[046] Fulbright Honor is Big News for Portugal-bound Little

Release date: Aug. 12, 2010


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Honors College contacts: Dr. John Vile, 615-898-2152 or jvile@mtsu.edu
or Laura Clippard, 615-898-5464 or lclippar@mtsu.edu

Fulbright Honor is Big News for Portugal-bound Little
Alum, Grad Student’s Recognition is MTSU’s Second Student Honor in 2010

(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU alumnus Eric Little’s plans for 2010 centered on developing skills in his relatively new job in sales in Nashville and continuing his quest to earn a master’s in foreign language (Spanish) pedagogy.
His plans encountered a definite U-turn in late spring.
The U.S. Department of State informed Little, who is a Murfreesboro native, that he would be the recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Student grant to go overseas. He will leave in late September for Faro, Portugal, where he will teach American culture (music from the 1950s to present) and the English language to freshmen at the University of the Algarve.
“I’m very humbled,” Little said. “I’m actually pleasantly surprised. When I told my friends and family, they weren’t very surprised. They were very happy for me. They said, ‘We knew you’d get it.’ They have a lot of confidence in me. My friends, family and the university have been very supportive, and have gone great lengths to help.”
Little, who graduated from MTSU in 2008 with a degree in Spanish and with minors in history and Latin American studies, becomes the second MTSU honoree in 2010. May graduate Kaitlen Howell received the Fulbright and will pursue medical research in Germany. It’s the first time MTSU has had two Fulbright student recipients in the same year. MTSU assistant history professor Dr. Sean Foley also was awarded a Fulbright grant; he will begin 10 months of research in Malaysia in September.
University Honors College Dean John Vile notes that with MTSU’s increased devotion to study abroad, it is “unlikely to be the last” time the university has two Fulbrights in the same year. Honors College adviser Laura Clippard has applied thorough and organized efforts in the Undergraduate Fellowships Office, which is where Little and Howell initiated their Fulbright quests.
Vile said Little’s ability to speak Portuguese and his love for teaching greatly enhanced his chances.
“Part of the Fulbright interview process involved conversations with a professor who knew Portuguese,” Vile said. “Although the rest of us on the committee didn’t know what was being said, it was quite obvious Eric had great command of the language.
“Eric is committed to teaching, and will be a great representative not only of MTSU but of the United States in Portugal.”
As for projections on what life will be like when he arrives in Portugal, Little said he knows he will be living off-campus in a university teachers’ residence.
“I’m assuming it’s an apartment or a very small condo. It’s just me … living space (for one),” he said, adding that basically he will receive “stipends to eat and have the basics. I have a laptop, hand-held camcorder and clothes. I’m a minimalist.”
The Fulbright award funds his travel to and from Portugal, his stay there and upkeep – “anything they require (me to do) they will pay for.”
Little said his teaching would be a 50/50 split between the American culture and the English language.
“I’ve been a graduate student here,” he said. “I’ll be using the strategies I’ve learned in the M.A.T. (Master of Arts in Teaching) program and be teaching English through the culture.”
In the music aspect, Little said is “going to have some units that include rock ‘n’ roll, ‘The Day the Music Died’ (1960s and the search for American identity), the ‘Roaring ’90s (a time when everything – the economy, culture and all the stats – was up) and the post-9/11 world (how the world changed and the music reflected it).”
When not teaching and with his free time, Little said he wants to “travel throughout Spain and Portugal as best I can, basically documenting things I find … through photos, to collect teaching materials for the future.” He said he also would be doing a “scholarly video blog. Details to come.”
His greatest challenge, he said, will be “coming up with enough money to do my traveling. I’m going to do research on the side in Barcelona.” He will be adding to his Honors thesis (“The Medieval Crown of Aragon-Expansionism in a Non-Competitive Arena”) with more literary documents and fewer historical documents,” he said.
A 4.0 GPA student as an undergraduate, Little said he credits Dr. Soraya Nogueira (Department of Foreign Languages), and Junior ROTC instructors Lt. Col. Doug Chaffin and Master Sgt. Jim Thurston, both now retired, as being teachers and mentors who influenced him and supported him 110 percent.
As for post-July 4, 2011, and the rest of his life, Little said, “I have ideas, but they’re not concrete yet.”
Vile said MTSU is placing increasing emphasis on sending students abroad and in diversifying student experiences on campus by inviting foreign students here.
For information about Fulbright and other undergraduate fellowship opportunities, contact Clippard at 615-898-5464 or e-mail Lclippar@mtsu.edu.




About Fulbright

Since the establishment of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, named for the late U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright, more than 47,000 U.S. students and 152,000 from abroad have benefited from the experience. In all, more than 294,000 participants, chosen for their leadership potential, have had the opportunity to observe each others’ political, economic and cultural institutions, exchange ideas and embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world’s inhabitants. (Visit us.fulbrightonline.org/about for more information.)

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Notes to media: High-resolution jpeg photos of Eric Little are available. To obtain, contact Randy Weiler in the Office of News and Public Affairs by calling 615-898-5616 or 898-2919, or e-mail jweiler@mtsu.edu.
To request an interview with Mr. Little, please contact Randy Weiler at the above phone numbers and e-mail address.


With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.

For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.