The Fulbright Association created the fund with a generous gift from Dr. Cohen in 2000 to recognize the importance of her Fulbright exchange experience in Russia and to perpetuate her interests in dance as an international enterprise. All Cohen Lectures are presented at the Fulbright Association Annual Conference.
Applications for the 2020 Selma Jeanne Cohen Fund Lecture will be accepted through August 30, and the awardee will be notified by September 15.
The 2020 Cohen Lecturer will be selected based on guidelines developed by the late Dr. Selma Jeanne Cohen, dance historian and founding editor of the International Encyclopedia of Dance, whose generous endowment gift supports this lecture program. We encourage interdisciplinary dance scholars to apply.
Román Baca, a New Mexico native, is a classically trained ballet dancer and choreographer. In 2001, recognizing his desire to defend the defenseless, he took a hiatus from dance and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving as a machine-gunner and fire-team leader in Fallujah, Iraq during the Iraq War. Read more.
As a leading choreographer, a social activist, and an innovative professional providing opportunities to the underprivileged, Mr. Hollander’s work in using dance as a vehicle of intercultural exchange, human connection, and international opportunity has exemplified the mission of Fulbright. Read more.
Rebecca Davis is the founder of MindLeaps, an international organization working in post-conflict countries, and a Security Fellow at the Truman National Security Project. A classically-trained ballet dancer and choreographer, she is a two-time Fulbright scholar and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Temple University and a Master’s degree from American Military University.
Julia M. Ritter, choreographer, performer, and dance scholar, is the recipient of three Fulbright Scholar awards from the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (2002, 2005, 2008) for her creative research abroad. Julia received an MFA in dance from Temple University and her Ph.D. in dance studies from Texas Women’s University in 2016. Julia serves as chair and artistic director as well as an associate professor in the dance department at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Madeleine Hackney holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Ph.D. in Movement Science from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a Research Health Scientist at the Atlanta VA Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation and an assistant professor of medicine in the division of general medicine and geriatrics at the Emory School of Medicine.
Patrick Alcedo is an associate professor in the department of dance at York University, Toronto, where he directs the MA and Ph.D. programs in dance studies.
Alice Blumenfeld is a flamenco dancer, choreographer, and instructor.
Josephine Dorado is a social entrepreneur, strategist, producer, and professor at Funk Soup.
Donna Mejia received her MFA from Smith College.
Helena Hammond is a lecturer on dance at the University of Surrey.
Victoria Gray is the artistic director of the Silk Road Dance Company.
Alison Friedman is the general manager of Parnassus Productions.
Ron Jenkins is a professor in the theater department at Wesleyan University.
Barbara Browning is an associate professor in the department of performance studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Richard Semmens is a dance historian and associate professor of music history in the Don Wright Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario.
Millicent Hodson is a dance historian and choreographer with Ballets Old & New.
Wayne B. Kraft is a professor of German at Eastern Washington University.
Gretchen Ward Warren is a professor in the School of Theater and Dance at the University of South Florida.