Fulbright NZ Welcomes 18 New Participants

Fulbright NZ Welcomes 18 New Participants

Fulbright New Zealand welcomed 18 new American exchange participants to New Zealand last week with an intensive week-long orientation programme designed to highlight the unique attributes of their host country. The nine Fulbright US Graduate Students, five Fulbright US Senior Scholars and four Ian Axford Fellows in Public Policy will study, research or teach at universities and governmental organisations in New Zealand over the next three to twelve months.

The incoming grantees were welcomed with a pōwhiri and stayed overnight at Waiwhetū Marae in Lower Hutt, and also visited Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand, Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush and Parliament. A series of lectures and seminars throughout the week introduced participants to New Zealand, Māori and Pacific history, culture and language, and New Zealand’s unique flora and fauna. A number of Fulbright alumni were among the orientation week’s speakers – botanist John Dawson led a guided tour of Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush, historian Jock Phillips from Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand gave a snapshot of New Zealand culture, Victoria University of Wellington lecturer Jon Johansson gave an introduction to New Zealand politics, and Green Party MP Kennedy Graham reflected on life in parliament. For the first time, grantees were home-hosted by local New Zealand Fulbright alumni, an initiative organised by the Fulbright New Zealand Alumni Association.

This year’s Fulbright and Axford Fellowship grantees will study and research topics as diverse as race relations, fault mapping, emissions trading schemes, smoking cessation and financial disclosure. As an aside to their studies, next week the newly-arrived Fulbright US Graduate Students will represent their country in the inaugural Future Partners Forum organised in conjunction with the US NZ Partnership Forum in Christchurch. They will discuss with an equal number of young New Zealanders their views on the future of the bilateral relationship between New Zealand and the US, and the group will present their ideas to the closing session of the high level gathering of government, business and community representatives.

ENDS