Jaarlijks komen er Amerikaanse studenten met een Fulbright beurs naar Nederland. Studenten doen een volledige masteropleiding, onderzoek voor hun PhD of staan voor de klas op Nederlandse scholen. Deze groep studenten deelt graag hun ervaringen aan iedereen in het basis- en middelbaar onderwijs in Nederland. ‘Amerikaan in de klas’ maakt dit mogelijk: wanneer u uw school opgeeft via onderstaand formulier, zal een van de Fulbrighters een bezoek brengen.
Classroom Visit Program: Amerikaan in de klas
Waarom een ‘Amerikaan in de klas’
Al sinds 1949 zorgen academische uitwisselingsprogramma’s er voor dat Amerikanen en Nederlanders elkaars land en cultuur beter leren kennen. Wij noemen dit het creëren van wederzijds begrip, naar de missie van Senator J. William Fulbright. Natuurlijk zijn er veel meer manieren om dit doel te bereiken dan enkel via het hoger onderwijs. Fulbrighters brengen graag een bezoek aan basis- en middelbare scholen en kunnen op heel veel unieke manieren een leerzame toevoeging zijn aan uw lesprogramma:
- Fulbrighters presenteren over hun eigen onderzoek. Denk aan een geschiedenis student die wat komt vertellen over een onderwerp dat verband houdt met de Nederlandse of Amerikaanse geschiedenis of een geneeskunde student die tijdens biologie presenteert over een relevant onderwerp.
- Fulbrighters gaan in gesprek met uw klas en wisselen (culturele) ervaringen uit
- Fulbrighters leveren een bijdrage aan de Engelse spreek- en luistervaardigheid
- Fulbrighters kunnen tijdens verkiezingen meer inzicht geven in de Amerikaanse politiek
De mogelijkheden zijn eindeloos en u bent vrij om het bezoek zelf vorm te geven.
Hoe krijg ik een ‘Amerikaan in de klas’
Vul onderstaand formulier in, dan gaan wij voor u aan de slag! Wij vragen u om een korte motivatie te schrijven, waarom u een ‘Amerikaan in de klas’ wilt. Leg hier in duidelijk uit:
- Wat het doel van de ‘classroom visit is’
- Welke (gespreks)onderwerpen belangrijk zijn
- Wat de leeftijd van de leerlingen is
- Wat het adres van uw school is
- Wanneer u graag een ‘Amerikaan in de klas’ wil
Nadat wij uw aanvraag ontvangen hebben, zullen wij contact opnemen en u koppelen aan een van onze Fulbright studenten of onderzoekers. Deelname is gratis, de Fulbright Commission verzorgt de reiskosten van de studenten.
Participants 2023-2024
Amber Spriggs
Hi! I’m Amber, and I am currently living in Delft, Netherlands, working as a researcher in
hydraulic engineering at TU-Delft. I received both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil
engineering from the University of Missouri, but I’ve also lived in Ohio and Michigan. In the
Netherlands, I am studying riverine flood management, specifically in the design of nature-
based solutions such as Room for the River measures, and their impact on ecological health.
My goal is to promote similarly innovative flood management practices in the Midwestern U.S. In my free time, I love reading, bouldering, and admiring Dutch infrastructure on my bike!
Samantha Berry
My name is Samantha Berry (she/her). I’m 23 years old and from the United States. I have a Bachelor’s in Physics from Bryn Mawr College, a historically women’s college in Pennsylvania, USA. I have an unconventional academic background in the way that I dropped out of high-school because of family circumstances. I’m currently receiving a Fulbright grant to earn a 2 year masters at Radboud University studying Physics and Astronomy with a specialization in Science, Management, and Innovation. I had previous internships at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, NASA Langley, and Northwestern University. I was in Canada briefly this summer, but other than that being here in Nijmegen is the first time I’m living and visiting outside of the US! My passions are astrophysics, cosmology, the intersection of science and society, and human innovation that is sustainable for the world!
