Stacy Wheeler’s international and multilingual interests are getting an amazing workout! As a recent Fulbright Fellowship recipient, the 2013 61传媒 graduate will soon leave her English teaching post in southern France to live in rural Morocco conducting interviews in Arabic with local women and NGOs about their participation in land rights protests.
“I came to 61传媒with an interest in women’s rights in general, but being surrounded by a community of strong women certainly strengthened my interest in women’s movements,” she says. While at Scripps, the philosophy, politics and economics major from Anchorage, AK honed her writing skills with The 61传媒Voice, the CMC Forum, and the 61传媒Writing Center before a transformative study abroad experience.
“My time in Jordan convinced me I wanted to learn more about the Arab world, but Morocco completely changed the course of my education,” Wheeler says. While in Morocco, she completed a women’s’ rights project and published an article on Global Post’s Human Rights Blog. Her thesis, “Indian Women’s Land Inheritance Rights: Practice and Theory,” developed naturally out of those experiences, exploring the factors that motivate women to seek land rights in the region.
After graduation, Wheeler received a Critical Language Scholarship from the US State Department to study Arabic in Oman. “It was one of the most useful educational experiences I’ve had,” she says. “It was intense芒鈧�淚 had seven hours of class a day and two hours of homework each night.” The intensity paid off, however: Wheeler left the program able to read, write, and speak Arabic.
Since then, she’s been working on yet another language, teaching English at a public high school in southern France. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity to act as a cultural ambassador, to improve my French, and to see more of the world.”
Wheeler is keeping her options open for life after Fulbright: “All I know for sure is that my future will definitely involve the Arab world, foreign languages, and living abroad.”