Fulbright-Nehru Grant Categorys USA: Fulbright-Nehru Academic & Professional Excellence Award (Teaching & Research)

J.P. Singh

Dr. J.P. Singh is Professor of International Commerce and Policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, and Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow with the Robert Bosch Academy, Berlin. Previously, he was Chair and Professor of Culture and Political Economy, and Director of the Institute for International Cultural Relations at the University of Edinburgh.

Prof. Singh has published 10 books and over 100 articles. His latest books are: Cultural Values in Political Economy (2020), and Sweet Talk: Paternalism and Collective Action in North-South Trade Negotiations (Stanford, 2017). His book Globalized Arts: The Entertainment Economy and Cultural Identity (Columbia, 2011) won the American Political Science Association’s award for best book in information technology and politics in 2012. His current book project is Development 2.0: How Technologies Can Foster Inclusivity in the Developing World (Oxford, forthcoming). He has worked with international organizations such as UNESCO, the World Bank, and the WTO, and played a leadership role in several professional organizations. He is Founding Editor of the journal Arts and International Affairs. Previously he was Editor of Review of Policy Research, the journal specializing in the politics and policy of science and technology. Awards in 2022 include a $1.39 million grant from the Minerva program (as Principal Investigator), Distinguished Scholar in International Communication award from the International Studies Association, and Outstanding Scholar Award from the Schar.

He has taught at Scripps College (Claremont), University of Mississippi, American University, Georgetown University, School of Advanced International Studies – Johns Hopkins University, and George Mason University. Outside of the United States, he has taught at the University of Edinburgh, Graduate Institute – Geneva (IHEID), University of Siena, and University of Jyväskylä. He holds a PhD in Political Economy and Public Policy from the University of Southern California, an MA from Mumbai.

How are India’s export industries adopting artificial intelligence technologies to compete in the global economy? Can AI enhance Indian exports just as Information technologies did a generation ago? Prof. Singh’s Fulbright-Nehru project in India seeks to conduct research on the Indian policy and business landscape for AI technology adoption in export industries, while also presenting teaching modules on related topics of technology, diplomacy, and international commerce.

Elizabeth Simon

Dr. Elizabeth Simon RN, PhD, ANP-BC, has over 25 years of academic nursing experience and over 30 years of clinical experience. She had served in the capacity of Staff Nurse, Staff Development Instructor, Program Coordinator, Director, and Dean. She was also appointed as a Critical Care Nursing Consultant for the Corporate Nursing Services of the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation (NYCHHC). Dr. Simon is also a board-certified Adult Health Nurse Practitioner. She has authored and reviewed books on Critical Care Nursing, book chapters on transcultural issues, edited a book on non-communicable diseases, published many articles in peer reviewed journals and periodicals in the US and India. She has presented at various national and international forums. Dr. Simon was a Fulbright-Nehru Academic Excellence Scholar during 2015-16 academic years. Her academic degrees include BSc (N) from College of Nursing, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab University; MS in Critical care nursing from the School of Nursing, Columbia University; EdM. in Nursing Education from Teachers College; MS in Adult Health Nurse Practitioner from Hunter College, and PhD in higher education from Walden University. She was an LANP fellow of American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

The proposed Fulbright-Nehru project intends to implement three specialized nursing programs. A US model of specialized education for graduate nurses as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) to provide care to the rape trauma victims. A second area of special training in Critical care transport nursing to solve the lack of a systematic prehospital care. Men in Nursing will be utilized to fulfill this advance role. A third curriculum introduced will be Home Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing. The Indian Nursing Council (INC) will oversee and guide implementation of these proposed programs.

