A Cornell student researching child malnutrition treatment programs in Niger and another studying nutrient management among small livestock-crop systems in Vietnam were two of four who received 2012 Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships.

The Fulbright-Hays program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and provides grants to colleges and universities for support of doctoral students conducting dissertation research on modern languages, area studies and development-related topics. The program is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents who plan to pursue a teaching career.

The students and their research topics are:

• Christopher Ahn, Asian studies, "The Kim Hui-ra Trial: Law and National Belonging in Postwar Japan."
• Tyson Vaughn, science and technology studies, "Recovering Communities: Participatory Recovery Planning From Kobe to Tohoku."
• Jessica Bliss, nutritional sciences, "Utilization of Treatment Programs for Child Severe Acute Malnutrition in Niger."
• Keenan McRoberts, international agriculture and rural development, "Nutrient Management in Smallholder Crop-Livestock Systems in Vietnam."

The latter two projects reflect a significant change in the emphasis of the Fulbright-Hays program, from one that focused almost entirely on enhancing language facility and socio-cultural understanding, to one that includes the study of contemporary problems. The new emphasis on development-related topics provides substantive encouragement to a broader spectrum of doctoral students.

The Fulbright-Hays program at Cornell is administered by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.