University of Rochester student Leah Schwartz ’17, a native of Cranford, N.J., will spend six weeks this summer studying as a US-UK Fulbright Summer Institute participant. The program selects approximately 50 early college students from the United States and United Kingdom to participate in the summer academic and cultural exchange program at leading institutions in each country. Schwartz, who intends to major in anthropology and film and media studies, is the second Rochester student to receive this honor.
While abroad, Schwartz will travel to Queen’s University in Belfast to study Northern Ireland’s political, economic, and cultural relationships to the United Kingdom and the world. “This program will give me an aspect of anthropology that one doesn’t get within a classroom—the real-life experience of living and studying another culture,” she said. “Learning about the conflict in Northern Ireland also will provide a deeper understanding of conflict resolution, and I’m particularly excited to learn about it from first-hand accounts.”
No stranger to international travel, as a high school student Schwartz spent five weeks in Italy through the Experiment in International Living program, and as a senior, participated in her school’s Neshama program, spending one week in Poland followed by three months in Israel.
In just one short year at Rochester, Schwartz has immersed herself in campus life. She served as the business manager for the Undergraduate Anthropology Council, was a freshman intern at Hillel, and was a member of the Students’ Association for Interfaith Cooperation. She also participated in Rochester’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity and was a videographer for Spoon University, an online publication about food.