Lumina S Albert

Dr. Lumina Albert is an Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Management, a Daniels Ethics Fellow, and the OtterBox Faculty Fellow in the College of Business at Colorado State University. She also serves as the Executive Director of the CSU Center for Ethics and Human Rights. Her research seeks to extend knowledge of social justice, ethical behavior, and interpersonal relationships in the business world. She has an MBA (with a dual specialization in Marketing and Human Resource Management) and a PhD in Business Management. Following her doctoral studies, Dr. Albert received the prestigious AAUW International Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue her research at the Department of Psychology at Stanford University and at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. She is an award-winning teacher and has been honored with the College of Business Excellence in Teaching Award and the ‘Best Teacher of Colorado State University’ Award, which is given to outstanding educators at CSU by the CSU Alumni Association and Student Alumni Connection. Her research has been published in scholarly journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Business Ethics, Human Resource Management Review, Organizational Psychology Review and Group & Organizations Management. Dr. Albert’s service at CSU and to the Northern Colorado Community has been recognized with the College of Business Outstanding Service Award, CSU Multicultural Distinguished Service Award, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Office of International Programs at CSU. She has served as a consultant with organizations such as Procter & Gamble, International Justice Mission, and Child Relief & You (CRY) on issues ranging from strategic public relations to organizing social marketing campaigns. She serves on the Board of Advisors of New Horizons House, an international organization providing holistic restoration for survivors of human trafficking and sexual abuse. She is also a central organizer of the Northern Colorado Human Trafficking Symposium, a premier and distinctive conference that seeks to engage and educate on the issue of human trafficking through research, training, and collaboration. In her spare time, Dr. Albert enjoys cooking for her friends and family, interior designing, and traveling around the world!

The proposed Fulbright-Nehru project focuses on the ethics and human rights impact of corporates on people and communities in India. The project intends to examine the macro- and micro- level aspects of the ethics and human rights practices of global business organizations. Specifically, this research utilizes a norms-based framework to assess how corporate ethics practices impact the emergence of individual behaviors and community outcomes. Areas of research and teaching include how these businesses impact their stakeholders (i.e., consumers, employees, workers, the environment, and the community in which they operate).

Prof. Jeremy Rinker is an Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of North Carolina Greensboro’s Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, where he is currently engaged in research that explores the intersections between peacebuilding, collective trauma, and systems of oppression. Prof. Rinker graduated with a PhD from George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (now called the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution) in 2009. His masters’ degree (2001) is from the University of Hawaii in Asian Religion. He holds a bachelor’s degree (dual major, 1995) from the University of Pittsburgh in Philosophy and Political Science.

Prof. Rinker’s research and writings have long focused on South Asian communities, untouchability, human rights, and narrative meaning making in identity-based social justice movements. His past work emphasizes the skills and practices of nonviolent conflict transformation in social justice movements decision making processes, justice advocacy, and identity formation. With background and expertise in restorative justice conferencing, program development, narrative analysis, and social movement organization, Prof. Rinker is also the editor of the Journal of Transdisciplinary Peace Praxis, an innovative new journal of peaceful social exploration and human flourishing. Prof. Rinker’s past publications include two books as well as academic articles in Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Peace and Change, The Canadian Journal of Peace Research, and the Journal of Peace Education, among other scholarly outlets. Prof. Rinker was a 2013 Fulbright-Nehru awardee in Banaras, India where he taught and engaged in research through the Malviya Centre for Peace Research at Banaras Hindu University. He is currently writing a 3rd book on being trauma aware and emotionally mindful in conflict practice.

The social and psychological obstacles that past collective traumas place upon marginalized communities represents a deep intellectual lacuna in the social scientific understanding of structural violence (Galtung, 1969) and conflict transformation (Lederach, 1997, 2005). Only recently has the emerging field of peace and conflict studies (PCS) begun to take the embodiment of trauma in collectives seriously as an important dynamic variable in social conflict. Much work remains to be done to center collective trauma in our understanding of sustainable peace. As a result, marginalized communities continue to suffer persistent systemic and structural violence and indifference to their unique pasts. This gap in the research and practice literature represents a critical opportunity space for developing unique community engaged peacebuilding interventions which value unique identity differences. This is the seedbed of democracy, and Prof. Rinker’s research and teaching as a 2022-23 Fulbright-Nehru awardee would provide the space and structure to envision a more inclusive framework for trauma-informed peacebuilding while in the context of the world’s largest democracy.

