Kelleen Browning, a UNL student with majors in German and German secondary education and a graduate of Skyline High School in Idaho Falls, Idaho, has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Scholarship.
She joins two other UNL Fulbright Scholars who will travel to Germany to teach.
Browning previously spent six months in Germany in UNL’s Deutsch in Deutschland program. She said she was influenced to apply for the Fulbright because her sister is currently serving as an ETA in Germany.
She looks forward to more cultural immersion in the Fulbright experience.
“I’m so excited to go back to Germany and interact more with German people and students,” she said.
Browning has English Language Learning certification through Lincoln Literacy. She volunteered as a teaching assistant while studying abroad in Germany and is finishing her student teaching at Lincoln East High School. Through all of these experiences, Browning has taught a variety of students from elementary school to adulthood.
While in Germany, Browning will teach English and inform students about American culture in German classrooms. She hopes to share American culture with her students by hosting an English film night as well as by conducting a letter exchange between her current students in the United States and those she will teach in Germany. In addition, she will reinforce her own skills in the German language and further familiarize herself with the culture by joining a local choir. This will also help her become more involved in the community in which she will be placed, she said.
Ali Moeller, who specializes in German language instruction in UNL’s Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, said Browning will be an excellent representative and ambassador for the United States while teaching in Germany.
“Kelleen is passionate about the German language and culture. She immerses her students in a language-rich and authentic learning environment,” Moeller said.
Browning plans to eventually become a high school German teacher in the United States. Browning’s is the fourth announced Fulbright to UNL students this spring. Others include:
Abigail Jameson, a nutrition and health sciences major, to Indonesia: http://go.unl.edu/ttkp
Emily Heineman, a German and history major, to Germany: http://go.unl.edu/dgtt
Paul Strauss, a history doctoral candidate, to Germany: http://go.unl.edu/eo3o
The Fulbright Program, established in 1946 and funded by the U.S. Department of State, is designed to foster understanding between the United States and other countries. The U.S. Student Fulbright program gives recent graduates, graduate students and young professionals the opportunity to conduct research, study, or teach in one of the 155 designated countries. About 8,000 grants are awarded annually, and about 1,600 of those grants are awarded to U.S. students.
