Grant Owen

2016 Fulbright Scholar

Hometown

West Lafayette, IN

Major

Anthropology

College

College of Liberal Arts

 

Before coming to Purdue to study Anthropology, Grant Owen first studied Philosophy and Studio Art.

 

At Purdue, Grant works as a director for Purdue Student Government on the board of Diversity and Inclusion and is a committee member for Purdue 360 in Diversity in Entertainment. He leaves this summer for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant to teach English in Indonesia.

 

Last summer, Grant conducted research in ethnic minority communities in Southeast Asia, where he worked alongside NGOs teaching English and developing tourism projects as a means to help empower the local minority communities there and remedy their marginalization within the tourism industry. Grant writes, “In tourism, fluency in English is an important skill. The ETA will be an intercultural opportunity for me to learn how to effectively teach English in culturally-appropriate ways . . . This program will allow me to improve and develop significant skills as a cross-cultural leader.”

 

David Groetzinger, who oversaw Grant’s cross-cultural internship to Indonesia in 2014 observes, “Grant never settles for the status quo in pursuing his own growth and development, but rather seeks out opportunities that will stretch and expose him to new perspectives.” After returning from Indonesia, Grant will pursue postgraduate studies in applied anthropology to focus on tourism and development, eventually returning abroad to work in Southeast Asia, advocating for marginalized people in communities that depend on ethnic tourism.