Maddy Cicha
Madison (Maddy) Cicha grew up outside of Philadelphia. She attended the University of Louisville as a Division 1athlete, eventually becoming a two-time captain of the women’s rowing team, dedicated student research assistant, and founder and president of the Undergraduate Research Club. After receiving her degree in Environmental Science through the Liberal Studies Program with minors in Biology and Arabic, she accepted a Fulbright award to the Netherlands. Currently, she is studying for her MSc in Conservation and Restoration Ecology at Radboud University in Nijmegen while researching climate change resilience and mitigation. In her free time, Maddy enjoys gardening, cooking, listening to podcasts, and Taylor Swift.
Kendra Gordillo
Kendra is a current Master’s student at VU Amsterdam where she is pursuing a MA in Philosophy, Bioethics and Health as well as a MSc in Global Health Research. Prior to studying in the Netherlands, she studied at Clemson University where she received her BSc in Genetics with a minor in Philosophy. At Clemson, she played viola in the symphony orchestra and was a member of the Honors College, where she mentored incoming students. In addition to her time studying in the Netherlands now, she spent a semester studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria and lived in Madrid, Spain teaching English for a year. In her free time, Kendra enjoys traveling, hiking, and constantly searching for a new restaurant to try.
Jennifer Motter
Originally from the city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, Jennifer Motter is a PhD candidate in History at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Her research is on the 17th c. Dutch Atlantic, with a special focus on the salt trade. Specifically, she looks at how the Dutch were able to use different types of knowledge to turn this natural resource into a profitable commodity. At W&M, she has taught an Early Modern Atlantic history course, and intends to teach another on the Atlantic world as seen through popular films. Before entering the PhD program, Jennifer received her undergraduate degree in History from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There, her senior thesis used the letters of Maria van Rensselaer from the Dutch colony of New Netherland to see how life changed after the English takeover of 1664 (creating modern day New York). Currently, Jennifer is based in Leiden while she visits different historical archives around the Netherlands. In her spare time, Jennifer enjoys site seeing, visiting museums, and listening to music. She also hopes to learn how to ride a bike while here in the Netherlands!
Bridget Price
My name is Bridget. In July, I graduated with my bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and bioresource research from Oregon State University. Here in the Netherlands, I am researching how we can use algae to remove nutrients from agriculture wastewater at Wageningen University and Research. This research adds to my interest in harnessing microorganisms to make agriculture more sustainable and to fight climate change, which has already taken me to other US states and countries like Canada. I initially became interested in algae and the intersection between microorganisms and agriculture because of all the time I spent working on my family’s hazelnut farm when I was growing up. In my free time I enjoy running to new places, swimming, and sometimes biking. I also like playing the flute, reading, baking (sweet things), and thinking up craft projects.
Jierui Fang
Jierui Fang is a designer and artist examining how biological and nature-based processes, on both the human and ecological scales, shape development opportunities and wellbeing. Growing up, she moved around the East Coast of the US quite a bit but was most recently based in Texas. She has an M.S. in Design Engineering from Stanford and a B.S. in Art & Design with minors in Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering from MIT. Before grad school, she had a varied career researching medical maker technologies, teaching in Jordan and Jerusalem, designing refugee case management system and health passport software for various government agencies and startups, and leading the design strategy of the first DIY automated insulin delivery system cleared by the FDA. She is currently at TU Delft in the Sustainable Design Engineering department researching the potential of mycelium biomaterials towards assistive wearable applications. In her free time, she has a knack for birdwatching, attempting aerial silks, figure skating, and getting herself in all sorts of situations.
Jocelyn Hillier
Hi, I am Jocelyn Hillier. I am 24 years old and from the United States/Canada. I have a Bachelor’s in Art History with a minor in chemistry and a Master’s in Art Conservation specializing in paintings, both from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I am currently in the Netherlands as a Fulbright recipient of the American Friends of the Mauritshuis Award. I will be working in the Mauritshuis conservation department, treating and researching paintings in the collection for the next year. I am passionate about art, the preservation of cultural heritage, and spearfishing!
