September 5th, 2013: Fourteen American Scholars and Students to come to Ireland on Fulbright Awards

The Fulbright Commission of Ireland is looking forward to welcoming the 2013-2014 U.S. Fulbright Awardees, who will arrive in Ireland this coming September.

The 14 awardees are the latest “Fulbrighters” to come to Ireland on the U.S. State Department-sponsored grants and will go to a variety of Irish institutions, including:

• Dublin City University
• Dublin Institute of Technology
• Griffith College
• National University of Ireland, Galway
• National University of Ireland, Maynooth
• Royal Irish Academy of Music
• Teagasc
• University College Cork
• University College Dublin

The Fulbright Awards are presented on an annual basis to U.S. students, scholars, and professionals to undertake postgraduate study and research at higher education, cultural, and related institutions in the Ireland and for Irish citizens to do the same in the U.S.

This year’s American awardees come from a range of backgrounds and specialties, ranging from lyric writing for theatre to entrepreneurship. Speaking about the new Fulbrighters, U.S. Program Manager at the Fulbright Commission, Ms. Sonya McGuinness, said, “we are delighted with the quality and diversity that the American Fulbright awardees will bring to Ireland during this Gathering year. With expertise and experiences from as far away as Louisiana and Colorado, I know that the mutually shared learnings between the American Fulbrighters and their Irish colleagues will last far beyond their Fulbright year.”

The Fulbright Awards are annual grants for postgraduate students and scholars.  All applications for U.S. Fulbright Students are managed by the Institute for International Education and the U.S. Fulbright Scholars are managed by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. For more information please click here.

Please see below for the full list of U.S. Fulbright Awardees for 2013-2014. If you are interested in contacting any of the Fulbrighters please email info@fulbright.ie for more information.

Full List of 2013-2014 U.S. Fulbright Awardees:

 1. Ms. Lauren Agoubi is a Fulbright Student Awardee and a graduate of Williams College. She will go to the National University of Ireland, Galway to complete a Masters in Public Advocacy and Activism, focusing on the role of civil society advocacy groups in the promotion of sexual and reproductive health rights in Ireland.

 2. Ms. Lily Akerman is a Fulbright Student Awardee and a graduate of Princeton University. She will be based at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, writing lyrics for a theatre piece and collaborating with composers and performers to produce a workshop-style performance of the piece.

3. Dr. Thomas Cairns is an Associate Professor at Azusa Pacific University in California. He will go to the National University of Ireland, Maynooth to research and teach on the topic of increasing the effectiveness of leaders in emergency planning, preparedness, recovery, and business continuity on his Fulbright Scholar Award.

4. Dr. Dawn DeTienne is an Associate Professor at Colorado State University and a Fulbright Scholar Awardee. She will research entrepreneurship pedagogies and programs that provide the foundation for entrepreneurial activity In Ireland while at Dublin City University.

5. Ms. Anne Driscoll is a Fulbright Scholar Awardee from Brandeis University. She will conduct research on the causes of wrongful convictions in Ireland and teach law students working on the Irish Innocence Project at Griffith College on the topic of “Investigating Innocence,” focusing on the importance of qualitative research in investigative journalism.

6. Mr. Chris Hables Gray is a Scholar Awardee from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He will go to University College Cork to research and teach in the Digital Humanities doctoral program, focusing on the political economy of Big Genealogical Data and an art-tech project called Six Degrees of Connection for linking interactive sculptures (nodes) 24/7 using many different modes.

7. Dr. Harry Laver is a Professor at Southeastern Louisiana University and a Fulbright Scholar Awardee. He will research and teach on Irish-American Military History, with a focus on Irish-American Civil War veterans, at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

8. Dr. Matt Lucy, a Professor at the University of Missouri, will be a Fulbright Specialist Awardee at Teagasc in Co. Cork, where he will conduct research on the role of glucose in lactating dairy cows.

9. Ms. Susan Monagan is a Fulbright Scholar Awardee from Ithaca College. She will conduct interviews with creative professionals to aid the research of the Creative Edge team at the National University of Ireland, Galway and its focus on strengthening the nation’s creative industries. She will also teach classes relating to arts management.

10. Ms. Caitlin Myron holds a BA in English and Irish Language and Literature from the University of Notre Dame. She will go to the National University of Ireland, Galway on her Fulbright Student Award and will study modern Irish poetry while completing the MA in Nua-Ghaeilge (Modern Irish).

11. Dr. Stephen Scanlan is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Ohio University. He will go to the National University of Ireland, Galway on his Fulbright Scholar Award to research women’s contributions to sustainable development and reducing the ecological footprints of the world’s nations.

12. Dr. Michael Semmens is a Fulbright Scholar Awardee from the University of Minnesota. He will research the development of low energy membrane-based wastewater treatment technology while at University College Dublin.

13. Dr. Sheryl Sorby is a Fulbright Scholar Awardee from Michigan Technological University and Ohio State University. She will research the topic of identifying and overcoming barriers to pedagogy reform in engineering education at Dublin Institute of Technology.

14. Dr. Robert Strong is the William Lyne Wilson Professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University and has recently stepped down as Provost. As a Fulbright Scholar Awardee, he will go to University College Dublin and will work on completing a manuscript on George Herbert Walker Bush, tentatively titled, Character and Consequence.