Sharon Davie, director of the University's Women's Center, was recently named a Fulbright Senior Specialist by the Fulbright Program. This designation affords Davie the opportunity to share her expertise of issues pertinent to women around the world.
This is "a chance for me to give back," Davie said. "I will learn as much as I will teach."
This award allows U.S. professors and scholars to achieve the Fulbright Program's goal of "promoting an understanding between people of different cultures," according to Fulbright spokesperson Nancy Gainer. Recipients share their expertise in a variety of fields by offering their services in classrooms abroad for four to six weeks.
Gainer said the selection committee seeks applicants who will best enhance educational opportunities at other institutions.
"The Fulbright Senior Specialist Program looks for faculty and professionals seasoned in their fields, who can really bring their areas of expertise to other institutions, so they can collaborate and help each other enhance that particular institution," she said.
This award reflects Davie's history of studying and conducting research abroad, an experience she has extended to University students.
During the summer of 2006, Davie and a colleague at the Women's Center, Dawn Anderson led a group of students and University faculty to the Ninth International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women, held in South Korea.
According to Anderson, the trip exposed students to issues facing women in different cultures.
"[The students] were able to ... learn about the more salient issues affecting women that are on the agenda right now, and hear it directly from the women working on it," Anderson said.
Davie agreed that study-abroad programs offer students a unique learning opportunity. She said students will have "the ability not just to learn through books but through talking and being with [the] people they might read about."
In April, Davie will make her first trip as a Fulbright Senior Specialist, to the University of Nairobi in Kenya, where she will teach a short course. This trip will mark the continuation of a working relationship that she has fostered with the university.
Anderson said this experience will allow Davie to continue a dialogue with many women activists and study how women in different areas of the world deal with similar situations.
According to Davie, this experience will allow her to better serve her students and enhance the content of her courses.
Davie hopes to transfer her experience from overseas to the classroom, saying "you bring [the experience] into the courses that you're teaching on Grounds."
Read More
U.Va. loses over $60 million in federal research cuts
By Bertie Azqueta | 10 hours agoThe impacted grants include three from the NIH, seven from the NEH, one from the United States Agency for International Development and four from the State Department.
Department of Education reverses course, awards Federal Executive Institute to U.Va.
By Ford McCracken | 3 days agoThe ED had previously awarded the institute to Charlottesville City Schools.
Students reflect on the life and legacy of Pope Francis
By Bertie Azqueta | 3 days agoAt the University, students shared a range of perspectives on his legacy of reform, inclusivity and his impact on the global Catholic community.
