May 21, 2008

History Major Earns Fulbright Grant to Research Indigenous Youth Expression in Australia

WORCESTER, Mass. – Justin Brooks, a member of the College of the Holy Cross Class of 2008, has been awarded a Fulbright Grant to research and live in Melbourne, Australia.

A history major, who hails from Enfield, Conn., Brooks will be conducting research on young Australian aboriginal peoples living in urban centers.

“In particular, I'm be looking at the ways in which indigenous Australian youth express themselves through aspects of African American and Afro-Caribbean culture, such as music, movies, and art,” says Brooks. “By focusing my research on aboriginal youth living in Melbourne, I hope to gain important insights into indigenous transnational identity and the contemporary legacies of imperialism.”

He also hopes to initiate or work for a social justice program in the city of Melbourne.

Brooks always knew he wanted to study American history; however, it wasn’t until he took a class in Native American history with Gwenn Miller, assistant professor of history at the College, when things changed.

“It was in that class that I discovered my passion for the history of indigenous peoples in the United States,” explains Brooks. “It brought my passion for the study of American history together with ideas about race, identity, and social justice in a way that, for me, really resonated with the ideals of a Jesuit education.”  

Brooks, who is part Mohawk Indian, says Native American history in the colonial era enabled him to study not only his nation's past, but his own.

“I continued to familiarize myself with these ideas during my year abroad at Oxford University, and I have spent this past year conducting research for my honors thesis on the ways in which New England colonists used their relationship with Native Americans to articulate a distinct, increasingly ‘American’ identity up to and during the Revolutionary War.” 

An active member of the Holy Cross community, Brooks is chief of staff of the executive cabinet in the Student Government Association; co-chair of the History Student Advisory Committee; a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, which honors exceptional students of Jesuit institutions who distinguish themselves in scholarship, loyalty and service;  a member of Phi Alpha Theta, national honor society in history; and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest and the most prestigious national academic honor society in America.. He has volunteered as a big brother at the Boys and Girls Club in Worcester and served as an orientation leader and student coordinator at the Gateways Orientation Program.

When he returns to the U.S. he hopes to publish his research and enroll in a Ph.D. program in Native American history.

Each year approximately 1,000 college students are awarded grants through the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange. Fulbright grants are made to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since the program’s inception in 1946, more than 250,000 participants — chosen for their leadership potential — have had the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions.

For additional information contact Cristal Steuer at 508.793.2419