Burlington Resident and UVM Alumna, Dzeneta Karabegovic, Wins Fulbright to Study Bosnian Diaspora in Sweden

BURLINGTON, VT (06/15/2010)(readMedia)-- University of Vermont alumnus Dzeneta Karabegovic '08 has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Scholarship to pursue an independent research project on social networks within the Bosnian diaspora population in Sweden. She will spend the year with researchers at Uppsala University working to get a better understanding of how diaspora members interact with their community and the greater Swedish population. A better understanding of diaspora social networks, she says, will lead to better immigration and integration policies for the population. This research will be a continuation of the work she did as a UVM student for her honors thesis.

A better understanding of these populations is important to Karabegovic, who is a Bosnian native. She immigrated to the United States when she was young, and settled in the Burlington area. As a student at UVM, Karabegovic was a member of the Honors College, a double-major in political science and German, a John Dewey Scholar, an inductee into Pi Sigma Alpha (National Political Science Honors Society), and was a founding member of the Bosnian Lillies, a Bosnian dance group. When she returns to the United States she plans to attend either law or graduate school so that she can continue to help diaspora populations in the U.S. and abroad.

Three other UVM alumni won Fulbrights this year to teach or study abroad: Matthew Greene '10, from Westerly, R.I., Hannah LeMieux '10, from Phillipston, Mass, and Emily Lubell '09, from Natick, Mass.

Karabegovic, Greene, LeMieux and Lubell are four of more 1,500 U.S. citizens who will travel abroad for the 2010-2011 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. 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 primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

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A high-resolution image of Karabegovic is available for download at the following link:

http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/images/high_res/karabegovich_high_res.jpg