Three members of The University of Alabama’s faculty will receive Fulbright Awards for the upcoming year.
Dr. Angela D. Benson, professor of instructional technology; and Dr. Steven Jones, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering, will receive Fulbright Teaching/Research Scholar Awards to universities in Namibia. Dr. Catherine M. Roach, professor in New College in cultural studies and gender studies, will receive a Fulbright Specialist Award to a university in Greece.
During her 10-month stay in Namibia, which will begin in January 2019, Benson will teach and conduct research with colleagues in the Faculty of Education and the Centre for Open, Distance and eLearning at the University of Namibia. Her activities will include teaching master’s level educational technology courses, mentoring doctoral students and conducting professional development workshops for lecturers. Her research will explore the development of technology knowledge and cultural competence in students and lecturers.
Jones will be a Visiting Scholar at the Namibia University of Science and Technology in the capital, Windhoek, from January to December 2019. The focus of his research is to develop a collaboration to address the urgent public health problem of road crashes in Namibia. Jones will develop and teach a course on traffic safety that focuses on traditional engineering countermeasures in addition to strategies to address human-centered nature (behavior and culture) of crashes.
Additionally, he will work with faculty, students and administrators to teach a course called “The Business of Research,” intended to develop soft research skills aimed at making future Namibian researchers more effective at engaging international research networks, obtaining research funding and managing research projects.
Roach is receiving a Fulbright Specialist grant to serve as visiting professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for 15 days in June-July 2018. She will teach and consult about curriculum at the fourth annual summer school of the department of American literature, School of English in a program titled “Discussing Gender: Confrontations and Challenges.” She will lead workshops and deliver lectures on “Romance Narratives and the New Sexual Revolution: Literature and Publishing in the 21st Century.” She received a Fulbright for the 2013-14 academic year, when she served as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair at the University of Leeds in Great Britain.
The Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program provides awards through an annual competition to more than 800 U.S. scholars and professionals to lecture or conduct research at institutions in more than 125 countries in a wide variety of academic disciplines. Program duration ranges from a semester to an academic year.
The Fulbright Specialist Program sends U.S. scholars and professionals overseas for a period of two to six weeks to collaborate with professional counterparts at institutions of higher education on curriculum and faculty development, institutional assessment and planning and related activities.
Faculty who are interested in learning more about applying for a Fulbright award can contact Dr. Teresa Wise in the Capstone International Center or visit international.ua.edu/fulbright/faculty.