November 21, 2005
Dear Members:
It is a pleasure to share information with you on the
proceedings of the Fulbright Association’s 28th Annual Conference,
“Connecting Fulbright Alumni: Achieving Global Results.” Fulbright alumni
and program administrators from 17 countries and 41 U.S. states joined State
Department colleagues at the conference, which concluded Nov. 13 in
Baltimore, Md. The conference demonstrated the Fulbright Association’s
singular role in convening alumni who represent diverse disciplines, all
world regions, and varied Fulbright experiences. Conference highlights
follow.
International Initiative Announced for 2006
The Fulbright Association and the Moroccan Fulbright Alumni Association
(MFAA) announced that they will hold Fulbright alumni meetings in Marrakech
from Nov. 3 through Nov. 7, 2006. The series will open with a welcoming
reception on Nov. 3. With the support of the U.S. Department of State, a
global Fulbright alumni technical assistance seminar will be held Nov. 4 for
representatives of national Fulbright alumni associations and alumni groups
that are developing associations. The U.S. Fulbright Association’s 29th
annual conference will begin on the evening of Nov. 4 with the annual
banquet and keynote speech. The 29th annual conference will conclude on
Nov. 5. The MFAA conference, “Morocco in Western Art,” will be held Nov. 6
and 7.
The U.S. Department of State awarded the Fulbright
Association a $15,000 challenge grant to be matched on a one-to-one basis to
develop resources that will enable Fulbright alumni organizations abroad to
improve their operations, increase their membership, and strengthen their
support for the Fulbright Program. The State Department-supported
initiative will produce a best practices manual, will engage alumni leaders
in “Focused-Country Peer Assist” projects, and will culminate in the
technical assistance seminar in Morocco in November 2006. For information,
please contact me at
jane.anderson@fulbright.org.
The International Initiatives session of the conference
also featured greetings or reports from representatives of associations or
alumni groups in Chile, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Korea,
Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, People’s Republic of China, Spain, Thailand,
Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Representatives from Armenia and
Switzerland also attended the conference. For reports, please see
http://www.fulbright.org/conference/2005/schedule.htm. Updates will be
posted periodically.
The U.S.-U.K. Liaison Project, a volunteer-driven
mentoring program between the British Fulbright Scholars Association and the
U.S. Fulbright Association, also presented a report. Please see
http://www.fulbright.org/conference/2005/schedule.htm.
28th Keynote Speech Focuses on Technology
Education
Christopher Nordlinger (Senegal 1982), senior manager of technology
education programs at Cisco Systems, delivered the keynote address, “Closing
the Gap: Stemming the Crisis in America’s Technology Education.” The text
of his speech is available at
http://www.fulbright.org/conference/2005/schedule.htm.
Plenary Luncheon Address on Sculpture, Wind
Choreography & the Urban Landscape
Sculptor Janet Echelman (India 1996) entranced her audience with an
explanation of how she started her Fulbright experience as a painter and
ended it as a sculptor. Slides of her commissioned work in locations
throughout the world illustrated her odyssey, which begin in collaboration
with local bronze-casters and fishermen in an Indian village. Her
presentation is available for download at
http://www.fulbright.org/conference/2005/schedule.htm.
2005 Selma Jeanne Cohen Fund Lecture
Richard Semmens, associate professor of music history at the Don Wright
Faculty of Music of the University of Western Ontario, presented the
lecture, “Moving Inside and Outside the Box: Thoughts on the Graphic
Notation of Baroque Dances for the Ballroom.” Members of the audience, which
included the chair of the Dance Department at Goucher College and several of
her students, asked lively questions that related the lecture to other
disciplines, including theater, architecture and sociology. A text of the
lecture will be posted shortly at
http://www.fulbrightalumni.org/olc/pub/FBA/programs/lecturers.html.
Panel Discussions
Conference panels brought together fascinating speakers who discussed
important issues. A list of panel sessions follows:
Increasing Diversity in the Fulbright Program
Perceptions and Policies: How the World Views the U.S. Now
60 Years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Legacy and Future of Peace and
Conflict Studies
Rats, Crows, and Rubbervines: Threats from Invasive Species
The State Alumni Global Community and Grant Program
Panel presentations will be posted on the web site at
http://www.fulbright.org/conference/2005/schedule.htm as they become
available.
Cultural Program at American Visionary Art Museum
In 1995, Rebecca Alban Hoffberger founded the
American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore to spotlight the work of
self-taught artists outside the mainstream. Congress
designated her vision a national museum, and it has won numerous awards.
Ms. Hoffberger kindly welcomed Fulbrighters to the museum and led them on a
tour of the current exhibition, “Race, Class, Gender ≠ Character.” For more
information on the museum, please visit
http://www.avam.org.
Chapter Development
Seminar and Advocacy Sessions
Representatives from more than 20 Fulbright Association chapters
participated in a session designed to help them recruit alumni participants
and plan programs. The session also included information on planning and
implementing grassroots advocacy projects. For the chapter development
session presentations and the presentation from the advocacy workshop the
following day, please visit
http://www.fulbright.org/conference/2005/schedule.htm.
Annual Business Meeting
of Members
Fulbright Association conferences also include the annual business meeting
of members. Led by President R. Fenton-May, the meeting presented
information on elections to the Association’s Board of Directors and on the
Association’s finances and plans for 2006. Please see Dr. Fenton-May’s
presentation for the annual business meeting at
http://www.fulbright.org/conference/2005/schedule.htm.
Fulbright Association
Task Forces
The Association’s International Education and Science and Environment Task
Forces held a joint session at the conference where they learned about grant
opportunities from representatives of the Council for International Exchange
of Scholars.
The Arts Task Force
session featured presentations from painter Mary-Louise Biasotti-Hooper,
flutist Marie Kenote, visual artist Rose Powhatan, and theatre historian,
actor and director Jeannie Woods. For Arts Task Force presentations, please
see
http://www.fulbright.org/conference/2005/schedule.htm.
If you would like to join
any of the Task Forces ($5 annual fee), please contact
artstf@fulbright.org,
ietf@fulbright.org, or
setf@fulbright.org.
Co-Sponsors and
Contributors
We thank once again conference co-sponsors Frostburg State University;
Maryland Institute College of Art; Towson University; University of
Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and University of
Maryland University College (UMUC) Office of Worldwide Faculty Recruitment.
We gratefully acknowledge
the special conference contribution of Rebecca Hoffberger and the American
Visionary Art Museum, which so graciously hosted our concluding program.
We hope to see you over
the months to come at a Fulbright Association chapter event or national
program. If you would like more information on chapter programs, please
contact Director of Chapter Relations Lisa Chapin at
l.chapin@fulbright.org. If you are interested in more information on
the 29th annual conference in Morocco, please contact Director of Membership
Development Marshall Ellis at
marshall.ellis@fulbright.org. We look forward to hearing from you and
to your continued involvement in the global Fulbright network. With best
regards.
Sincerely,
Jane L. Anderson, CAE
Executive Director
