderbilt, and can help better integrate our international student community, both undergraduate and graduate, into campus life.

  • Heritage Speakers of languages other than English

Our heritage speakers also bring a valued perspective to campus life, enriching our notions of identity through the lens of language, family, and culture.

  • Third-Culture Kids (TCKs)

Students who identify as Third-Culture Kids usually grow up outside their parents’ home culture(s); consequently, they must establish for themselves their own, third culture.  For both TCKs and heritage speakers, the GEF program celebrates their presence at Vanderbilt and provides legitimacy to their individual experience, as they may move between languages in ways that defy easy categorization.

How to Apply

Applications for the 2024-25 academic year are due by September 10 for the fall semester, and January 17 for the spring semester. Once your application is reviewed, we will reach out to schedule an interview. Thank you for your interest in the Global Engagement Fellows.

Apply Now 

Fellows

  Esme Adotey
     
  Evan Bennett
     
  Nathan Bornstein
     
  Pelin Cokuslu
     
  Sara Elhassan
     
  Hanabi Geiger
     
    Leona Iizuka
     
  Dina Ishak
     
  Taisiia Kostiuk
     
Tammy Le Headshot   Tammy Le
     
  Leanard Lu
     
  Catherine Morrison-Rodriguez
     
  Azah Osman
     
  Susannah Oster
     
    Cesar Palacios
     
  Pedro Rosales-Diaz
     
    Ana Santamaria
     
  Alisa Shmidt
     
  Ethan Skinner
     
    Lucy Van der Reis
     
    Carson Viggiano
     
  Riley Williams
     
  Jenny Yang
     
  Yoshiya Yano
     
  Akari Zhang

 

Current Fellows looking to submit an event proposal should do so using this form.

Mentors

   

Divya Chaudhry
Senior Lecturer, Asian Studies

       
    Natalie Curcio, M.D.
Dermatologist, Entrepreneur, Vanderbilt Alum, Polyglot
       
   

Alexis Finet
Assistant Professor of the Practice, French

       
   

Alan Hurtado
Ph.D. Student, Chemical and Physical Biology

       
   

Seok Bae Jang
Principal Senior Lecturer in Asian Studies (Korean)

       
   

Bohyeong Kim
Assistant Professor, Communication Studies

       
   

Jeong-Oh Kim
Senior Lecturer, English

       
   

Xianmin Liu
Principal Senior Lecturer, Chinese

       
   

Asami Nakano
Lecturer, Asian Studies

       
Tammy Le Headshot    

Caroline Nikolaus
Study Abroad Advisor, Vanderbilt Global Education Office

       
   

Honorine Rouiller
Senior Lecturer, French

       
   

Mareike Sattler
Senior Lecturer, Anthropology

       
   

Brayan Serratos
Ph.D. Student, Spanish

       
   

Chiara Sulprizio
Senior Lecturer, Classical and Mediterranean Studies

       
   

Yuanqi “Suzy” Wang
Senior Advisor for Experiential Learning, Vanderbilt Global Education Office

       
   

Steve Wenz
Senior Lecturer, Spanish and Portuguese

Current Mentors looking to submit an event proposal should do so using this form.