Prestigious Summer Scholarship
Natalie Campbell, a rising junior majoring in disability studies through the College Scholars program, has been invited to participate in the Fulbright UK Summer Institute, a prestigious and selective summer scholarship program. Campbell will study through the institute at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Natalie Campbell, of Knoxville, is the first UT student to be awarded a spot in a Fulbright UK Summer Institute.
“Natalie Campbell is an exceptionally talented, engaged, and thoughtful leader and student,” says Andrew Seidler, director of UT’s Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships. “I’m thrilled for Natalie to have the opportunity to explore social issues so important to her and to represent the US and UT in such a special setting as Queen’s University Belfast.”
This summer, Campbell, a member of the UT Chancellor’s Honors Program, will spend four weeks attending the Education for Transformation program at Queen’s University in Belfast. She will learn about the history and culture of Northern Ireland and have the opportunity to visit local schools as she learns about the country’s educational system.
The summer institutes are part of the US-UK Fulbright Commission’s work to promote leadership, learning, and empathy between nations through educational exchange.
“I study disability from a variety of perspectives with the ultimate goal of social justice and advocacy; one of the perspectives I study is that of education,” says Campbell, who does extensive work with UT’s FUTURE postsecondary education program, which helps young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities make a successful transition from high school to adult life.
“The Queen’s University Belfast’s Education for Transformation program will allow me to study an education system different from the one I have grown up knowing,” Campbell says. “The knowledge this experience will give me will contribute to my academic and cultural knowledge, both of which are vital to my personal development and the career I aspire to have.”
Fulbright Summer Institute participants are chosen based on academic excellence, a range of extracurricular and community activities, demonstrated ambassadorial skills, and their plans to give back to their home country upon returning.
