Pitchfork

Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O is totally the new Fiona Apple, at least in terms of being the one girl on a panel that helps decide who gets a Fulbright scholarship. O, along with Tunde Adebimpe (TV on the Radio), Serj Tankian (System of a Down), and Wyclef Jean (the Fugees, general goofiness), will help determine who will join the elite group of Fulbright-mtvU Fellows.

Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships are sponsored by MTV's college network and the U.S. Department of State, and the purpose of the program is to aid students who want "to travel abroad for a year and study how music can serve as a global force for mutual understanding," according to a press release.

Last year, the first Fulbright-mtvU Fellows were chosen with input from Apple, Common, and the Shins' James Mercer, all of whom remain more likely to win a PLUG Award than a Nobel Prize.

Still, we wouldn't put it past a dude like Serj Tankian to grind out a thesis on the relationship between international politics in the post-Vietnam War era and the music of the Dead Kennedys.

Applications for 2008-09 Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships are due March 1, and the application materials can be obtained here.