Fulbright Scholar Faculty

At SNHU, our Fulbrighters exemplify the power of international academic exchange and how it transforms lives, bridges geographic and cultural boundaries and promotes a more peaceful and prosperous world. Founded by James William Fulbright in 1946 after a transformational journey overseas, the Fulbright Scholarship Program is one of the most prestigious and competitive fellowship programs in the world. The Fulbright Scholarship Program provides 8,000 grants annually and seeks to improve intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy and intercultural competence through the exchange of individuals and their knowledge and skills. SNHU is proud to have numerous Fulbright scholars who have successfully completed their fellowships abroad.

Bulent Aybar

Time as a Fulbright Scholar: February 2017-June 2017
Country of study: Azerbaijan
Field of study: Finance and economics

As a Fulbright scholar, Bulent Aybar taught two sections of finance theory in the International School of Economics. He guest lectured in a variety of finance and economics courses, presented research to faculty members at his host university and participated in numerous panels on issues ranging from faculty promotion to successful publication strategies in refereed journals. He also made presentations about current trends in the global economy and financial markets to colleagues at the university.

Aybar engaged in the community through events organized by the U.S. Council and American Center at Baku. He made presentations about graduate studies in U.S. universities and offered a lecture series on global economy. His work gave him a firsthand account of Azerbaijan’s political and economic challenges following their transition to independent statehood in 1991 – giving him opportunities to engage with colleagues, government officials and local and foreign business leaders.

Currently, Aybar is a professor at SNHU’s School of Business, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. After completing his Fulbright assignment in 2017, he was invited to the Eurasia Peer Review Committee by the International Institute of Education, and has since reviewed over 100 Fulbright proposals focusing on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia.

Advice for prospective Fulbrighters: Most host institutions do not have any experience with the Fulbright faculty and they do not have the resources to support the visiting scholars. Research the country, city and the host institution to address logistical challenges such as renting a place and managing finances. Establish early contact with the host institution and get clarifications about the teaching assignments and logistics of the research project. Contact former Fulbright grantees and learn about their experience.

Paul A. Barresi

Time as a Fulbright Scholar: February 2016-July 2016
Country of Study: People's Republic of China
Field of Study: Law

As a Fulbright scholar, Paul Barresi served as a Lecturer in Law at Sun Yat-sen University School of Law in Guangzhou, China, where he taught courses in the American legal tradition and comparative environmental law. As part of the Fulbright China Guest Lecture Program, he spoke on legal and political topics at six universities in Beijing, Chongqing, Nanjing, Shanghai and Wuhan, including as a keynote speaker, and led an environmental law workshop at the university in Beijing. Paul spoke on environmental law topics as part of the English-language Masters of International Law Programs Guest Lecture Series at the Royal University of Law and Economics and at the Vishnu Law Group in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with financial support from the Fulbright East Asia & Pacific Regional Travel Program and the Vishnu Law Group itself.

Currently, Paul is Professor of Political Science and Environmental Law in SNHU's School of Arts, Sciences and Education, where he teaches courses in environmental politics, public policy and law; sustainable development; sustainability; and American politics. His Fulbright semester in China led to an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Law at Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), where he continues to teach for two months a year during the second half of SYSU's spring semester. It also led indirectly to invitations to present papers on environmental or climate law, including two keynote papers, at several conferences or workshops in China, at least three of which were published later in peer-reviewed Chinese or international law journals, as well as to invitations to speak at the U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou as part of its public event series and at another university in Guangzhou. These activities led to an invitation to serve as a foreign expert on a U.S.-China comparative environmental impact assessment law research team officially associated with the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment's effort to revise China's environmental impact assessment law.

Advice for prospective Fulbrighters: Unlike most countries, China does not allow Fulbright applicants to make arrangements with a Chinese university before applying to the program. Once the applicant has been accepted, China's Ministry of Education makes the assignment in consultation with the U.S. Department of State. Despite this difference in the process, my experience as a Fulbright China scholar taught me three lessons that are likely to be of use to any prospective Fulbrighter. First, when developing a proposal as part of the application process it would be useful to align that proposal with the interests of the prospective host country and the priorities of the U.S. State Department. The closer the alignment between your proposal and those interests and priorities, the more competitive your application is likely to be. Second, choose a host country or setting within that host country that will immerse you in an experience very different from anything else that you have experienced in your professional or personal lives. Although this strategy is likely to set you up for much more culture shock than otherwise would be the case, your Fulbright experience will be all the richer for it. Third, do not approach your quest for a Fulbright as the culmination of whatever it is in your career that you think would make you a competitive applicant. Instead, think of it merely as a beginning.

