The Fulbright U.S. Students Program is a highly competitive and prestigious award presented in all academic disciplines to passionate and accomplished graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals from diverse backgrounds. Envisioned by Senator J. William Fulbright and officially established by Congress in 1946, the program aims to advance academic and professional development across the world by funding opportunities for U.S. citizens to conduct research, teach English, or pursue graduate study with the goal of cross-cultural exchange.
The School of Humanities recognizes three graduate students who completed their Fulbright-funded research in the 2024-2025 academic year:
- Bermet Nishanova, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Visual Studies, who travelled to Kazakhstan.
- Nathaniel Pigott, a Ph.D. student in the Department of History, who travelled to Taiwan.
- Sophie Wheeler, a Ph.D. student in the Department of East Asian Studies, who travelled to Japan.
Nathaniel and Sophie shared their experiences as Fulbright students with the Humanities Center.
Tell us about the research that you are conducting and how you benefited from the Fulbright program.
Sophie: I’m writing on Indigenous literature, specifically Ainu literature, and its relation with modern Japanese literature to answer two questions: How is Indigeneity understood and formed in the Japanese context? How do we read Ainu works through environmental humanities, and what are its limits? My time in Japan allowed me to work with scholars in Japanese and Ainu literature. Specifically, I gained a deeper understanding of the Japanese genre of literature called kikigaki, meaning to listen and to write. Working with Professor Sato Izumi focused my understanding of the genre and how it relates to Ainu literature. I also worked with Professor Fujita Mamoru to learn Ainu language and further develop the relation between kikigaki and Ainu literature.
Nathaniel: My research is on the history of ping pong in the Republic of China, the state that ruled China from 1927-1949 and has since operated in Taiwan. Being in Taiwan let me experience firsthand the social world I had been reading about as an historian. This had some very practical benefits, like being able to ask people what certain technical ping pong terms from the 1930s might mean. It also meant that I got to be a part of how contemporary ping pong is organized and to think through how it has reached this point. I have been able to supplement many of my textual sources with oral history interviews and some visits to events and competitions, which I hope has given me a far more well-rounded understanding both of the institutions that undergird modern ping pong and the passions that fuel the many donors, volunteers, coaches, and athletes.
Why did you choose to pursue this dissertation topic? How does it relate to where you conducted your research?
Sophie: I chose this topic because race and indigeneity are under-discussed within modern Japanese literature, even though such subject formations are incredibly important to understanding Japanese history and culture today.
Nathaniel: My dissertation topic emerged pretty naturally out of a fascination with the sport of ping pong. So many of the images we associate with "sports" -- muscular athletes, huge team rosters, sold-out arenas -- simply do not apply in the far more humble sport of ping pong, where at most four athletes crouch around a small table. Moreover, for a country like China, "strength" has long been part of national aspirations. Yet as early as the 1920s, a number of Chinese athletes were obsessed with ping pong, a sport that few would straightforwardly associate with strength and ferocity. I wanted to understand how ping pong became the sport of choice in both China and Taiwan despite this apparent contradiction. My choice to conduct research in Taiwan was due to the time period that most interests me, the 1920s and 1930s, when the state currently in Taiwan ruled the Chinese mainland. Many of the state archives from this period were moved to Taiwan when the government was expelled by the Chinese Communist Party during the civil war.
What challenges, if any, did you face working on this topic? Did you have to change your approach due to external circumstances?
Sophie: The Ainu language is a highly endangered language, so finding resources to learn Ainu has been challenging. Luckily, I was able to meet Professor Fujita Mamoru. The funding cuts also impacted Fulbright, in that there were periods when it was unclear whether funding was available.
Nathaniel: Pretty early on in my research, I knew I wanted to include post-1949 Taiwan in my dissertation project. Ping pong is just as popular in Taiwan as it is in China, but the reason for its popularity has surprisingly little to do with influence from the People's Republic. Ping pong started when Taiwan had become a colony of the Japanese empire, and its popularity grew organically and independently of developments on the mainland. To do this history justice, though, I knew I needed to contact the major ping pong organizations in Taiwan to ask to access their records and conduct oral history interviews. I am an extremely non-confrontational person. When I was gently rebuffed or simply ignored, it was difficult to motivate myself to keep poking, especially since these organizations might very reasonably not want to waste time helping a very young and very lost scholar from the United States. I was lucky to have contacts at my host institution, Academia Sinica, who were able to connect me to professors at National Taiwan Normal University, the largest and most prestigious school for teachers and coaches in Taiwan. From there, I was introduced to a number of amazing coaches and leaders in different ping pong organizations, who were far too kind to me with their time and energy. Everything worked out in the end but crossing that initial hurdle was incredibly daunting. I made a lot of very awkward phone calls in very awkward Chinese, wrote probably hundreds of unanswered texts and emails, and showed up at offices with no invitation, initially to no avail. This was dispiriting, but also what made the process of research so interesting and rewarding. When things finally started coming together, all the time and awkwardness felt worth it.
Are there any special or peculiar events that changed your perspective from when you initially set out?
Sophie: Being in Japan was a great opportunity to interact with archives and participate in classes taught in Japanese. As I am a second generation Japanese American, I enjoyed the opportunity to visit family and friends. I am also a Fulbright John Lewis Civil Rights fellow and had the opportunity to participate in a conference honoring John Lewis’ legacy in Sri Lanka. There, I met with other Fulbright fellows and reflected/workshopped how our work relates to civil movements.
Nathaniel: I had lived in Taiwan prior to this research trip, so there were very few surprises about living there. In terms of my research, in one of my first interviews, after I sat down, my interviewee asked me what state I was from. I told him Texas, and he started talking to me in Spanish, assuming I spoke it (I definitely do not). This interview was my first introduction to a fact I had no idea about: a number of Taiwan's best players in the 1960s and 1970s were sent abroad as coaches for extended periods of time. Because the Republic of China had been expelled from the International Table Tennis Federation, its athletes were not allowed to compete in most ping pong tournaments. My interviewee had been one of the many athletes barred from competition, so the government instead sent him to Guatemala, using this athletic exchange as a pretext for maintaining diplomatic ties. The interview completely transformed my understanding of what ping pong represented in the period. For children growing up during the White Terror, Taiwan's long period of martial law and intense government repression, ping pong was one of the few ways to get out of the country and see the world.
How has this experience with Fullbright contributed to your life going forward? What are your future prospects?
Sophie: I am very grateful for the opportunity with Fulbright, as it allowed me to immerse myself in the host country central to my topic of research. I find myself open to the possibility of living and working abroad. I will be finishing my dissertation next year.
Nathaniel: A Fulbright scholarship unfortunately cannot make up for a very difficult academic job market, but the personal and professional relationships I made while I was abroad are invaluable. I have a new circle of incredible friends and colleagues, and I am happy knowing that whatever next step comes after I graduate, I will have their support.
Feature article written by Anh Nguyen, History '26 and Humanities Center intern