John Parrish-Sprowl
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
Fulbright Senior Specialist to Macedonia and Belarus
From 2002-2007 I worked under the auspices of a USAID grant to assist in the development of a new university in Tetovo Macedonia. South East Europe University (SEEU) was created in response to one of the agreements flowing from the Lake Ohrid Accords following a brief civil conflict between the ethnic Macedonians and the ethnic Albanians regarding a number of issues, including the dearth of higher education opportunity for ethnic Albanians. When our USAID grant was completed SEEU wanted me to do some additional workshops, lectures, and consultation and I was brought in twice (December 2007 and February 2008) to work with various groups.
In March of 2012, because I was still on the Senior Specialist roster, I was supported in the guest speakers program to do some lectures at the Belarusian State University, Yanka Kupala University in Grodno, and to present the keynote plenary presentation at a conference held in Grodno Belarus.
Due to my work in both countries, partially supported by Fulbright, I have made many friends and engage in a number of long standing collaborative efforts. Although only a small part of my international work (I currently have projects underway in Indonesia, Vietnam, Azerbaijan based on a private foundation grant, and an extensive history in Poland that began on a USAID grant) I think the Fulbright program offers great opportunities for people to work, meet, and collaborate with colleagues from other countries in ways that enrich both our lives and our scholarship.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 