Almeida Receives Boren Fellowship to Study in India
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Community health education doctoral student Fiona Almeida is among the three UMass Amherst graduate students who received Boren National Security Graduate Fellowships to study languages in regions critical to U.S. interests. While living abroad, the students will immerse themselves in the culture of their host country. Following their studies, each recipient will enter public service at a federal agency for at least a year.
Almeida works with Aline Gubrium and Krishna Poudel, professors of community health education, with a focus on women’s reproductive health, menstrual stigma and equity. Almeida will study the language Kannada in Karnataka, South India. Proficiency in Kannada is vital for her future goal to strengthen the Bureau for Global Health’s collaboration with South Asia to design innovative digital health education to improve health care for girls and women.
"I feel immense gratitude especially to the community of people who have supported me through this process," says Almeida, who will complete her dissertation work following her year abroad. "It still feels like a dream."
The Boren National Security Education Program was founded by the National Security Education Act of 1991, which created the National Security Education Board, the National Security Education Program, and resources to provide undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships and institutional grants. It is guided by a mission that seeks to lead in development of the national capacity to educate U.S. citizens, understand foreign cultures, strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness and enhance international cooperation and security.