Two California State University, Stanislaus faculty members are among the first scholars to take part in a newly created Fulbright award program.
Dr. Phyllis Gerstenfeld of the Criminal Justice Department and Dr. John Sumser of the Communication Studies Department are among the 1,200 U.S. experts traveling abroad this year on a Fulbright Scholar academic exchange program.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program provides participants, chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Fulbright offers several different kinds of grants, and is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished award programs in the world.
The primary source of the funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State.
Dr. Gerstenfeld will spend five months studying in Croatia. She will also teach classes on research methods and criminal justice in film at the University of Zagreb. The Fulbright Scholars program makes it easy for faculty to bring their families along on their travels, so Dr. Gerstenfeld will be accompanied by her 11-year-old daughter.
Dr. Sumser is already in the Czech Republic studying and teaching mass media and popular culture at Charles University’s Institute of Sociological Studies in Prague.
