Fulbright welcomes American students and scholars

Fulbright welcomes American students and scholars

Fulbright New Zealand welcomed 22 American exchange participants to New Zealand last week with an intensive week-long orientation programme designed to outline unique attributes of New Zealand which will inform their study, research and teaching at assorted universities and government agencies over the next three to twelve months.

The incoming grantees were welcomed with a pōwhiri and noho marae (overnight stay) at Waiwhetū Marae in Lower Hutt. They visited Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush and Parliament, and through a series of lectures and seminars were introduced to New Zealand, Māori and Pacific history, culture and language, as well as New Zealand’s rich natural history and unique flora and fauna. A number of Fulbright and associated exchange programme alumni were among the orientation programme’s speakers – historian Jock Phillips from Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand gave a snapshot of New Zealand culture, Victoria University of Wellington lecturer Nigel Roberts gave an introduction to New Zealand politics, and Labour Party MP Shane Jones reflected on life in parliament. Other local alumni home-hosted grantees for the final night of their stay in Wellington.

This year’s ten Fulbright US Graduate Students, six Fulbright US Senior Scholars and six Ian Axford Fellows in Public Policy will study and research topics as diverse as conservation genetics, dairy industry development, the geology of Canterbury’s recently-discovered Greendale Fault, special needs education, marine ecotourism, social housing and security cooperation. Wells Weymouth, a Fulbright US Graduate Student and Second Lieutenant in the United States Army from Gainesville, Florida, arrived in advance of his compatriots in order to visit Antarctica over summer, where he conducted research on the impact of melatonin supplements on the circadian rhythms of workers at Scott Base. Professor Thomas Wartenberg, a Fulbright US Senior Scholar from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, will work with Island Bay School in Wellington to implement the award-winning Teaching Children Philosophy programme he has developed in American elementary schools, while teaching a course on pop culture philosophy at Victoria University of Wellington. Details of these and other 2012 Fulbright and Axford Fellowship grantees and their exchange projects are on the Fulbright New Zealand website – www.fulbright.org.nz/grantees-alumni/grantees/

ENDS