Five members of the George Washington University community received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to teach, conduct research and take part in education seminars abroad for the 2024-2025 academic year.
The GW Fulbright U.S. Scholars and their host countries or programs are:
- Eric Cline, professor of classics, history and anthropology (Israel)
- Jacob A. English, director of the Center for Undergraduate Fellowships and Research (Germany International Education Administrators Program)
- Ashwini Tambe, professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies (WGSS) and history (India)
- Allyson Vieira, assistant professor of foundations (Greece)
- Sidney Monroe Williams, assistant professor of theatre & dance (Colombia)
“We are so proud of our Fulbright U.S. Scholars and honored that their teaching and research has been recognized with this historic international distinction,” said Paul Wahlbeck, dean of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS). “This acknowledgment showcases our scholars’ commitment to impactful research that is changing lives around the world.”
Fulbright U.S. Scholars are faculty, researchers, administrators and established professionals teaching or conducting research in affiliation with institutes abroad. Fulbright Scholars engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Over 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually.
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad. Notable Fulbright scholars 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 nonprofit sectors.
“It is wonderful to see so many successful Fulbright scholars from GW this year,” said Evangeline J. Downie, CCAS associate dean of research and strategic initiatives. “The Fulbright program offers an excellent and prestigious opportunity to foster international research collaboration in a way that benefits scholars and their international hosts. It can afford new data, insight and inspiration for faculty research and scholarly efforts, and spark new collaborations which can extend long after the Fulbright year.”
Fulbright Honorees
During his fellowship, Cline, the director of the GW Capitol Archaeological Institute, will be conducting the preliminary research and writing for a third book in what he calls his “unintended trilogy” on the ancient world, following 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Princeton University Press, 2015) and the sequel After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations (Princeton University Press, 2024). “I will be exploring the clash of civilizations in the centuries after people had recovered from the Late Bronze Age collapse,” Cline explained. “I believe that the discussions and analysis in my books potentially contain lessons for us today, if we are willing to listen and learn from history.”
Tambe, the director of CCAS’ WGSS Program, is a recipient of a Fulbright-Nehru Distinguished Scholar award for 2024, as well as a fellowship from the American Institute for Indian Studies. She will be spending parts of 2024-2025 in India supported by these fellowships on a project exploring transnational feminist approaches to justice in digital spaces. In recent times, she noted, victims of sexual harm have taken to using digital retribution—naming and ostracizing perpetrators on social media.
“It is an especially important time for exploring questions related to punishment for sexual harm in India, since efforts are under way to formulate a new legal code that would replace the 160-year-old Indian Penal Code,” she said.
Vieira, director of undergraduate studies for fine arts at CCAS’ Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, will be conducting artistic and pedagogical research on traditional marble-carving by hand through the Professional and Preparatory School of Fine Arts in Panormous, Tinos, Greece. “This will build on and add a crucial embodied, experiential, physical component to the oral history research I conducted in On the Rock: The Acropolis Interviews, and enable me to expand my artistic material vocabulary to include stone-craft,” Vieira said.
Williams’ Fulbright project is a “combination of research and teaching,” they said. It aims to engage Colombia’s history and present in regards to Afro-Colombian artistic contributions. “Moreover,” they explained, “the award seeks to illuminate the intersections between the Black diaspora in the Americas through dramatic texts, cultural performances and creative workshops.”
English will serve as GW’s Fulbright program advisor for the U.S.-Germany International Education Administrators Program, which invites U.S. administrators to learn about Germany’s higher education system and explore opportunities for cooperation and academic exchanges.
“With a focus on the internationalization of undergraduate research and identifying fellowships for GW students and alumni, I am elated to participate in this intensive educational program in Germany,” English said, noting that nearly 4,400 Fulbright Germany alumni are affiliated with universities in Washington, D.C. “I am excited about the rich knowledge sharing that awaits with other U.S. administrators and my German colleagues as we gain cross-cultural perspectives.”