Being in the Middle of the Opening of the Berlin Wall – John Austin Murphy – Germany 1989
While on a Fulbright research assignment at the Free University of Berlin in 1989-90, I connected with East German demonstrators and officials as well as with researchers from both Germanies and Hungary. I learned to dance in East Berlin discos, as well as later on the streets of West Berlin when the Berlin Wall opened […]
My ‘Distinguished Service & Outreach Award’ Winning Moment – Gaurav Misra – USA 2015
I was a foreign language instructor to my American students at the University of Montana, Missoula (UM). I was part of an established South & South-East Asian Studies Program with a focus on India and several India-based courses. Through my presence on this campus, I helped to develop the foreign language program and increase overall […]
A Humble Exchange of Gifts – Barbara Ellen Thompson – Vietnam 2014
Mr Huang lived in a humble dwelling made of sheets of corrugated iron next door to our house in Hue, Vietnam. He had a small red plastic table and four matching chairs in front of his house. Whenever my husband, Don, and I passed his home he would insist that we sit down and join […]
Hi, Auntie! – Bernard Poole – India 2006
S A T U R D A Y , A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 0 7 Hi, Auntie! This is cute. Every day when I walk into my class, I start out by giving my laptop and projector to a couple of the students (I call them my “technologistes du […]
From the start – Brad Deacon – Germany 1993
From my arrival in Bonn for orientation, I found myself surrounded by some of the most interesting people I’d ever met. Fulbrighters from across the U.S., in Germany to study economics, physics, medieval literature, engineering, music, and so many more areas. All with vastly different lives and experiences, but brought together for a few days […]
Fulbright Opens Hearts, Minds, and Doors to the World – Philip William Calvert – Iceland 1994
I vividly remember the day in the spring semester of my second year of graduate school when I received the letter from the Fulbright Association accepting my application to be a Scholar to Iceland. I carried that letter to my next class, which was taught by my mentor, Dr. Turley. The joy on his face, […]
My First Attempted Coup d’Etat – James Nolan – Spain 1979 & 1989
Photo Above: Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and James Nolan in his Barrio Gotico apartment, Barcelona, 1991. This past January 6, I sat glued to the television watching as state representatives in the nation’s Capitol cowered on the floor while a mob of shouting louts invaded their congressional chamber, interrupting the Electoral College’s certification of the presidential […]
Blood Diamonds: Before and After Sierra Leone’s Civil War – Susan Ruel – Sierra Leone 1978
My Fulbright year in Sierra Leone made an incalculably significant impact on my life. When I left in 1979, I saw no hint that a vicious civil war would break out there just over a decade later. On arrival in 1978 as one of a tiny group of “pothos” (whites) in country, I felt such […]