Global Engagement Fellows Program
Overview | Eligibility | Apply | Current Fellows | Leadership & Mentors
Overview
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 10 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.
Current Fellows
- Esme Adotey
- Evan Bennett
- Nathan Bornstein
- Pelin Cokuslu
- Sara Elhassan
- Hanabi Geiger
- Leona Iizuka
- Dina Ishak
- Taisiia Kostiuk
- 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
Faculty Mentors
- Divya Chaudhry, Senior Lecturer, Asian Studies
- Natalie Curcio, M.D.
- Alexis Finet, Assistant Professor of the Practice, French
- Bohyeong Kim, Assistant Professor, Communication Studies
- Jeong-Oh Kim, Senior Lecturer, English
- Xianmin Liu, Principal Senior Lecturer, Chinese
- Asami Nakano, Lecturer, Asian Studies
- 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.