Spring 2025

DiFonzo Receives Prestigious Fellowship

Doctoral student Nakota DiFonzo was recently notified that he received a Fulbright Fellowship for the upcoming 2025-2026 academic year. Fellowships are awarded by the United States State Department and support doctoral students and candidates in their research and scholarship.

See below for some additional comments and words of appreciation from Nakota:

The State Department’s Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board has awarded me a Fulbright U.S. Student Program fellowship for the 2025-2026 academic year. This fellowship will enable me to conduct archival research for my dissertation in Taiwan, which explores the history of American education in Republican-era China. I will be affiliated with Academia Sinica during my stay in Taiwan. While at this institution, I will develop my research under the guidance of its scholars such as Dr. Albert Wu, who works in the Institute of History and Philology.

I am indebted to all of the people who helped me earn this fellowship. UH Mānoa’s Fulbright program advisor, Kristen Connors, and journalist / Fulbright alumnus, Jay Hartwell, offered invaluable guidance as I wrote my statement of purpose and personal history statement. My advisor, Dr. Shana Brown also offered insights as I worked on the application and wrote a letter of recommendation for me, along with Dr. Wensheng Wang and Dr. Ned Bertz. Three of my colleagues, Hosub Hwang, Gabrielle Langkilde, and Kendrick Hardaway, all of whom are Fulbright alumni, graciously offered to send me their application materials, which helped me identify qualities that make a Fulbright application competitive.

I am tremendously excited and grateful for this opportunity, and look forward to sharing my experience with everyone upon my return to Honolulu.