Gillian Irwin, MFA candidate in ethnomusicology at UC Davis, has received a Fulbright Student Research Grant to study Indonesian music education.

Irwin will immerse herself in Indonesian and Javanese language study in Yogyakarta on a CLEA (Critical Language Enhancement Award), and then nine months of research. She will spend about nine additional months collecting data, including spending the first and last months of the grant enables Irwin to spend time in Jakarta conducting interviews with policy makers and members of the Ministry of Education and Culture. She will also observe high school classrooms in Yogyakarta (Central Java) where Javanese gamelan is taught.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides up to one year of international funding for recent undergraduates and masters recipients and current graduates students. Grants may be utilized to explore research interests, graduate or independent study projects, and/or English teaching opportunities in participating countries. The program’s purpose is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills. Selection is based on the applicant’s academic or professional record, language preparation, the feasibility of the proposed study project and personal qualifications.