Rhodes College senior Arielle Carpenter will work in Germany 2015-2016 as recipient of the Fulbright U.S. Student Award. She currently is pursuing a major in German and a minor in international studies and archaeology.
“I will be teaching English to German students and hope to ignite interest in American culture and the English language,” she says. “My goal is to help the students feel connected to America by providing them with a second lens to view the world and understand their own identity. I hope to accomplish this by using Memphis as a medium of focus to introduce them to American culture. Depending on where I am placed, I also would like to get involved in the community by volunteering at an archaeological center or museum and join a local fencing club.
The Fulbright Program, America’s highly prestigious international educational exchange sponsor, is administered by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright, the program awards grants to students, scholars, administrators and professionals to study, teach, lecture or conduct research abroad.
Carpenter has studied abroad in Tübingen, Germany (spring 2014), and in high school, she was a National German Exam Winner scoring in the top 30 percent. She has lived in six states including Tennessee where she graduated from Houston High School.
At Rhodes, she is a peer tutor for German studies and has served as a teaching assistant/intern for Professor Kronenberg’s German 101 course. She currently is a teaching assistant for Professor Bridges’ German 102 course and has created an online portfolio documenting her work and observations. In addition, she is a member of National German Honor Society Delta Phi Alpha and has been elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
As co-president of the Rhodes German Club, Carpenter helps create and put on events such as film and game nights, coffee hours at Cafe Eclectic, and cultural celebrations. “I also enjoy coaching the Rhodes Fencing Club and have actually been able to incorporate some of the German exercises and techniques into our practices that I learned while fencing in Tübingen.”
“Germany is a very competitive country for Fulbright, but Arielle was an outstanding applicant,” says Dr. Robert Saxe, co-director of post-graduate fellowships at Rhodes.