Ph.D. candidate, two young alumni will travel abroad to Belgium, Colombia
Marquette has received three Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards for students and young alumni to travel abroad for research and teaching opportunities. The trio was chosen by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Seth Kreeger, a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, received a Study Research Award to be completed in Leuven, Belgium; Emma Hudson-Mairet, a 2022 Marquette graduate, will also travel to Belgium for an English Teaching Assistantship; and 2018 graduate Erica Ness received an English Teaching Assistantship in Colombia.
Fulbright participants study, conduct research and/or teach abroad for the 2023-2024 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected in an open, merit-based competition that considers leadership potential, academic and/or professional achievement, and record of service.
“Marquette had a wonderful group of Fulbright applicants this year,” said Dr. Karalee Surface, Fulbright program adviser at Marquette. “These three Fulbright awardees have demonstrated excellence both in and out of the classroom, and embody Fulbright’s commitment to cultivating intercultural understanding and being a catalyst for a peaceful and interconnected world.”
Kreeger will be conducting his research into the Arabic philosophical background of the 13th-century Medieval Latin West at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. His work focuses on the metaphysical thought of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Thomas Aquinas and William of Auvergne. He is a graduate of Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and earned his master’s degree the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California.
Hudson-Mairet has been placed at Howest University in Belgium, which has campuses in Kortrijk and Brugge. She was a triple major as an undergraduate in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, studying French, environmental studies and peace studies. Since graduation, she has been working as an English teaching assistant through the Teaching Assistant Program in Guingamp, France.
Ness will be placed at a university in Colombia, where she will be teaching college-level English and completing a volunteer research project on multiculturalism through Latin dance. She currently works as the Kenosha County Youth Development Educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, designing and implementing leadership programs for teens. She also serves as director of community engagement for Leaders of Kenosha, a nonprofit organization she co-founded to address systemic racism in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She is a salsa and bachata dance instructor and looks forward to developing this passion while living and teaching in Colombia. She graduated from Marquette with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, political science and international affairs.
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program.
More than 2,000 U.S. students, artists, and early career professionals from all backgrounds and in more than 100 different fields of study receive Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards annually to study, teach English, and conduct research overseas. Additionally, more than 800 U.S. scholars — faculty, artists and professionals — from all backgrounds teach or conduct research overseas through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually. In the U.S., the Institute of International Education supports the implementation of the Fulbright U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, including conducting an annual competition for the scholarships.
Fulbright is open to all rising seniors and alumni. The 2024–25 application cycle opened on March 30 and will close in mid-October. The campus deadline for completed applications is Aug. 30. If you are interested in applying for Fulbright via Marquette, please reach out to Fulbright Program Adviser Karalee Surface for more information.
Visit Marquette’s prestigious fellowships page to find additional details about this and other fellowship opportunities.