Charlotte Broaden

Time as Fulbright Scholar: August 2015-June 2016
Country of study: Botswana
Field of study: Foreign direct investment, examining IPAs and FDI, and the role of entrepreneurial firms in Botswana

Charlotte Broaden has taught a class in foreign direct investment on the doctoral level for several years. She believes understanding what attracts investments into a country to support specific industrial sectors is key to understanding economic development in those sectors. For Broaden, Botswana was especially attractive because their economy is supported primarily by diamonds. Botswana is home to the headquarters of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) where there is a host of data on the sixteen member states. During the year she spent abroad, she was able to meet with government officials, local entrepreneurs and members of the educational community.

Today, Broaden continues to conduct research on FDI in Africa, and has been involved with entrepreneurs across Africa though SNHU’s GEM program. She is also currently working with a doctoral student who is studying entrepreneurship in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region, and still works with Fulbright.

Advice for prospective Fulbrighters: If given the opportunity, take advantage of getting to know the local community, make new friends, volunteer, and explore all that is available to you.

Learn more about Broaden in this faculty Q&A.

Matea Ilic-Drijencic

Time as a Fulbright Scholar: September 2011-July 2012
Country of study: Serbia
Field of study: English teaching

Matea Ilic-Drijencic was awarded a Fulbright scholarship as an English teaching assistant at the University of Kragujevac in Serbia where she helped teach undergraduate students French, English, Spanish and German. As part of her role, she collaborated with professors and students at the university to start a student run writing center, where participants would meet at the American Corner in Kragujevac to conduct writing workshops and peer-to-peer critiques in an effort to improve writing and research skills in English. She chose to apply for the Fulbright scholarship in Serbia due to previous connections with other countries in the Balkan region, including Bosnia and Croatia, and to gain a deeper understanding of Serbia’s history and future development plans.

Following her time as a Fulbright English teaching assistant, Ilic-Drijencic decided to pursue a regional master’s degree in democracy and human rights in South East Europe in Bosnia while focusing on the influence of a segregated education system on inter-ethnic relations in the region.

Advice for prospective Fulbrighters: Take advantage of the opportunity to learn and immerse yourself in the culture of the country where you’ll be living. Be vulnerable and share your own personal experiences and culture with students, co-workers or fellow scholars. This allows for the true exchange of ideas and perspectives between cultures – giving all sides a richer outlook for the future.

Dawn Reno Langley

Time as a Fulbright Scholar: 2011
Country of study: Pakistan
Field of study: Creative women in education

Dawn Reno Langley is an instructor for SNHU’s MFA program and professional writer who holds an MFA in fiction and a PhD in interdisciplinary studies. Passionate about private and personal voices in literature, her MFA thesis was about women writing privately and publicly, and her dissertation focused on the voices of transgender writers, pre- and post-transition.

She applied for Fulbright at the suggestion of a friend and scholar from Pakistan, and completed her assignment at a time when a war was ongoing in neighboring Afghanistan. This required strict security procedures, but didn’t stop Langley from exploring museums and mosques in Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad. In exploring the lives and culture of locals, she was able to gain a unique understanding of the nation’s history – an experience she carries with her today.

Advice for prospective Fulbrighters: Try to be open to everything you experience. Respect the culture, appreciate customs and ask lots of questions.

Lundy Lewis

Time as a Fulbright Scholar: September 2018-January 2019
Country of study: Canada
Field of study: Using humanoid robots to enhance social skills in subjects with autism and other cognitive/emotional deficits

As a Fulbright scholar for the Institute of Science, Society, and Policy at the University of Ottawa, Lundy conducted three research projects on the use of robots to contribute to the social good. He collaborated with therapists at a children’s hospital to help children with autism enhance their social skills, collaborated with staff at an elementary school to provide social interaction between robots and students, and offered a series of workshops at the Canada Science and Technology Museum to educate students about robots while studying their attitudes towards multiple styles of robots. Lundy published papers with his Canadian colleagues on the results of these projects.

