Tag: Fulbrights

Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms (USA)

Fulbrights2021-2022 Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms (Fulbright TGC) Program, US Department of State, Washington, DC. Application deadline: March 24, 2021.

The Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program is a yearlong professional learning opportunity and short-term exchange for elementary, middle, and high school educators from the United States to develop skills to prepare students for a competitive global economy. Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms equips educators to bring an international perspective to their schools through targeted training, experience abroad, and global collaboration.

Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms participate in a rigorous, semester-long online course focused on best practices in global education; gather for an in-person professional development workshop in Washington, D.C.; and travel abroad for two to three weeks to immerse themselves in another country’s culture and education system. Participants create a global education guide that serves as a resource in their local community to share the skills, experiences, and resources they have developed throughout the program.

Access more than 350 resource guides created by Fulbright TGC alumni in the Global Education Guides Resource Library.

Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad 2021

Fulbrights

Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad, to be held in Iceland, Morocco, Mexico across June-July or July-August of 2021. Deadline: December 18, 2020.

The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program supports short-term study opportunities for U.S. educators for the purpose of improving their understanding and knowledge of the peoples and cultures of other countries. The program provides opportunities for qualified U.S. educators to participate in short-term seminars abroad mainly on topics in the humanities, social sciences, and arts. For the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 competition, the plan is to offer seminars to Iceland (elementary/secondary teachers, Grades K-8), Morocco (secondary teachers, Grades 9-12), and Mexico (postsecondary educators and administrators).

Educators with limited or no study abroad experience are encouraged to apply. Upon their return, participants are expected to develop and disseminate a curriculum project and to share their broadened knowledge and understanding of the host country(ies) with students, colleagues, civic and professional organizations, and the public in their respective home communities. All seminars are composed of a pre-arranged, structured academic phase and a group travel phase.

Note that it is possible that seminar dates may be delayed due to any restrictions that could be enacted in response to the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Fulbright Scholar Awards

FulbrightsThe Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers opportunities for scholars, professionals, and postdocs to advance their research and teaching interests, promote mutual understanding, and collaborate with scholars abroad. The program is accepting applications for the 2021-2022 academic year through September 15, 2020.

There are over 450 awards available in more than 125 countries and many are open to all disciplines. The complete list of opportunities is located in the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Catalog of Awards. Opportunities range from 2 to 12 months in length and include flexible options for multiple shorter visits to many host countries. There are also programs for non-US residents to visit the US.

For further information:

See a series of personal narratives about Fulbrights previously posted to this website, and also the chapter The value of a Fulbright: Internationalizing education one person at a time, published in Internationalizing the communication curriculum in an age of globalization.

The Value of a Fulbright

FulbrightsLeeds-Hurwitz, W. (2020). The value of a Fulbright: Internationalizing education one person at a time. In P. K. Turner, S. Bardhan, T. Q. Holden & E. M. Mutua (Eds.), Internationalizing the communication curriculum in an age of globalization (pp. 196-206). New York: Routledge.

Fulbrights have the greatest impact on the person most directly involved, who is given the opportunity to move between countries. But that person has students. And that person has colleagues. So, as it turns out, changing one person at a time works well as a way to internationalize the curriculum.

Over a year ago I requested that scholars who had held Fulbright awards write to me about their experiences. This chapter would not have been possible if so many had not taken the time to send me their stories. Hopefully I have summed up what we all learned in ways that these colleagues will approve, and others will find useful. The short version of the chapter’s advice: if you have not yet applied for a Fulbright, do so! (There are Fulbrights for those based in the USA who wish to live abroad, and for those living elsewhere who wish to spend time in the USA.)

Here is how the book’s editors summarize the entire volume:

“Globalization and the resulting internationalization of universities is driving change in teaching, learning and what it means to be educated. This book provides exemplars of how the communication discipline and curriculum are responding to the demands of globalization and contributing to the internationalization of higher education.

Communication as a discipline provides a strong theoretical and methodological framework for exploring the benefits, challenges and meanings of globalization. The goal of this book, therefore, is to facilitate internationalization of the communication discipline in an era of globalization. Section one discusses the theoretical perspectives of globalism, internationalization, and the current state of the communication discipline and curriculum. Section two offers a comprehensive understanding of the role, ways and impact of internationalizing teaching, learning and research in diverse areas of study in communication, including travel programs and initiatives to bring internationalization to the classroom. The pieces in this section will include research-based articles, case studies, analytical reviews that examine key questions about the field and themed pieces for dialogue/debate on current and future teaching and learning issues related to internationalizing the communication discipline/curriculum. Section three provides an extensive sampling of materials and resources for immediate use in internationalization in communication studies: sample syllabi, activities, examples and readings will be included. In sum, our book is designed to enable communication curriculum and communication courses in other disciplines to be internationalized and to offer different approaches to enable faculty, students and administrators to incorporate and experience an internationalized curriculum regardless of time and financial limitations.”

