The fellowships were established to promote “the power of music” in providing mutual understanding on a global level.

The artists have joined with mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network, and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in awarding the fellowships, which are administered by the Institute of International Education, according to a press release.

The Presidentially appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board will make the final selection in the fellowships.

Applications for the fellowships are being accepted now through March 1. For more info, check out www.us.fulbrightonline.org.

The 2008 winners have each designed their own project based on an aspect of international musical culture and are conducting research abroad.

Melissa Adams of Emory University is working in Uganda on a hip-hop therapy project where kids affected by war and AIDS are taught how to beatbox, break dance, write rap songs and more.

Ainsley Breault of the University of Southern California is in New Zealand looking into the role of music in Maori culture.

Katherine Good of Loyola University is in Mexico producing podcasts that examine the Mexican youth renaissance of performing pre-rock music styles.

Spencer Orey of the University of California, Berkeley, is in Mali studying griot musicians.

Alexis Tucker of Princeton University is studying how socially conscious French rap music and hip-hop culture have examined recent political events in France.