February 17, 2006

 LIVINGSTON, Ala.—Continuing the countdown to the institution’s 175th anniversary, the University of West Alabama will host the 2006 Fulbright Lecture Series this spring, bringing an international perspective to a number of academic disciplines on campus. Each of UWA’s four Colleges has selected a Visiting Fulbright Scholar to share with students, faculty and the community.

To kickoff the lecture series, the College of Education welcomes Kim Schildkamp, who is visiting from Louisiana State University, on March 8-10. Schildkamp, a native of The Netherlands, is currently carrying out her Ph.D. research at LSU in cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Education. She will lecture in the Bell Conference Center Thursday, March 9 at 7 p.m.  

The College of Business welcomes philosophy professor Dr. Igor Hanzel of the Slovak Republic March 14-16. Dr. Hanzel will travel from his host university Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, to make several presentations. The morning of March 15, Hanzel presents his lecture entitled "Karl R. Popper's Philosophy of Science." During an evening presentation, he will give a personal account of how the Holocaust had a lasting effect on his country and his Slovak Jewish family. The Holocaust presentation takes place Wednesday, March 15 at 6 p.m. in the Bell Conference Center.

The third Fulbright Scholar comes from Kazakhstan by way of Indiana University to lecture on African American Blues. The College of Liberal Arts brings Dr. Ainur Baisaklov in conjunction with the Sucarnochee Folklife Festival activities. Dr. Baisaklov, presents “African American Blues: An Anthropological Study of the Formation of the American Nation” at the Bell Conference Center Monday, April 17 at 6 p.m. In addition, he will also give a blues piano performance at during a brown bag lunch at noon Wednesday, April 19 also at the Bell Conference Center. 

Dr. Rude Liu, a Beijing, China native, comes April 23-27 with support from the Colleges of Education and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Dr. Lui, who is currently teaching at the University of Missouri-Columbia, will present “Problem-Based Learning in the U.S. K-12 Education System” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 26 at the Bell Conference Center. All of the lectures are open to the public at no charge. 

Each year, through the traditional Fulbright Scholar Program, some 800 foreign faculty come to the United States to lecture, do research or participate in seminars. The Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), under a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of State, administers the program for faculty and professionals. The University of West Alabama is fortunate to have four visiting scholars from this distinguished group.

In addition to the lecture series, UWA will host a Fulbright Faculty Workshop Thursday, April 27 from 10 a.m.-noon in the Bell Conference Center. Andy Riess, Senior Program Officer of the Europe/Eurasia Unit at the CIES, will give information about lecturing and research opportunities in 140 countries, give advice on which country to apply to and how to make contacts abroad, teach how to prepare the Fulbright application and explore how campuses can host visiting foreign Fulbright Scholars. To reserve a seat for the workshop, please contact Mary Pagliero at 205-652-3765 or mpagliero@uwa.edu.