Senior educational studies major Ryan Rosenkrantz has been selected to receive a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant for the 2019-2020 academic year. He will serve as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Malta.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for English teaching assistantships as well as for individually designed study/research projects. Recipients are chosen for their academic merit and intellectual potential.
“I have combined my major with a minor in international studies to focus on comparative international education, and I know that the Fulbright will help me further understand how education for students throughout the world could be improved by countries working together,” says Rosenkrantz.
Awarded Rhodes’ Robert Buckman Fellowship for Study Abroad for the spring 2018 semester, Rosenkrantz studied the Finnish education system in Jyväskylä, Finland. “I was actually introduced to Malta through Finland, where I had a Maltese lecturer on the subject of childhood trauma. I was fascinated with the wealth of knowledge produced by this 14-mile island.”
Currently Rosenkrantz serves as an intern with the Juvenile Court of Memphis & Shelby County, conducting quality management probation interviews and serving on its Foster Care Review board. As a 2017 Rhodes Institute for Regional Studies fellow, he conducted research on the school-to-prison pipeline in Memphis elementary schools. In 2018, Rosenkrantz examined arts education standards in Tennessee and helped with strategic planning as a fellow of New Ballet Ensemble and School. He also was co-director of an arts summer camp at Dunbar Elementary through New Ballet last summer.
“I am excited to see how the landscape of arts organizations in Memphis compare to arts organizations in Malta, where its capital city, Valletta, was named European Capital of Culture in 2018. Now that I’ve seen the power of teaching through the arts in my time at New Ballet Ensemble and School, my plan is to mobilize these arts organizations to aid in my English-teaching. Malta also has a large refugee population and many volunteer opportunities to work with these refugees. I have spent a year and a half teaching English to children and adult migrants and refugees at Refugee Empowerment Program, and I look forward to applying what I’ve learned in Memphis to teach refugees in Malta.”
On campus, Rosenkrantz serves as chairperson of the Rhodes Activities Board and in the cabinet of the Rhodes Student Government. He also is a Rhodes Global Delegate, Class of 2019 representative for Class Council, and president of the Academic Community for Educational Studies. In addition, Rosenkrantz is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Mortar Board, Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Alpha Delta honor societies, as well as the Rhodes Hillel.
“I’ve also been passionate about improving the First-Year Seminar for students as a First-Year Peer Assistant,” he says. “I was told that I would have the opportunity to teach a class of first-year students at the University of Malta, and I’m excited to see how first-year programs are conducted with students on an international level.”
Upon returning to the U.S., Rosenkrantz plans to apply to law school and pursue a career in educational advocacy and comparative education. “I am particularly interested in the rights of emergent bilinguals as well as other marginalized groups of students. I hope one day to be able to modify our educational system to be truly student- and teacher-focused,” he says.
Rosenkrantz, who is from Mandeville, LA, is a graduate of Fontainebleau High School.
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