Walker Smith
Walker Smith is a ‘musical chemist’ whose work combines research, music composition,
performance, science communication, and rainbow suits. He is originally from Knoxville,
Tennessee, and recently graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with dual Bachelor’s
degrees in Music Composition and Chemistry. During his undergraduate, he combined his
interests in chemistry and music by asking the question, “What would molecules sound like?”
Using electronic music techniques, he was able to convert the activities of molecules—their
rotations, vibrations, and energy levels—into sounds. His research led him to create “The Sound of Molecules,” in which he appears as the rainbow-clad character Roy G. Biv to take audiences on an immersive “sonic tour of the molecular world.” He has performed his show over a dozen times in the United States and in Europe and will continue touring this year and beyond! Walker is currently taking courses and pursuing research at the Institute of Sonology at
the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. He is continuing to discover connections between electronic music and chemistry and is working to develop an “Interactive Musical Periodic Table” that allows people to make music from the elements! After his research in The Hague, he will return to the US to begin a Ph.D. in Computer Music at Stanford University, where he will continue his interdisciplinary research at the interface of music and chemistry. Outside of chemistry and music, Walker enjoys long bike rides, cooking and baking (especially pies), and painting.
Ervaringen van deelnemers
Benieuwd naar de ervaringen van Fulbrighters? Lees hieronder een verslag van een recent bezoek in de klas.
Samuel Chen, Julia Jung & Catherine Knox
How would you explain America’s upcoming election in fifty minutes or less? Could you do it across a language barrier, across a cultural barrier, in a country accustomed to over a dozen political parties, instead of just two? Doing so would require a kind of Rosetta Stone: something to translate not just the words electoral college and absentee ballot, but also their implications, what they might mean for Americans and Europeans alike.
My fellow Fulbrighters Julia Jung (Utrecht University), Catherine Knox (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and I tried our hands at translation last month. Set to teach a short class on the U.S. election system at Dorenweerd College in Gelderland, we tried to create a lesson plan that would encourage a more nuanced understanding of the imminent vote. We included definitions for the relevant vocabulary – nationalism, political platform, etc. – and activities to help illustrate the “winner takes all” logic of electoral points. But we were writing for an invisible audience, with no way of knowing how the lesson would be received, or if it would be understood.
Arriving at the school, we received encouragement. The space itself seemed reassuring – set back on a tree-studded hill, the high school was open, bright, filled with the same type of nervous energy we remember from our own teenage years. Inside, the teachers who had answered our late-night emails and deciphered COVID regulations to bring us in all assured us that the students were excited and receptive. The students themselves – somehow already taller than us at just fifteen – took their seats respectfully, listened closely, participated tentatively. As the lesson marched along, we loosened, seeing that the words were being absorbed. But the concepts? Did they translate? We couldn’t know until the final minutes of the class, the time when we asked “Any questions?” and waited, nervously, for signs of comprehension.
In each class, the silence after the question seemed to stretch impossibly long. Twenty or so students, suddenly hushed, as if a cleared throat or muffled cough would be met with an invitation to speak. We waited with tightened stomachs, wondering whether we spoke too quickly, too slowly, too softly. But a hand eventually found itself raised, and a question issued forth with thoughtfulness and engagement beyond what we had expected. With the question, the classroom shifted from monologue to dialogue, and we remembered the reason for our time here, both in Gelderland, and in the Netherlands in general: to foster dialogue in every interaction, and to connect despite barriers.
Speaking with the students at the end of the lesson, we felt this connection, and are grateful to Dorenweerd College for letting us into their lives, and to the Netherlands’ Fulbright commission for allowing us to forge such connections in a time of such uncertainty.