Paul Voakes Fulbright to Uganda

FulbrightsPaul Voakes is Professor of Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder. He submitted the following comments about his Fulbright award. 

Voakes in Kampala
Paul Voakes (right) with Aaron Mushengyezi, then chair of the Mass Communication department at Makerere University.

The primary purpose of my specialist assignment at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, in April-May of 2012, was to work with the chair and faculty of the Mass Communication Department to evaluate the current strength of the Department’s graduate program and think strategically about its sustainability. I think it worked out pretty well. I was one of the leaders of the two-day faculty retreat (May 9-10) in which we achieved consensus on the structure and content of the new MA curriculum. I constructed the 10,000-word document (in the format required by the university) that would enable approval of the new curriculum.  I was told several times that this effort had been stalled for three years, until my contribution to the effort. I also researched Ph.D. programs in Mass Communication in Africa and then assessed the graduate-teaching resources in the department.  The result was a 5,000-word report and recommendation, which I submitted to the chair on May 23.

The secondary purposes of the assignment were to (a) develop possible partnerships (for training, exchanges or research collaborations for faculty or students) between the University of Colorado and Makerere University, and (b) lead class sessions at both the undergraduate and master’s levels, as requested. I drafted a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Colorado and Makerere University, which would accommodate development of collaborations and exchanges of faculty and students. The document has the approval of the legal offices at both universities, but budget constraints at Makerere have hindered the implementation of physical exchanges. In terms of my teaching, I delivered 12 guest lectures over my six-week stay, on topics ranging from public relations ethics and communication for development to investigative reporting techniques and feature-writing tips.

I also enjoyed a few meetings with the larger Ugandan journalism community. I gave a talk to the “U.S. Press Corps,” an organization of Ugandan journalists sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Kampala. I also represented Makerere at The Kampala Dialogue, a day-long regional conference to observe UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day. I gave a 30-minute talk and participated in the Q&A panel at the end of the day.

Most rewarding, as I now look back, are the personal relationships I was able forge with colleagues at Makerere. One example: The University of Colorado Boulder is particularly known for Environmental Science, and we are also home to one of the world’s few centers for Environmental Journalism.  In the fall of 2013, 18 months after my assignment, our center hosted an international conference on the communication of climate change. I encouraged one of my faculty colleagues at Makerere to submit a paper, which was accepted. Travel funding, however, is a constant hindrance for our Ugandan colleagues as they attempt to develop their scholarly careers. Because of our Fulbright-enabled connection, I was happy to host the Ugandan colleague in our home and get her conference registration fee waived. Thus airfare was her only major expense for the conference.  She presented the paper in Boulder and later got it published in an international journal on environmental communication. In Boulder she was also able to forge new relationships with scholars globally in this field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Altheide Fulbrights

FulbrightsDavid L. Altheide is Regents’ Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University. He submitted the following comments about his Fulbright awards.

David AltheideI made two Fulbright visits as a Fulbright Specialist after I retired from Arizona State University in 2011. The first visit was in 2012 to Zeppelin University (Friedrichshafen, Germany), with a brief lecture trip to Vienna, Austria; the second was in 2017 to Universidade Catolica Portuguesa (Lisbon, Portugal). A few comments about contacts, networks, and curricular notions will be followed by an overview of the experiences.

The major impact of my visit to both countries was connecting with key faculty and graduate students. At Zeppelin University, which I had previously visited two years prior, I was reacquainted with a major scholar, Nico Stehr (Karl-Mannheim Chair of Cultural Studies) and my main Fulbright guide, Marian Adolf. A few years after my Fulbright appointment, Professor Stehr visited Arizona State University as a guest of the School of Sustainability. I corresponded with several faculty and graduate students after the conclusion of the visit. The visit to Lisbon, although much briefer (i.e., 2 weeks), also produced some collaborative discussion with faculty and graduate students. I forwarded to ASU colleagues and others copies of research reports and ongoing projects from both universities. Two of my former students were in contact with faculty in Lisbon about their own projects. Finally, I was able to connect faculty from Zeppelin and the Catholic University with scholars in the EU who share common interests. I was invited to return to Lisbon for additional lectures in October 2019.

Another interesting development was contributing to some disciplinary integration. I am a sociologist with a long history of research, teaching, and publishing in mass communication, news and propaganda, and fear communication—all areas that are also associated with Communication Departments and scholarship. (I also taught in an Interdisciplinary School of Justice Studies at Arizona State University). It seemed that my Fulbright lectures and seminars attracted students and faculty from various disciplines, who might not otherwise have much contact. Our conversations, often during meals, etc., occasionally sparked some shared topics of interests that could promote collaborative work in the future in the host institutions.

