Shannon Kane received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to Germany from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and will support the teaching of English as part of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. (Photo Provided)
Kane’s path to the Fulbright program began as a freshman as a special projects consultant working with Krannert administrators, faculty and staff to get students involved in school and University-wide programs. She has also completed internships at Broadband Antenna Tracking Systems, the Purdue Research Foundation and the Indiana Soybean Alliance.
In 2015, Melissa Evens, director of the Leadership Communication Studio at Krannert, asked Kane to design an activity to be showcased at Purdue’s Annual Spring Fest. Having been given quite a bit of creative freedom, she hoped to develop an event that would not only create awareness of management careers among the local youth, but also encourage Krannert undergraduate students to become more involved in the local community.
With these goals in mind, Kane developed the Minute Business Challenge (MBC), an activity that presents community members of all ages with real-world business problems and gives them the opportunity to create innovative solutions with the help of Krannert undergraduates. She published her account of the experience in the Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement in 2017.
“It has been immeasurably rewarding to see an idea grow into an annual tradition commended by Krannert’s faculty and other community members,” she says. “Seeing how much the children enjoy designing their solutions and how their creative minds come alive when given the space to think strategically is an incredible thing to observe.”
Kane says the Fulbright award bolsters her plans to eventually work in marketing in a German-speaking country. “I recognize that developing extensive cross cultural competencies and interpersonal language abilities are critical — especially in an international environment. The increase in language fluency and cultural competence I will gain from living in Germany for 10 months will prepare me for professional success.”
Hsiao and Kane are among more than 1,900 U.S. citizens who will conduct research, teach English and provide expertise abroad for the 2018-2019 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement as well as record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. It 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, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given more than 380,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, professionals, and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Fulbrighters address critical global challenges in all areas while building relationships, knowledge, and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 59 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 82 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.
For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State, please visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright or contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Press Office at ECA-Press@state.gov.
