Secondary Education Student Eva Criscuolo Selected for Fulbright to Serbia

Eva Criscuolo, a secondary education graduate student at the School of Education and Human Development, has been selected for a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in Serbia.

Through the program, she will support English language instruction while fostering cross-cultural exchange in classrooms abroad.

Criscuolo was drawn to Fulbright’s mission of cultural exchange and its emphasis on mutual learning. “I was drawn to apply for the Fulbright program because of my deep respect for its mission of cultural exchange,” Criscuolo said.

Her connection to the Balkan region began through a close friendship and grew through travel, where she developed a deep appreciation for the region’s artistic and cultural traditions. She said, “These experiences have fostered a genuine appreciation for its culture, particularly its rich artistic traditions in cinema, literature, and music.”

As an ETA, Criscuolo will assist in teaching English while creating engaging, student-centered learning environments that emphasize communication, creativity, and confidence. She also hopes to explore how language, identity, and culture intersect within the classroom, viewing education as a reciprocal process.

Her interest in this work was shaped in part by her experience with the Ubuntu Leaders Academy, where she taught multilingual students while learning from them in return.

“While I was teaching English and introducing aspects of American culture, I was equally learning from my students’ languages, perspectives, and lived experiences,” she said.

“Fulbright represents an opportunity to continue this exchange on a global scale: to contribute as an educator while remaining open to growth, connection, and the shared knowledge that transcends borders.”

Criscuolo credits her time at the School of Education and Human Development with preparing her for this opportunity. With the support of associate dean Laura Whitacre, co-director of secondary education, she secured her first in-school role at Saxe Middle School, where she worked in the Learning Center supporting students with diverse learning needs. There, she provided targeted reading and writing support, facilitated small-group instruction, and developed strategies for differentiated learning.

A key influence on her development has been her work with professor Professor Bryan Ripley Crandall, PhD, whose teaching models the inclusive, student-centered environment she hopes to create in her own classroom. Through this mentorship, Criscuolo also became involved with the Connecticut chapter of the National Writing Project and continued her work with the Ubuntu Leaders Academy, teaching students from a wide range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds and implementing translanguaging practices in her instruction.

Following her Fulbright experience, Criscuolo plans to pursue a PhD in international education, focusing on how educational systems evolve to support equity, innovation, and global citizenship. She is particularly interested in Serbia’s ongoing educational transformation and hopes to observe how broader policy changes take shape within the classroom.

“This experience will allow me to engage directly with an education system in transition, deepening my understanding of how policy, culture, and history intersect in shaping educational change,” she said. “It will also inform my future research, through which I hope to examine how schools in evolving contexts can foster critical thinking, cultural awareness, and global citizenship.”

Through her Fulbright experience, Criscuolo aims to continue building connections across cultures while growing as both an educator and a scholar.

“Fulbright represents an opportunity for continued growth, both as an educator and as an individual,” she said. “I plan to enter this experience of course, to teach, one of my greatest passions, but also to listen, observe, and challenge my own assumptions.”

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