IU Bloomington and Fulbright: what the 2023-24 top-producer recognition meant

Indiana University Bloomington announced on February 13, 2024, that it had been named a top producer of Fulbright U.S. Student recipients for the 2023-24 academic year. It was the campus's ninth consecutive year receiving that recognition. The distinction was shared with other doctoral research universities; it was not an announcement that Bloomington had been ranked the single best producer in the country.

The award categories explain how the designation was earned. IU reported that 13 students were offered Fulbright awards: ten for research and three for English Teaching Assistant placements. The university said a doctoral institution needed at least ten Fulbright U.S. Students to qualify as a top producer. An award offer count describes that cohort and selection cycle, not a permanent annual total or a count of projects already completed.

The university's account illustrated the research route through Samantha Horton, a doctoral student in African American and Diaspora studies. Horton's project in Brazil concerned African-derived religions in the Atlantic, particularly Afro-Catholicism, and the oral histories of Black women leading cultural and religious centers. This was research tied to a defined place, method and set of voices, not simply an opportunity to travel abroad.

Another example was 2023 graduate Marria Peduto, whose Fulbright research concerned coastal ecosystem restoration and community economic development in Buleleng, Bali. IU connected that work with Peduto's language study and interdisciplinary undergraduate preparation. The examples help distinguish the broad top-producer label from the individual work it recognizes: students undertaking different projects, in different countries, through the same international exchange program.