Fulbright Visiting Scholar Enrichment Programs

See photos and read about past scholar activities on the Enrichment Blog

The Enrichment Program Grant competition for 2012-2013 is now closed. Results are announced in July.

Program Overview

The Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program provides a variety of enrichment activities throughout the academic year, which are intended to further the Fulbright Program’s goal of increasing mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and people of other countries. These activities, including enrichment seminars, benefit the more than 800 Fulbright Visiting Scholars, who are faculty and professionals from over 155 countries who have received Fulbright Scholar grants for advanced research and university lecturing in the United States.

• Goals of the Enrichment Programs
• Fulbright Local Activities
• Contacts for Cities
• Fulbright Scholar Seminars
• Themes for This Year and Past Seminars

Enrichment activities are primarily conducted outside of the “formal” academic program and day-to-day work setting. 

The goals of these enrichment programs are to:

1. Build cross-cultural understanding through activities that highlight U.S. culture and history, including the diversity of the U.S. and of its people, at the local, state, regional, and national levels;
   
   
2. Expand professional and social networks to create a stronger Fulbright community;
   
   
3. Create opportunities for the development of professional and leadership skills;
   
   
4. Promote community service activities to increase the spirit of volunteerism and facilitate interactions with diverse segments of U.S. society;
   
   
5. Strengthen national and global alumni networks; and
   
   
6. Expand outreach to promote the Fulbright Program and highlight its impact.

Fulbright Visiting Scholar Enrichment activities consist of local activities in key areas with large numbers of Fulbright Visiting Scholars and seminars, which are academic conferences built around a topic of shared global importance.

Local enrichment activities aim to engage Fulbright Visiting Scholars with their local community, as well as building a wider Fulbright community among Visiting Scholars through a series of regularly scheduled events in cities with concentrations of Fulbright Scholars.  Activities may include:

• Group community service or volunteer activities for Fulbright Visiting Scholars and/or Fulbright U.S. alumni;
  
  
• Home hospitality or restaurant visits, including visits with the owner and/or chef, to introduce Fulbright Visiting Scholars to regional cuisines and their history;
  
  
• Tours/activities (architectural, historical, cultural, etc.) that emphasize the diversity of a city/town/community and its history;
  
  
• Panel discussions highlighting U.S. current events or other topics of global relevance (e.g., public health, food security, climate change) with locally-based U.S. subject matter experts, Fulbright Visiting Scholars, and/or U.S. Fulbright alumni;
  
  
• Participation in a local festival, music or arts event; and/or
  
  
• Visits to local nonprofits, volunteer organizations or other local organizations that work on a local, national, or international level.

Enrichment coordinators for specified areas are listed below.  Fulbright Visiting Scholars living in the indicated cities will receive a welcome message from the local coordinator.  If a Fulbright Visiting Scholar has not been contacted directly, s/he is welcome to contact the indicated coordinator for her/his host city.

The greater Metropolitan Areas of the following cities:

Boston:  Mary Rose Bolton; maryrosebolton@comcast.net

New York City: Katya Musachhio; katya@one-to-world.org

Washington, D.C.: Jeanine Greene; jm.rtgreene@verizon.net

Northern California:  Marilyn Herand; mherand@sbcglobal.net

Southern California:  Ann Kerr; akerr@international.ucla.edu

Other Cities with Visiting Scholar enrichment programming:

Central Florida:  Max Stewart; max_stewart@iccfvip.com

Chicago:  Peggy Parfenoff; pparfenoff@worldchicago.org

Philadelphia:  Ann Stauffer; ann.stauffer@phila.gov

Pittsburgh:  Gail Shrott; gshrott@pciv.org

Portland/Eugene:  Abe Schafermeyer; abe@uoregon.edu

Seattle:  Era Schrepfer; era@fiuts.org

Tucson/Phoenix:  Carol Bender; bender@email.arizona.edu

Scholars who are hosted at institutions outside major metropolitan areas will also have the opportunity to participate in enrichment activities through one of three Visiting Scholar seminars that will be scheduled throughout the year.  Seminars consist of interactive discussions, community service projects, and local cultural activities designed to introduce the Fulbright Visiting Scholars to different aspects of topics of global importance.  Through local experts (such as public, private and/or non-profit leaders) and members of the academic community, the seminar presents different perspectives on the selected topic.  Through community outreach activities and discussions, Fulbright Visiting Scholars learn how the selected topic impacts communities in the U.S. (specifically the host city) and explore its impact on their own home countries.

This year’s dates and themes are as follows:
November 2 – 6, 2011 |	“Human Rights and the Global Democracy Movement,” Atlanta, GA
March 7 – 10, 2012 |	“Human Rights: Building a Society that Protects Human Rights and Celebrates Diversity,” Birmingham, AL
March 28 – 31, 2012 |	“Diversity: A City Work in Progress,” Chicago, IL
In 2011, three enrichment seminars were held on the following topics:
March 30 – April 2, 2011 |	“Democracy and Human Rights: An Exploration,” Chicago, IL
April 6 – 10, 2011 |	“Valuing Diversity & Resolving Conflict,” Philadelphia, PA
April 13 – 16, 2011 |	“Living Sustainably: Vermont as an Incubator of Innovation in Food and Energy,” Burlington, VT