September 3, 2003

UConn's Fulbright Award-Winners Announced

Six faculty members, a recent graduate of the University, and a doctoral candidate have been notified that they have received Fulbright awards. UConn will also host two visiting Fulbright Scholars this year.

"The scholars who have been selected for this prestigious program are to be commended," says Provost John D. Petersen. "Their talent, initiative, and scholarship enhances the University."

The Fulbright Scholar Program, begun in 1946, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program offers grants to U.S. faculty and professionals to go abroad each year where they may lecture, teach, or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields.

The Fulbright-Hays Fellowship Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. It provides grants for faculty and doctoral students for area studies research.

The 2003-2004 award recipients will teach, lecture, and conduct research. They are:

Robert Dunn, who received a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology in May, will investigate the impact of loss of species on ecosystem functions by studying interactions between ants and plants in Australia for a year. The survival of a large percentage of Australian flora depends on ants. Dunn's study will advance understanding of the ecological processes that contribute to, or reduce, biodiversity.

James Franklin, professor of lighting design and head of the Design/Technical Theatre Program in the dramatic arts department, will teach theatrical lighting design at the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theatre Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia from January to July 2004.

Mark Janis, William F. Staff Professor of Law, received a Fulbright Senior Specialist grant in law at Riga Graduate School of Law in Latvia. In contrast to the traditional Fulbright Scholar program, Senior Specialist grants offer funding for leading U.S. academics and professionals to support curricular and faculty development and institutional planning at academic institutions abroad.

Jocelyn Linnekin, professor of anthropology, received a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship to conduct research in Guatemala during the spring semester. This opportunity will add a Central American dimension to her investigation of variation in conceptualizati ons of "democracy" within and between national populations. Her study will address regional and international questions about the future of democratic governance.

Timothy Reagan, professor of educational leadership and head of the department, received a Fulbright Senior Specialist grant in education to work with the English department at Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educacion in Chile on the development of teacher education programs for teaching English this August. He also worked with the Ministry of Education in Chile.

Carolyn Schwarz, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, will investigate the political implications of Christianity in an Aboriginal community in Australia. She has developed a basic command of Gupapuyngu, the language of the people she will study, in order to communicate with them. She was also awarded a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship for her research, which she declined in favor of the traditional Fulbright grant.

Karen Spalding, professor of history, received both a Fulbright Scholar Grant and a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship, which she will use sequentially to fund an academic year of research in Peru and Spain. She will study new identities and invented traditions in the colonial Andes. She will explore the relationship between the politics of local communities and the state during the period of Spanish colonial rule, from about 1550 to the mid-18th century.

Steve Wisensale, professor of family studies, won a fellowship to participate in the summer 2003 German Studies Seminar. The seminar, "Germany, Challenges of Demographics" addresses his interest in comparative family policy, aging policy, and planning of human service programs.

Fulbright Scholars visiting UConn this year are:

Michael Magwa, a professor of botany at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa, who will do research on sustainable plant utilization. His host is Mark Brand, professor of plant science. Magwa will be at the University from September through November.

Nobutaka Matsumura, professor of education at Kansai University of Japan, will conduct research on a project called "Addressing Psychological Needs of the Gifted and Talented in Talent Development for all Students." His host is Joseph Renzulli, director of The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.