It is always a challenge to separate out key experiences of the visits since there are so many cultural insights and contrasts, but I can make a few comments about the process that led to my two Fulbright awards. I have been fortunate to do some research-related travel and collaboration with foreign colleagues prior to pursuing a Fulbright Award. The first thing to stress is practicality: Because of my family priorities, commitments to students, and other university responsibilities, I never really considered applying for Fulbright Award that would typically last six months to a year. It was not until toward the end of my teaching career that I learned about and pursued the Fulbright Specialist Award, which could last 2-6 weeks. I learned from colleagues at home and abroad that there is also a pragmatic aspect of a shorter term for a host institution as well: Many universities that do not have a visiting scholar tradition and resources simply are not equipped to support and deal with a visiting faculty person for an extended time. Thus, a Fulbright Specialist award was an ideal situation for my research interests, although the emphasis would not be collecting data per se, but rather, interacting with colleagues, students, offering assistance and suggestions about curricula, programmatic concerns, and perhaps some administrative suggestions.  Having worked in an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Justice Studies, I felt comfortable offering some modest suggestions for promoting cross-discipline integration, including team-teaching. Moreover, I found that the shorter time periods of the Fulbright Specialist were often more manageable for host institutions in terms of more modest support. Fortunately, I was able to use some contacts and familiarity from an initial lecture visit, to develop an application for a six-week appointment at Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Several years later a general inquiry about visiting Lisbon morphed into an invitation to spend two weeks at the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa. I heartily recommend considering a Fulbright Specialist Award. Indeed, my enthusiastic discussions with colleagues led a fellow professor and a former student to apply for and receive a Fulbright Specialist Award. My only regret is that administrative rules prevent me from receiving another award for several years to assist other international faculties.

Ayseli Usluata Fulbrights

FulbrightsDr. Ayseli Usluata is a Professor in the Communication faculty at Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey. She has received Fulbright awards at two different stages of her life, which are described here as part of a continuing series documenting Fulbrights and their impacts.

Ayseli Usluata

As a last year student at middle school in Istanbul our class was given a test, and then my parents were informed that I was one of the two girls in the country who won an award to study at the American College for Girls.  It was a Fulbright award.

Years later, after graduating from the English Philology Department at Istanbul University for my Masters degree, once more I received a Fulbright award, this time to study at the University of Kansas. Prof. Moore and his family agreed to accommodate me in their home, and the following year I shared an apartment with a Chinese friend, Donna. While studying in the American Literature department I took some Philosophy courses as well. With Prof. Wolfe I translated Turkish author Sait Faik’s stories and poems into English, which were published in Kansas magazines (Smoky Hill Review and Prairie Schooner, in 1965-66).

During the summers I worked with Prof. Samson as his assistant mentoring students with bright ideas. At the end of the two years (in 1964) before going back to Turkey, the Foreign Students’ Office assigned me to represent both KU and Turkey at the Williamsburg International Assembly to discuss “American Reflections and Projections” (Schlessinger was the Director).  I met Alfred Friendly who introduced me to his family, and they hosted me for the weekend.  Mrs. Friendly visited Turkey later on.

Upon my return to Turkey, I taught English at the Preparatory School of Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. After two years I proposed “Translation” as a new Freshman elective course open to all departments. The course became very popular among Engineering students and I added 3 more sections. Then I moved to Istanbul and started translating books by well-known authors, including Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell, Jacob Bronowski, and C. P. Snow.

I started teaching English at Boğaziçi University. Due to my interest in communication I started sending my research papers to international associations such as ABC (Association for Business Communication), IAMCR, SIETAR, ECA, GCA, IABC, moving into leadership roles, such as becoming a board member. Every year I presented one or two papers at international conferences.

At one of these events, I complained about news misrepresentations of Turkey — following the rule “bad news is good news”. I talked with colleagues at different conferences emphasizing the importance of interpersonal communication to understand the cultures of different countries, and we decided to have our students communicate through the Internet, including using e-mail. I first started with a German friend from Karlsruhe University; the whole semester students from our two universities exchanged e-mail messages about their culture, daily lives, etc. This international exchange expanded in following semesters to include Canadian, Swedish and American students. It was very successful, to the point where some of the students visited each other later on. With colleagues, I presented conference papers discussing the results and recommendations. This went on until I retired, when I started teaching at Yeditepe University. On a visit to Nebraska-Lincoln University, I met Dr. Charles Braithwaite who talked about his Global Classroom project (to improve students’ practical experience with intercultural communication) and expanded from e-mail exchanges to video conferencing between students, and from discrete teaching to joint video-conferencing. This collaboration has continued every semester since 2000.

