Claudia Segura ’18, a Political Science major, has been named a semifinalist for a research award from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Fulbright will make a final decision on her application between March and May.

If selected as a finalist, Segura will travel to Cape Town, South Africa to research how racial tensions in education affects nation building. Segura’s research will develop after-school programs that aim to alleviate the tensions of students.

“I’m so proud of myself for making it this far,” said Segura. “I never thought my proposal would be selected. Even if my proposal isn’t selected, I’m happy to have made it this far.”

Segura studied abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa in spring 2016, after receiving the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship in the 2015-16 academic year, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Arcadia was ranked by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as a top producer of 2016-17 Fulbright U.S. Scholars in the Bachelor’s Institution category. In 2017, the University had its first Fulbright English Teach Award recipients, Cliff Long ’17 and Zahra Ahmadi ’17. Additionally,  three faculty members have received Fulbright awards: Dr. Angela Kachuyevski, associate professor of Historical and Political Studies, in 2017 to research national identity in post-Maidan Ukraine; Dr. Jennifer Riggan, associate professor of Historical and Political Studies, in 2016 to research civic education in Ethiopian secondary schools; and in 2016, Dr. Kalenda Eaton, associate professor of English, to research the relationship between the African/Black Canadian subject, citizenship, and “the politics of belonging” in the Canadian space as the 2016-17 J. William ​Fulbright Research Chair in Society and Culture at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 370,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Each year, U.S. students, artists, and early career professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English, and conduct research in over 140 countries throughout the world.