The Fulbright Program has been awarded a Silver Telly Award for our short film “My Fulbright Life: Brian Rutenberg”! We’re excited that the story of cultural exchange is being heard far and wide. Here’s the video:
The Telly Awards have been recognizing excellence in video for 34 years, and only 10% of 12,000 entries receive the Silver Award, their highest honor. If you’d like to see more videos on the Fulbright Program’s impact on individuals and communities, visit http://vimeo.com/fulbright
Marisa Rinkus, 2010-2011, Brazil (left), and her research assistant inspect a sea turtle on the Brazilian coast
In February 2011, I left a snowy Michigan winter and headed south into the warm Brazilian summer to study community engagement and sea turtle conservation on my Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant. While excited by the prospect of living near the beach, I knew that conducting research in another country would require hard work with the assistance and collaboration of others.
In reality, relationship building on a Fulbright grant begins before you leave the United States–often via email and Skype. Having already made a few contacts in Brazil by email, and even visiting a few months before my Fulbright application was due, I assumed securing an in-country affiliation would be easy. However, my request for a formal letter was denied at the last minute. With little time to spare, I turned to the Internet and stumbled upon the graduate program in Society and Environment at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas which mirrored my research interests—community participation in coastal conservation. With a little bit of convincing, a translated copy of my proposal, and a draft letter of affiliation outlining the terms of our collaboration (which included a joint publication), I soon had my Fulbright affiliation. Once I arrived in Brazil, my host-country adviser provided feedback on my research and helped me navigate the paperwork required to conduct research as a foreign researcher in Brazil, including securing research ethics approval for conducting research with human subjects (similar to Institutional Review Board approval in the United States).
Justin Dunnavant, 2009-2010, Jamaica, (center) and Mr. Ricky (right) helping to cultivate a community farm in Portland, Jamaica
When I first applied for a Fulbright grant to Jamaica, I called on teachers, administrators, and Howard University’s alumni network for guidance. They were helpful in fine-tuning my study/research proposal and ensuring that I had a feasible plan. But perhaps the most invaluable piece of advice I received was to “expect the unexpected.” A thorough plan is definitely needed when conducting international research, but you need to make sure that it’s also flexible.
While studying in Jamaica, I divided my time between the University of West Indies and other institutions throughout Kingston. At the university, I enrolled in courses in Caribbean culture and historical archaeology, while participating in archaeological excavations on the historic Mona Plantation. In addition to the work I was doing at the university, I also ventured over to the national archives to gather more information on the slave trade from Madagascar to Jamaica, and to Liberty Hall, a community youth center, where I volunteered at an after-school program teaching math, reading, and history to students age five to fifteen.
After completing my research and teaching commitments, an opportunity arose to participate in a community project outside of Kingston during the final month of my Fulbright grant. At the invitation of two former American Civil Rights organizers, I took a trip to the parish of Portland. Now resident in Jamaica, the Civil Rights veterans helped establish the International School for Bottom-Up Organizing based on many of the same principles they learned as community organizers in the 1950s and 60s in the United States. At the local level, the organization is run by local youth and supervised by community elders to address social and economic issues. The social programs ranged from community discussions about gender relations to community organizing, and the economic ventures included workshops on fundraising, sustainable energy, and collaborative farming. I began working with the organization right after they had agreed to start a small-scale community farm to raise some funds.
The land was cleared and ready to till. After the long months I spent in the library and the classroom, it was good to be able to get some sun! Jamaica is famous for its rolling hills and mountainous landscape, which make for scenic views, but which can also pose problems for farming. Having absolutely no background in agriculture, working in Portland taught me a great deal about community and cultivation. We planted corn, cocoa, and various types of beans. In the process, I learned a few tricks of the trade, such as planting tree saplings perpendicular to the slope to secure their roots against the impact of heavy rains. At the end of the day, the seeds had been sown and our work concluded with a hearty lunch of curry chicken, rice, and boiled dumplings cooked on site.
The farm lasted about a year before the youth decided to switch to the more lucrative business of raising chickens and selling their eggs. While I originally went to Jamaica to study archaeology and history, I left with a greater appreciation and understanding for the hard work that goes into farming and developing a healthy community. The International School for Bottom-Up Organizing now carries out partner programs in Jamaica and Colombia creating mutual exchange opportunities between peoples of both countries.
Have questions for Justin? He can be contacted as a Fulbright Alumni Ambassador at JDunnavant.AlumniAmbassador@fulbrightmail.org.
Fulbright has a large presence at the premier international education conference.
Once again, the Fulbright Program has a large presence at the NAFSA Annual Conference & Expo in St. Louis, taking place from May 26-31.
The best way to find us is in the Expo Hall, booth 709, which will be well-staffed by Student and Scholar Program staff, Fulbright alumni, and even the occasional high-level staff from Fulbright Commissions in other countries!
Expo Days & Hours: May 28-30, 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM; May 31, 10:30 AM – 2:00 PM
Booth 709 (link to interactive map here)
America’s Center, St. Louis, MO
If you’re at the conference, stop by to say hello, ask about any aspect of Fulbright, grab a brochure, or anything else. If you can’t join us? No problem. Drop us a line on Twitter or Facebook!
Alfdaniels Mabingo, 2011-2013, Uganda (center, on the big drum), performing with fellow NYU Steinhardt Dance Education students during the annual Distinguished Faculty Concert (photo courtesy of Cris Dopher)
My journey to New York University (NYU) to pursue graduate training in dance education started when I was still young. My artistic creativity, performance dexterity and exposure to dance artistry were nurtured and molded by the day-to-day, informal community-based dance experiences of my childhood. My mother would always sing me lullabies; my young peers always challenged me to create and share music and dance moves. These experiences came with me as I left my home country, Uganda, to attend NYU as a Fulbright Student.
When I arrived at NYU, I realized how different my new environment felt: accents, social interaction and studying styles, classroom dynamics, grades, pedagogy, music and dance traditions, food, modes of transportation – were all alien to me. I experienced what I would call “welcome to New York City” shock. My challenge was how to build on my cultural history, academic acumen, and ambitions to fit into this new environment. Dance and music helped me to become comfortably oriented in this unfamiliar setting.