2024 has been the 兔子先生鈥檚 鈥測ear of Fulbrights.鈥� This spring, . Now, five faculty members are slated to take their talents far beyond campus as Fulbright Scholars.
UH professors earning awards from the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program and their destinations are as follows:
- Chris Bronk, associate professor, Hobby School of Public Affairs - Australia
- Jillian Conrad, associate professor, School of Art 鈥� United Kingdom
- Byron Freelon, assistant professor, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Brazil
- Elizabeth Rodwell, assistant professor, Cullen College of Engineering Technology Division - Japan
- Adam Thrasher, associate professor, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences- Tanzania
These professors will travel around the globe to broaden their academic perspectives and share their expertise with other institutions of higher learning.
鈥淭he Fulbright is an academic bridge between our country and the world,鈥� said Bronk,
who will spend six months at the University of Adelaide. 鈥淚t connects research programs
and helps us to share our work with faraway colleagues. This, in turn, allows us to
construct a global reputation in scholarship and establish international collaborations.鈥�
Bronk鈥檚 project down under will focus on cyber and information influence. He will
work alongside faculty at his host institution in building new computational tools
to understand how malicious cyberattacks and information influence operations are
directed at Australia鈥檚 public and democracy. Bronk will also write a policy paper
on how the Australian government is building defenses to cope with this issue.
Working with colleagues from other parts of the world is particularly informative, Bronk said. Learning from researchers who hail from different countries helps expand a researcher鈥檚 worldview and gain invaluable insights from peers.
Fellow Fulbrighter Rodwell agrees. She will soon venture to Japan to engage in a project focused on user experience (UX) designers in creating conversational artificial intelligence (AI).
鈥淲e can learn a lot about the range of scholarly approaches taken to a subject or discipline by getting out of our American academic bubble,鈥� she said.
鈥淏ecause I mostly read academic studies in English, I am leaving out a lot of really important work on my subjects if I don鈥檛 think globally.鈥�
During her Fulbright trip, Rodwell will base her work at a at a Waseda University-affiliated startup and assess how the culture and daily praxis of conversational UX designers constitute the architecture of conversational AI. She is optimistic that her work will lead to a partnership between her host institution and UH, one that will yield benefits for students.
鈥淭hanks to this grant, I have envisioned a long-term partnership between the University of Houston鈥檚 Digital Media program and Waseda University and thinking about how studying abroad in Tokyo can benefit our students,鈥� Rodwell said.
This is not the first time many of these Fulbright recipients have worked abroad. Thrasher, for example, has collaborated with peers in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Canada. His upcoming trip to Tanzania, however, will mark the first time he鈥檚 visited Africa.
鈥淚 have done as much research as I can to learn what it will be like living in Tanzania,
he said. 鈥淚 really don鈥檛 know what to expect, but I am confident that I will be
comfortable. It is probably going to be quite an adjustment from life in Houston.鈥�
During his journey, Thrasher will explore the use of neuromodulation鈥� applying electrical currents to the nervous system 鈥� in the rehabilitation of spinal cord injury.
UH鈥檚 Fulbrighters will join more than 800 scholars nationwide selected for this honor. These include faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals teaching or conducting research in affiliation with universities and other institutes around the world.
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has supported more than 400,000 scholars from all academic disciplines. These include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
鈥淭he Fulbright Scholarship is an extraordinary cultural exchange program that creates opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research at a foreign university and build meaningful connections between academic communities in the United States and abroad,鈥� Thrasher said. 鈥淭he world has to come together when it comes to research, higher education, and pursuing true knowledge. The Fulbright unites the academic world and elevates everything that we do.鈥