Research on the diverse Indian social system provides unique opportunities to build awareness about collective historical trauma and solidarities with marginalized identities and communities in the United States, and elsewhere. The post-colonial context of modern Indian society can be described as a petri dish for this type of work. Prof. Rinker’s Fulbright-Nehru project seeks to engage both in-person and with B.R. Ambedkar archives at Symbiosis University (SU) to develop a trauma-informed framework for indigenous and inclusive peace practice. His previous work on identity, rights, and narrative awareness (Rinker, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2013, 2009) raises a rich set of comparative qualitative questions about the important connections between protracted social conflict, memory, and collective historical trauma. Prof. Rinker’s proposed Fulbright-Nehru project aims to outline what inclusive peace would look like in a heterogeneous society with competing identities and communities. In developing a trauma-informed lens for both understanding and nonviolently engaging social exclusion, this work aims to map potential solidarities among social justice and human rights social movements. Symbiosis University’s (SU’s) strong reputation in the social sciences provides an ideal mooring for this theory building research and teaching practice. Being able to collaboratively collect data and teach alongside social scientists and critical liberal arts thinkers will allow him to develop a grounded theory framework for trauma-informed peacebuilding. In developing his critical pedagogy through teaching Indian undergraduate students in peace and conflict resolution studies, his research and teaching will reinforce each other. Through teaching, interviews, and a series of workshops/focus circles developed in partnership with Symbiosis University, the Manuski Center (a human rights center also located in Pune), and the Ambedkar Museum and Memorial, Prof. Rinker will inductively explore the role collective trauma in developing peace praxis. With this proposed Nehru-Fulbright award he hopes to share an action science-oriented research experience at SU’s Center for International Education (SCIE), the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Museum and Memorial, and the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies. This experience will allow Prof. Rinker to both collect data and engage in archival research of India’s rich civil society and social movement history.

Nancy Neiman

Prof. Nancy Neiman has been a Professor of Politics at Scripps College since 1994. She has won numerous teach, scholarship and community service awards. She has taught a wide range of political economy courses including, Markets and Politics in Latin America, the Power Elite: Surveying the Influence of Business over Public Policy, and Infrastructures of Justice. Prof. Neiman teaches a Political Economy of Food course through which she has organized a number of community engagement projects that bridge theory and practice among which are a social enterprise organized with women who were formerly incarcerated, a program called Plant Justice with students at an alternative high school, and a Meatless Monday program that brings students and women who were formerly incarcerated together to share prepare and share meals and food justice programming. She also teaches Napier intergenerational learning courses and Inside-Out courses inside a local prison. Her most recent book, Markets, Community and Just infrastructures, includes a variety of case studies, including an interfaith coffee cooperative in Uganda, Cuban financial reform, globalization in Juárez Mexico, and the US meatpacking industry, to provide a framework for understanding the conditions under which markets promote or undermine social justice.

Focusing on pastoralist women in Gujarat India, the Fulbright-Nehru project of Prof. Neiman intends to track several key coping strategies and practices during Covid-19 among Gujarati pastoralist communities during the pandemic: the struggle over access to grazing lands and the ability to maintain traditional livelihoods, access to healthcare, navigating women’s traditional roles and their role as leaders, and promoting agrarian citizenship. Using qualitative data analysis gathered from interviews and quantitative ARCGIS survey data tracking pastoralist migratory patterns and community welfare, this project hypothesizes that pastoralist identities in Gujarat support, and are supported by, a broader transformational food sovereignty movement.

Kathleen Mulligan

Prof. Kathleen Mulligan is a Professor of voice and speech in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Ithaca College. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, the union of professional actors. She earned her BFA in acting from Boston University and her MFA in Performance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. In 2010, Prof. Mulligan was a Fulbright grantee to Kerala, India with her project Finding Women’s Voices, focused on the empowerment of women through voice. This led to a Fulbright Specialist grant to Pakistan, where she first considered the idea of creating an original theatre piece about Partition. In 2015, a U.S. Embassy grant allowed Prof. Mulligan and her husband, Actor and Director David Studwell, to collaborate with Islamabad’s Theatre Wallay on the project Voices of Partition, drawing on interviews with Partition survivors to devise the original play Dagh Dagh Ujala (This Stained Dawn.) Dagh Dagh Ujala opened in Islamabad and toured to the .U.S with stops in Boston, Ithaca, and the US Department of State in Washington DC before returning home for closing performances in Lahore. In 2017, Mulligan and Studwell again joined with Theatre Wallay along with U.S. playwright Linda Alper for a new project titled On Common Ground. This original piece, exploring the effect of violence on public space, toured to the western US with stops at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, OR and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. It then returned home to perform in several cities across Pakistan. Prof. Mulligan’s acting career has brought her to every state in the US, performing such roles as Prospero in The Tempest, Jocasta in Oedipus, Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Lucy in Sweeney Todd. Most recently, she traveled to Beirut, Lebanon to perform her one-woman show The Belle of Amherst (written by William Luce and based on the life of New England poet Emily Dickinson) as a guest of the American University in Beirut. She is eager to continue offering this performance to audiences in India and around the globe.

