Magoulick receives Fulbright honor
Dr. Mary Magoulick has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture during the spring of 2006 at the University of Rijeka in Croatia.
“I was very excited,” said Magoulick, an associate professor of English and interdisciplinary studies. “It’s a great honor. I’m full of anticipation to go and learn about a new culture.”
Magoulick will be in Croatia for five months and will teach Research Methods in English, Women in Popular Culture and Native American Literature.
“I will say that I prefer teaching in situations like the Fulbright, where I’m teaching students from that country because whenever you’re teaching, you’re also learning,” Magoulick said. “I get to learn a lot about the country from the students.”
Magoulick has also taught in Sweden for two summers, as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa and for the Semester at Sea program in the spring of 2005.
“I think that her experiences abroad inform her teaching,” said Dwight Call, assistant vice president for international education. “And I think she’s a good representative of this country.”
“I was really excited for her,” said Dr. Beth Rushing, dean of liberal arts and sciences. “She’s always had an interest in international issues.”
Magoulick sees the experience as a chance to learn about her past and experience a new culture.
“I think, like any cross-cultural experience, it’s going to be fun to be immersed in another culture and to learn about it,” Magoulick said. “It’s going to be gratifying as a learning experience. But in this particular case, I think it will be a little extra dimension for me because I do have a family, ancestral connection there.”
Magoulick will inform students in Croatia about American culture, but she will also use experiences from her visit to teach students and faculty at GC&SU about Croatian culture.
“When she comes back she will have a better understanding of a part of the world that most of us will never set foot in,” Rushing said. “We’ll learn from her about her experiences in Croatia in the same way that they’ll learn from her about what America is like.”
“I always enjoy learning how other people’s educational systems work,” Magoulick said. “And that’s always an interesting thing to bring back and share in my classroom.”
The Fulbright Program allows scholars to lecture or perform research in a country of their choice. Scholars from around the world have participated in similar activities in the U.S. The Fulbright Program was established by Senator J. William Fulbright under 1946 legislation.
“Fulbright was very much interested in fostering international education. He believed that sending scholars abroad and sending scholars in this direction helps to build international understanding,” Call said.
Call said that scholars, as well as students planning to attend graduate school, have the opportunity to apply for a Fulbright award.
“If you’re an educated person, you need to be able to look at the world from more than just one narrow point of view,” Call said. “(The Fulbright Program) also helps break down stereotypes and prejudices.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Dec 2 2005. Filed under News.
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