A Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad grant supported Ohio State faculty member Anna Babel’s study of Bolivian migrants in Spain, focusing on how migrants perceive differences between Bolivian Spanish and European varieties of Spanish. The project also examined how migration shapes identity, language and social expectations.
Over four months, Babel conducted field research in Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, and Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, Bolivia, with a goal of completing 95 interviews. “Because I work with adults who maintain aspects of their own identities, it’s interesting to see how we adapt — or don’t adapt — to new social and linguistic categories and expectations that we encounter through the experience of international migration,” Babel said. She completed all 95 interviews and arranged for local research assistants to continue collecting interviews after the grant period ended.
Babel said long-standing research relationships were key to the project’s success. Building on years of research in Bolivia and more recent work with migrants, she expanded partnerships in Spain and Bolivia and worked with former Ohio State students abroad. In Spain, she collaborated with Azucena Palacios Alcaine at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and connected with the NGO ACOBE, where director Hugo Bustillos supported the research and helped create possible future placements for graduate students.
In Bolivia, the grant also helped Babel expand her academic network. She made new connections at the Universidad Mayor de San Simón, where she gave talks for graduate students, faculty and undergraduates tied to her research.
The grant’s impact continued after the funding period ended. Babel was invited to give a workshop and talk at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Peru, where she presented on linguistic anthropology and research connected to the Fulbright-Hays project.
Babel said the Fulbright-Hays support was critical to completing the research and preparing it for future publications and presentations. “The funding provided by Fulbright-Hays was essential in carrying out this research, which could not have been completed without this support,” she said. She is now transcribing and analyzing the interviews as the project moves into its next phase.
Fulbright-Hays
The Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship Program is administered though the Office of International Affairs. Faculty interested in applying for the fellowship must contact Fulbright-Hays Project Director Joanna Kukielka-Blaser to register interest and discuss the application process.