Other results included the following:

    1. I took students to the ECA Munich Conference in 2002.
    2. Our students won an international award with their project.
    3. Curi Curtis our UNL student in the Global Ciassroom came back to Turkey as a Fulbrighter.
    4. Two American professors were invited as visiting professors at our Department (Jim and Carol Roever).
    5. Our university welcomed Erasmus students from different countries.
    6.  Students carried out research on “the image of Turkey.

Two larger results:

Hosted the 9th ABC European Convention at Yeditepe University on May 23-26, 2007. Edited the Proceedings in a book. Scholars from 11 different countries attended the convention and contributed to the book. “Communication: Spanning Cultures, Change, and Challenges” Published by Yeditepe University, İstanbul, 2008.

 

Hosted the ECA (European Communication Association) İstanbul Conference 2004 at Yeditepe University. April 17-20. Edited the Proceedings in a book “Shaping the Communication Research in Europe. Published by Yeditepe University, 2005.

 

Other noteworthy accomplishments:

  • “Abdi İpekci peace prize” (held under the auspices of UN) (1991 ) for an article written to promote peace between Greece and Turkey
  • Project coordinator of Turkey for the “Global Project of Women in Media” for the years 1995 and 2000.
  • Visited the two-year colleges to study the programmes on communication/journalism in Englandand Scotland as the guest of British Council (1983 summer)and community colleges in the US (1983 Nov.).
  • Fellow of Salzburg Seminar for the “Communications, Development and Society in an Information Age” Austria (1984).
  • Appointed as the director of Center for International Studies at Boğaziçi University (1991) and arranged to two international conferences on “Italy and Turkey” and “Peace Studies.”
  • “Social Responsibility Project for Graduation” course under the title “From 7 to 77 Solidarity Between Generations” was the co-winner of the European Map of Intergenerational Learning Award (2013).
  • Published the book Social responsibility as academic learning course at the university with Peter Lang in 2021.

Calling all Fulbrights!

FulbrightsI am writing a chapter entitled “The Value of a Fulbright: Internationalizing Education One Person at a Time” for inclusion in the volume Internationalizing the Communication Curriculum in an Age of Globalization: Why, What, and How, to be edited by Paaige K. Turner, Soumia Bardhan, Tracey Quigley Holden, and Eddah Mbula Mutua, to be published by Routledge.

There are already 16 stories about Fulbrights posted to this website, but I am now asking these scholars, as well as anyone else who has held any of the various types of Fulbrights, to email me, so that I can include your story in this overview. (In addition, I would like to add more personal narratives about Fulbright experiences to this website, so if you have not yet told me about your experience, let’s talk.) The specific focus in my chapter will be on what happened after you returned to your home campus: how did you revise your own courses or influence others in your department in ways that helped to internationalize the curriculum?

Further details about what I plan to write:

Continue reading “Calling all Fulbrights!”

Steven Darian Fulbright

FulbrightsSteven Darian, Professor emeritus at Rutgers University, has sent in a description of his Fulbright experience in Uzbekistan, 1997-1998. Details follow.

Steven DarianThe Fulbright was for someone to teach courses in management at the Tashkent Institute of Finance. I had a keen cultural interest in Central Asia, but my Ph.D. was in Applied Linguistics, & most of my teaching dealt with the English language, with courses like applied linguistics, fiction, & non-fiction writing, I also taught an MBA course in business communication. In my Fulbright application, I stressed the fact that an American business professor teaching in a place like Tashkent would be faced with serious comprehension problems from his students, especially since management has its share of jargon and technical terms. I offered to prepare a book for management students who were also nonnative speakers of English. I was also lucky enough to have had a previous Fulbright, plus several other long-term overseas ESL teaching assignments (in Afghanistan, Saudi, & Indonesia). At any rate, the Fulbright came through, and I arrived in Tashkent with copies of the book (later published as English for Decision-Makers: A Course in Modern Management).

Continue reading “Steven Darian Fulbright”

U Loughborough Fulbright Award

FulbrightsThe 2019-20 Fulbright Loughborough Scholar Award is now open for applications with a deadline of 1st August, 2018.

Each year, one award is offered to a US citizen in support of research and/or teaching/lecturing in any subject, in any of (or a combination of) Loughborough research-active departments. The appointment will be for a period of 3-12 months – to be determined by the applicants and their host school. Candidates will be selected by the Fulbright Commission and the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars (CIES).

NOTE: Many other Fulbright opportunities are available, whether in the UK, or in the rest of the world.

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