drexel university – Jefe's House

Liaising Around

I’m happy to share that I’ve accepted a new role as a Fulbright Scholar Liaison at Drexel University as part of the Drexel Global office, working closely with Dr. Rogelio Miñana, PhD, Vice Provost for Drexel Global and Professor of Spanish and Global Studies, and my fellow Fulbright Scholar Liaison Dan Kampsen, Senior Director of Global Safety and Operations.

As a Fulbright Scholar Liason I serve as a main point of contact for the Fulbright Scholar Program at Drexel University, facilitating increased participation in the Fulbright Scholar Program via institutional level support and peer to peer engagement, promoting Fulbright Scholar Programs, educating faculty & administrators about opportunities, encouraging candidates on campus, recognizing returned Fulbright grantees and supporting the development of Fulbright-friendly institutional policies.

There are over 1,600 designated Fulbright Scholar Liaisons on college and university campuses throughout the United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Fulbright Talk at Drexel

I had an absolutely wonderful time yesterday at Drexel University introducing Dr. Steven Butterman, Professor of Languages at the University of Miami and Fulbright Scholar Alumni Ambassador, for his Fulbright Talk.

His discussion of his experiences in Brazil as a Fulbrighter researching his topic LGBT+ Brazilians Out / Inside Brazil: Cultural Representations of Human Rights Discourses, Identity Reconstruction, and Political Asylum was eye-opening, heart-wrenching and even sometimes funny. He’s a masterful storyteller and gave our faculty a lot of sound advice on how to start their own Fulbright journeys.

Zooming Into the Weekend With Fulbright And Drexel

I had such a blast today giving a Zoom presentation, along with Drexel’s Associate Director of Global Partnerships Young-Min Park, to Drexel University faculty and administrators about my Fulbright experiences, how I approached the application, and resources for them to begin their own Fulbright journeys. Great way to start the weekend!

Abhijit’s Swan Song

Drexel University’s first Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence, Indian independent film director Abhijit Chowdhury made his final public appearance this week before departing to India.

He spoke to students at my alma mater NYU Tisch School of the Arts Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing on Tuesday March 26th. Students in Department Chair Prof. Joe Vinciguerra‘s class Writing the Low Budget Feature.

Students had watched a portion of Abhijit’s latest film, The Strange Life of Dhrubo, currently in post-production, in advance of his visit to discuss the challenges of writing and producing independent films on a shoestring.

Q&A at UPenn

We had a wonderful time yesterday at the University of Pennsylvania‘s Van Pelt Library event hosted by Assistant Director of the Center for Global Collections and South Asian Studies Librarian James (Jef) Pierce, PhD.

Drexel University‘s Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Abhijit Chowdhury screened part 1 of his 4-part feature film he’s been editing here, The Strange Life of Dhrubo, with each vignette inspired by a different world-renowned Bengali painter. After the screening, I had a blast moderating a Q&A with Abhijit. What a great turnout!