Additionally, Lundy gave talks on humanoid robots to several professional organizations and to several pre-college schools in the greater Ottawa area. Lundy was a co-investigator on a business proposal on the creation of a Social Enterprise at the University of Ottawa and he was the principal investigator on a research proposal “Smart Voice Technology with Custom AI to Help Persons with Cognitive and Mental Health-Related Disabilities Participate in the Digital Economy.” The Canadian government awarded the proposals and Lundy continues to collaborate with colleagues in Canada on these projects.

Lundy is a professor in SNHU’s School of Business in the Department of Management Science and Information Systems where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. After completing his Fulbright assignment in 2019, he was invited to the Fulbright Computer Science Peer Review Committee and has reviewed 40 Fulbright proposals.

Advice for prospective Fulbrighters: Start early on the application process - don’t wait until the last minute. If it is not fun and exciting, then maybe it is not a good idea. Get educated about the Fulbright program and the procedures for selecting a host institution and writing up a good application. If you don’t succeed the first time, try to figure out how to improve a future application. Participate in the online tutorials and office hours offered by the Fulbright staff. Don’t be shy about asking questions. Study the interests of like-minded colleagues at your candidate host institutions and don’t be shy about contacting them before making a decision.

Paula D Royster

Time as a Fulbright Scholar: 2011-2012; 2016-2017
Country of study: Jamaica (2011-2012); Suriname (2016-2017)
Field of study: Area, ethnic and cultural studies and African studies; cultural and intellectual history

Paula D Royster is a two-time Fulbright scholar. For her first assignment, in 2011, she was invited by the U.S. Embassy to explore the Jonkonnu Carnival in Jamaica, including its origins following the transatlantic slave trade. She continued her work as a scholar in 2016, at Anton de Kom University of Suriname where she taught two courses – African Diaspora Studies 101 and Research Methodologies – both of which she had personally developed.

Advice for prospective Fulbrighters: The Fulbright program is a very competitive process and requires complete and sincere transparency. If you are selected to represent the United States as a cultural ambassador, it will be an experience you will not soon forget. The more creative and enduring your project, the better your odds of being selected. Conceptualizing your project will take time: Plan it out early enough to put it down and revise later. Attend any Q&A sessions offered by the commission, talk to potential persons to help refine your application and, finally, try not to be anxious while you wait for your answer.

Learn more about Royster in this faculty Q&A.

Dr. Kelley Sams

Time as a Fulbright Scholar: 2009-2010
Country of study: Niger
Field of study: Medical anthropology

Dr. Kelley Sams served as a Fulbright-Hays scholar in Niger, where she conducted an ethnography of trachoma elimination for her PhD in medical anthropology. Through this research, she explored how visual messages shape perceptions about health and illness and merging different cultural models of disease. Sams chose her research sites in Niger following her work in the region ten years prior as a Peace Corps volunteer. As a Fulbright scholar, she was able to return to areas where the trachoma elimination program was launched during her volunteer service and explore its local impacts and evolution. 

Advice for prospective Fulbrighters: Start crafting your project proposals well in advance of the deadline – and make sure you share them widely to get feedback before submitting.

Learn more about Sams in this faculty Q&A.

Alan Wells

Time as a Fulbright Scholar: 1995-1996
Country of study: Belgium
Field of study: Political, cultural and social history of Belgium

Alan Wells completed a year of study at the French-language Free University of Brussels (Université libre de Bruxelles) focusing on the political, cultural and social history of Belgium with an emphasis on the cultural, linguistic and religious fault lines which have largely framed the country’s evolution. He developed an interest in European culture and politics early on during his high school studies and had the opportunity to continue studying French and political science in college. For his senior thesis, he completed a study of the Belgian federal system which led to a desire to learn more about the country. His Fulbright experience provided an opportunity to further explore the country and connect with its people on a much deeper level.

Wells has spent his entire career in higher education, working in admission, operations and faculty management. He currently serves as the assistant dean of general and transitional studies with Life University in Georgia.

Advice for prospective Fulbrighters: Be purposeful in selecting a country/region in which to complete your study and then develop a very clear plan for what you wish to accomplish with your project. If you are fortunate enough to be awarded a grant, strive to make the most of your time in the country. Get to know the local community. Work hard, but travel and take time away from your studies as well.