Fulbright scholarships to foster transatlantic research links

Posted on Wednesday 31 March 2010

The Fulbright Commission will fund two US academics to spend between three and eight months at the University of York every year. Each award could be worth as much as £20,000.

Fulbright Awards are named after Senator J William Fulbright who established the programme in 1948 as a way of promoting leadership, learning and understanding between the US and the UK.

These scholarships are an example of our strong commitment to growing and strengthening our international links

Professor Alastair Fitter

Professor Alastair Fitter, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, said: “These scholarships are an example of our strong commitment to growing and strengthening our international links both in terms of research and teaching.

“The Fulbright Commission has been a driving force in this field for more than 60 years and we are hugely grateful for their support of this exciting new venture.”

One of the new scholarships is open to academics from any field while the second focuses specifically on researchers in the field of History of Art.

Professor Mark Hallett, Head of the Department of History of Art, said: “This scholarship will make a major new contribution to the vibrant research culture of the Department and provide new opportunities for collaboration.”

The Fulbright-University of York Scholar Award in History of Art, starting in 2011, builds on the Department’s existing significant research links with the United States.

Dr Jason Edwards is currently collaborating with Professor Michael Hatt, from the University of Warwick, and the Yale Center for British Art on a research project that will offer a new perspective on Victorian sculpture culminating in exhibitions in the US and UK. Their research is supported by a £410,000 grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Professor David Peters Corbett is currently spending six months conducting research at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC following the award of a Terra Senior Fellowship by the Smithsonian Institution.