Grant receives Fulbright honor

Georgia College & State University’s Dr. Chris Grant has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholar grant to teach in the European country of Moldova.

Grant, an assistant professor of Political Science and Public Administration, will lecture and conduct research at The Moldova State University in Chisinau, Moldova, during the 2005-2006 academic year.

Dean of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dr. Beth Rushing was one of the faculty members instrumental in Grant receiving this honor.

“Grant is a student of politics and the situation in Moldova is particularly interesting now because of the transition it is in and it will be a very interesting place for a political scientist to be for a bit of time,” Rushing said.

The scholarship had been on Grant’s radar for several years and he was initially considering applying for a grant to go to Hungary.

“I spent about a week in Hungary in the summer of 2004 and I liked it very much,” Grant said. “But I came to the conclusion that really, my interest in this scholarship was really to look at a country that was struggling with the transition of capitalism and democracy, a country that was really experiencing difficulties making that transition. But Hungary wasn’t experiencing difficulties. And so at that point I decided to start thinking about some other places.”

On his return trip from Hungary, Grant was first introduced to Moldova.

“On my way back from Europe this past summer, I had been at the Amsterdam airport and next to my plane was a plane going to Moldova,” Grant said. “And so I sat on the plane and kind of puzzled about who would be going to Moldova and then I thought, ‘Where is this place?’ I’d never heard of it really before.”

Over the next few months, Grant will investigate both the Fulbright
Scholar grant and Moldova.

“I decided that Moldova had the most promise for me because it is a very small country that was European so it had the influx of Europeans into it, but it is also a country that has faced enormous political and economical strife in recent times,” Grant said.

As it turns out, Grant’s second choice for acceptance had the potential to be a dangerous place to visit at this time.

“Interestingly, the second choice was Kyrghizstan, which has been in the news a lot lately because they have been having a revolution there,” Grant said. “So I’m glad I got my first choice and not my second. I am quite happy that Moldova is where I got accepted. I’m not sure I could have accepted the Kyrghizstan Fulbright grant.”

Grant’s previous travels around the world were also considered when being selected for the grant.

“He has also done a good bit on international travel and one of the things they talk about in the Fulbright application is ‘Is this a person who you know will be able to be flexible and deal with the trials and tribulations of sometimes not ideal situations and circumstances,’” Rushing said.

Senior Marlys Clinite said she could not think of a more deserving teacher.

“Dr. Grant definitely deserves the grant,” Clinite said. “He is a great asset to the school and we’ll all miss him while he’s gone.”

The Fulbright Program is backed by the U.S. Department of State and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Recipients of Fulbright Scholar awards are chosen on the basis of either academic or professional achievement. The recipient must also have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in a particular field.

Associate Professor of Art Roxanne Farrar and Music Education Coordinator Patti Tolbert will be traveling to Thailand this summer with Fulbright grants. Assistant Professor of English Mary Magoulick has also been accepted for a Fulbright grant to go to Croatia for spring 2006.

Former GC&SU faculty member Susan Atefat-Peckham also received a Fulbright grant. Atefat-Peckham and her son were killed tragically in a car crash while traveling through Jordan in February of 2004.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 22 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry