Wheaton Fulbright scholars head to Africa and Canada

Brooke Bisson '02 and Anna Schultz '02, Wheaton's latest Fulbright scholars, will head to opposite corners of the globe this fall. Bisson, a double major in English literature and music will explore Acadian culture and folk music in Nova Scotia while Schulz, who majored in international relations and political science, will embark on a study of integrated water management practices in Zambia, Africa.

Bisson, from Yarmouth, Maine, explored her family's musical and cultural roots through a Wheaton research project on Acadian culture and folk music. ''Acadians are the largest non-English minority group in Maine,'' Bisson reports. ''The question that interests me and many other people of Acadian descent is what defines music as being Acadian. How is it different from being French-Canadian, Cajun, or Quebecois?'' Through her research, which included interviews with her grandmother, a native of Prince Edward Island, Bisson learned how the shared U.S./Canadian history of the Acadian people became inspiration for many Acadian songs and ballads.

The Fulbright scholarship will support Bisson's work on a master's degree at Nova Scotia's St. Mary's University. Her program in Atlantic Canada studies will focus on the history, culture and music of the region. After completing her degree, Bisson hopes to work for an arts and culture organization celebrating and showcasing Acadian culture in Maine.

Fulbright scholar Anna Schulz shaped her Wheaton experience through internships and fellowships in Geneva, Switzerland, Egypt, Tanzania and the White House. Now as a Wheaton graduate she'll continue her global education with the support of a Fulbright scholarship to study international water management in Zambia. ''Water scarcity and water stress are crucial issues in Africa, maybe more than anywhere else in the world,'' Schulz says. ''Zambia is a particularly interesting region to study because it is a multi-national river basin.'' Following her year of research in Africa, Schulz has been accepted to the University of Dundee (Scotland) for a master's in international water law and policy.

Schulz began working on water policy issues as an intern in her state Assembly office, but recognized the importance of water conservation at a much younger age. ''I grew up as the daughter of the local water board president in northern California, so the importance of water was clear to me at an early age,'' Schulz says.

At Wheaton she pursued an independent study on the federal governance of two California rivers, and got hooked on the complex world of water management. The winner of a Davis International Fellowship, Schulz followed up her interest in the governance structure of rivers with a research trip to Egypt and Tanzania. ''I interacted with people who used water from the river basin at the subsistence level and gained a real understanding of the role of water in their daily lives. Access to the river is a matter of life or death for hundreds of people,'' she says.

Schulz completed a senior honors thesis on the shared governance of the Nile River Basin, based on her research in Egypt and Tanzania. Future plans include teaching and work for an aid agency, such as the World Water Forum, or USAID.