28th Annual Conference, "Connecting Fulbright Alumni: Achieving Global Results"

Thu, 2005-11-10 - Sun, 2005-11-13

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.

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.

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 Americas Technology Education.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

The Fulbright Association is proud to recognize the following institutions as co-sponsors of "Connecting Fulbright Alumni: Achieving Global Results," the 28th annual conference of the Fulbright Association.

Frostburg State University, a comprehensive, largely residential university located in western Maryland, offers an array of undergraduate and graduate degrees emphasizing arts and humanities, applied technologies, business, education, environmental studies, human services and social and behavioral sciences. The University, nationally recognized for its community service and leadership programs, is distinguished by an excellent and internationally-renowned faculty, dedicated staff and its vast cultural offerings to the communities of western Maryland and the region. For more information, visit online at www.frostburg.edu.

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), founded in 1826, is consistently ranked among the very top tier of visual arts colleges in the nation and enrolls approximately 1,500 undergraduate students and 200 graduate students from 45 states and 59 foreign countries. MICA offers programs of study leading to the BFA, MA, and MFA degrees, as well as post-baccalaureate certificate programs and a full slate of credit and noncredit courses for adults, college-bound students, and children. MICA is also recognized as an important cultural resource for the Baltimore/Washington region, sponsoring many public and community-outreach programs, including more than 100 exhibitions by students, faculty, and nationally and internationally known artists annually, as well artists' residencies, film series, lectures, readings, and performances. For more information, visit www.mica.edu.

Founded in 1866, today Towson University is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top public universities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Towson is nationally recognized for its programs in the liberal arts and sciences, business, education, communications, health sciences, and the fine and performing arts. The University places a strong emphasis on service learning and civic engagement through such activities as internships, practica, clinical placements, course assignments, and student events. As the Baltimore area’s largest university and Maryland’s Metropolitan University, Towson articulates its research and scholarship mission through partnerships that link the University to the economic, educational, and cultural life of the state of Maryland, the mid-Atlantic region, and strategically located international centers. Towson enrolls more than 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 64 undergraduate majors, 35 master’s programs, and four doctoral programs. Located on a rolling 328 acres, the striking campus is eight miles north of downtown Baltimore and 45 miles from Washington, D.C. The campus and its surrounding cities provide an excellent environment for teaching and supporting the academic pursuits of the 600 full-time faculty and over 1,000 staff members. www.towson.edu

The University of Baltimore (UB) is an upper-division and graduate university located in the heart of the historic Mount Vernon cultural district of Baltimore. The University offers a comprehensive range of programs in business, applied liberal arts and law. A model for the engaged urban university, UB features unique academic programs that emphasize both the practical and the theoretical. Its expertise draws more than 5,000 students who are interested in starting careers, changing careers or simply expanding on their knowledge. The University offers flexible scheduling options, a passionate approach to teaching and learning by a faculty with hands-on experience and a vibrant network that extends from the city to locations across the country and around the globe. UB graduates are known as leaders in a wide range of professions, including the state and federal judiciary, politics, business, the arts and the high-tech industry. Visit online at www.ubalt.edu.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a historically-diverse, highly selective, public research university. A strong liberal arts and sciences core provides the foundation for the undergraduate educational experience. UMBC offers a complement of disciplinary and interdisciplinary master’s and doctoral programs with an emphasis on selected areas of science, engineering, information technology, human services, and public policy. As a Carnegie Foundation classified Doctoral/Research University-Extensive, UMBC is frequently a host of Fulbright Scholars and many of its faculty are proud to hold the designation as Fulbright Alumni. In addition, UMBC has developed institutional relationships with a number of distinguished universities around the world, including the University of Tokyo, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and the University of Bari in Italy, to name a few. www.umbc.edu

University of Maryland University College (UMUC) is a visionary institution on the forefront of education for the 21st-century workforce and committed to innovative academic delivery formats. The university serves over 88,000 students worldwide, and is recognized as a global leader in the fields of adult and online education. UMUC is the second-largest university in Maryland, and one of the 11 degree-granting institutions of the University System of Maryland. www.umuc.edu

UMUC’s Office of Worldwide Faculty Recruitment (WFR) recruits adjunct faculty from all over the U.S. to teach online and from the greater Washington DC/Baltimore/Annapolis area for on-site classes. On-site classes meet evenings and weekends. For curriculum and application information: www.umuc.edu/faculty. At the 2005 Conference, see Rosemary Hoffmann.

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28th Annual Conference, "Connecting Fulbright Alumni: Achieving Global Results"

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