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Australian anthropologist Claire Smith knew her Fulbright experience
would be a watershed in her life, but wasn't sure how it would
manifest itself.
"I saw my postdoctoral fellowship as a wonderful opportunity
to pursue my research without the diversions and responsibilities
that are part of being a university teacher," says Smith,
an expert in Australian Aboriginal culture who teaches at Flinders
University in Adelaide. "I hoped that I would be able to
do my fieldwork, write a few papers, make some new friends and
extend my professional networks."
The outcome of her Fulbright, however, turned out to far exceed
her expectations, and included the opportunity to work with Harriet
Mayor Fulbright, widow of Senator J. William Fulbright and a prominent
member of the Washington, D.C., philanthropy community.
Smith met Mrs. Fulbright at a Fulbright Scholars enrichment function,
and invited her to be patron for the upcoming Fifth World Archaeological
Congress, slated to be held in Washington in June 2003. Smith
and Joan Gero, a Fulbright alum and professor of anthropology
at American University, were organizing this conference on indigenous
peoples and cultures.
The Congress will be held in partnership with Flinders University
and the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of the American Indian
and the National Museum of Natural History. In May 2001, Smith,
Mrs. Fulbright and Gero, along with officials from the Smithsonian,
presided over a launch of the Congress's planning forum at a reception
held at the Australian Embassy.
"Mrs. Fulbright and I are also developing a couple of other
projects, including a Global Fund for Indigenous Voices,"
says Smith. "The aim of this fund is to facilitate the participation
of people in developing countries, especially indigenous peoples,
in international professional policy-making forums. We are seeking
to establish an initial endowment of 12 to 15 million U.S. dollars."
As part of her Fulbright research project to develop principles
for using indigenous material in multimedia, Smith also worked
with Native Americans in various parts of the United States at
community, state and federal levels.
"I conducted fieldwork on the West Coast and in the Southwest,"
Smith notes. "I was based in Washington, D.C., where you
might not expect to meet many Native Americans, but in fact the
area draws people from throughout the country, sometimes for conferences
or meetings and sometimes to lobby the federal government."
The most exciting aspect of being in America, she notes, was
"being part of such a 'can do' society. I found myself caught
up in projects that were beyond anything I had ever thought of
doing. It has given me the confidence to set goals at a level
far beyond anything I have achieved, or even dreamt of, in the
past."
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