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May 23, 2007
Virginia cross country and track and field student-athlete Andrew Dumm has been named a Fulbright Scholar, as announced by the Fulbright Program. The Fulbright Program is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. With this goal as a starting point, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 273,000 participants–chosen for their leadership potential–with the opportunity to observe each others’ political, economic, educational and cultural institutions, to exchange ideas and to embark on joint ventures of importance to the general welfare of the world.
Dumm, a fourth-year from Fairfax, Va., will travel to Jordan where he will study the relationship between the Jordanian media and US foreign policy. A political science major, Dumm will research how the media in Jordan view American foreign policy. A student of Arabic, Dumm plans on interviewing Jordanian citizens on their views of America and how they are influenced by the media.
“This project will allow me to see the relationship with our foreign policy and the cultural ideologies of citizens abroad and study how our foreign policy is viewed by citizens of other nations,” said Dumm. “I want to see if we link our objectives of foreign policy with the end result–which is how our policy is viewed across the world, and in this case, specifically in Jordan.”
Dumm, who has studied the Arabic language for four years at Virginia, will interview his subjects in their native tongue.
“I will strengthen my command of Arabic,” said Dumm. “The way to develop fluency is through immersion, and I will be immersed for over a calendar year.”
Dumm will participate in a summer program in Jordan for two months before beginning his stint as a Fulbright scholar September 1st. The University of Virginia and Yarmouk University have jointly sponsored an intensive summer language training program in Arabic. The program is conducted on the Yarmouk campus in Irbid, Jordan and lasts eight weeks. During the summer program, he will continue his studies with one of his mentors, Mohammed Sawaie, who also serves as the director of the Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad Program at Yarmouk University.
“This is a great honor for Andrew and for Virginia,” said Sawaie. “He will enrich himself culturally and linguistically through this experience, and through him we are building bridges between the American and Jordanian cultures. It is an honor to me and our department to see Andrew achieve an honor such as this.”
An ACC Champion who will conclude his collegiate running career with a berth in the NCAA National Championships in the 10K, Dumm will work on ways to keep his competitive running career while studying in Jordan.
“I will be able to train over there, but I will just have to get creative about finding races to keep in competition shape,” said Dumm.
“Andrew is an outstanding young man who has excelled both on the track and in the classroom,” said head cross country coach Jason Dunn. “He has worked hard since he arrived in Charlottesville, earning a spot on the team after trying out as a walk on. His hard work has earned him not only an ACC championship both individually and as part of a team, but also has led him to this incredible honor.”
Dumm, who was honored by the ACC with a Weaver-James-Corrigan postgraduate scholarship in March, also earned National All-Academic honors by the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches’ Association in 2006 and was also named to the ACC All-Academic Cross Country team that same year. He won the ACC title in the 5000m in 2006 and earned All-ACC honors in 2005, 2006 and 2007.