VCU Faculty Members Receive Fulbright Awards

By Mike Porter

Fulbright Scholar grants for the 2007-2008 academic year have been awarded to two Virginia Commonwealth University faculty.

Robert Godwin-Jones, Ph.D., associate director, School of World Studies, and Judy S. Richardson, Ph.D., professor emerita, Dean's Office, School of Education, received Fulbright Awards, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Godwin-Jones participated in a Fulbright German Studies Seminar in June and July 2007 at the German-American Fulbright Commission in Berlin, Germany. The topic was "Germany in a Changing Europe" and focused on how the European Union affects Germany, both in terms of laws and policies and everyday life.

"We were able to meet with leading politicians and policy makers from the European Union. The seminar was helpful to me in learning about recent developments in the European Union and I will be using that information in a course I am teaching in the spring on Germany today," Godwin-Jones said.

Richardson will travel to Tetovo, Macedonia, from February to July 2008 to lecture about the development of a reading-to-learn approach. She'll teach a graduate course at South East European University and two undergraduate courses at State University of Tetovo.

"This is a great honor to get a Fulbright and allows me to continue what I've been doing my entire professional life regarding reading to learn. It will help me to work with teachers in a different country to find innovative ways to teach reading to their students," Richardson said. "And for me, it's a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the country and its culture."

Godwin-Jones and Richardson are two of approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals to travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.

The Fulbright Program, America's flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has provided nearly 280,000 students, teachers and scholars worldwide with the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about others' political, economic, educational and cultural institutions.  The Program operates in more than 150 countries.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.

For more information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, visit http://exchanges.state.gov or contact Heidi Manley, Office of Academic Exchange Programs at (202) 453-8534.