Fulbright grant for ESHCC student

On the 30th of May eight Dutch students and nine PhD students received a Fulbright grant at Leiden University. These grants are meant to support the exchange of students and researchers from and to the United States. Aside from the Dutch fellows, there were also 29 Americans who received a grant: six researchers and 23 students, who will come to the Netherlands for research or their study. 

From Communication to Liberal Studies

Dirck is one of the eight Dutch students that were lucky enough to receive the prestigious grant. His grant was sponsored by the Holland America Friendship Foundation. He studied Communications at an university of applied sciences in The Hague and pursued his studies at Erasmus University with a premaster in Media and Journalism. Currently he is finishing up the master Media & Journalism with a master thesis on populism in left-wing politics in Western Europe and the United States, under the supervision of Dr. Nel Ruigrok. Besides that, he followed courses in religion and politics at Leiden University. In August he will leave to Duke University where he will be enrolled in a two-year master programme in Liberal Studies. In this master programme, he will continue to develop himself academically through the lens of multiple disciplines and gain inspiration for his PhD research after he graduates, with the cohesion between politics, religion and media as his focus area. He says: "I am convinced that studying in the United States will give me rich examples of my research interests and enables me to gain new perspectives on contemporary issues through the exchange of knowledge and ideas with a very diverse group of peers." 

Fulbright programme

The prestigious Fulbright programme is meant for students who want to do a master at a good American university, PhD students who want to conduct research in the United States, or scientists who would like to teach at a university overseas. The programme is named after the American senator J. William Fulbright, who suggested back in 1946 to use the money earned with the sale of war material to finance a worldwide exchange programme. The goal was - and still is - to promote mutual understanding between American citizens and people from other countries. The Fulbright programme is based on a agreement between the Netherlands and the United States. Both governments finance a part of the programme. The other part is financed with contributions of donors and sponsors.