The partition of India and Pakistan resulted in the death of over one million and caused the largest forced migration the world has ever seen. History books tell the stories of leaders and governments that brought about Partition—but little of the people whose lives were lost or changed forever. Drawing on interviews with survivors and their families, Prof. Mulligan intends to work with young people through her Fulbright-Nehru project to create an original theatre piece that preserves the human stories of Partition. By experiencing live theatre, whether as creators or audience members, young people in India will connect with the stories of those who came before them to better understand themselves and the world they live in.

Amal Mitra

Dr. Amal Mitra is a Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Jackson State University (JSU), Jackson, MS, USA. He obtained his Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) and Master of Public Health (MPH) degrees from University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL. He received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prior to joining JSU, he worked as a senior medical officer and associate scientist at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (icddrb), Bangladesh, where he started his research career in clinical medicine as well as in public health. Dr. Mitra is a recipient of external funding from numerous agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Agriculture (DOA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC). He is also a recipient of many awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award 2013, the Innovation Award for Applied Research 2004, and the Distinguished Faculty Researcher Award 1999.

Dr. Mitra’s Fulbright-Nehru research project focuses on adolescents’ mental health in relation to COVID-19. Demographic data, family history of COVID-19, and any other physical and mental illnesses of the participants (such as depression, anxiety, behavioral changes, sleep disturbances, and addictions) will be collected. The participants will be screened for mental health status using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)-7 scales. The overall impact of human losses due to COVID-19 in West Bengal will be assessed. In addition, Dr. Mitra will offer a graduate-level course on Epidemiology of COVID-19, and hands-on training on statistical analysis of data.

Narayanan Kuthirummal

Dr. Narayanan Kuthirummal is a physics professor and most of his academic career has been spent at the College of Charleston (CofC) having around 10,000 students with about 5% graduate students. He is currently on his second term as Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at CofC. Dr. Kuthirummal follows a teacher-scholar model and his current experiences and skill sets include developing effective teaching strategies, developing degree programs (undergraduate and graduate), promoting experiential learning, recruitment, promoting diversity, and developing connections with industries. He received his PhD in Physics from Banaras Hindu University, India. Before joining CofC in 2004, Dr. Kuthirummal spent about three years at Brown University (USA) as a Postdoctoral Associate and about five years as postdoctoral fellow at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Dr. Kuthirummal’s research interests include nanomaterials for energy applications, composite polymer materials for medical applications, and nondestructive evaluation techniques applied to nanomaterials. He has mentored 30 undergraduate research students and published 53 peer-reviewed publications in international journals and about 55 abstracts in national/international conferences. He received the Distinguished Teacher Award of CofC, Norine Noonan Sustained Achievement Award of the School of Sciences and Mathematics, Excellence in Collegiate Education and Leadership (ExCEL) Awards: Outstanding Faculty of the Year for the School of Sciences and Mathematics of the College of Charleston, and is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

The objective of the proposed Fulbright-Nehru project is to engage students and faculty at Farook College in nanotechnology and nanomaterials characterization using nondestructive evaluation methods through a combination of teaching and research with emphasis on graphene-based nanocomposites. The research component of the proposed project includes synthesis and characterization of modified graphene nanocomposite materials. As part of the proposal, a course on “Nanotechnology and Advanced Nondestructive Evaluation Methods” will be developed and taught following a student-centered approach. Students will be introduced to the process of research through data analysis, interpretation, and to developing research questions and writing scientific proposals.

Chaya Gopalan

Dr. Chaya Gopalan received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bangalore University, India, and her PhD from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She continued her research as a postdoctoral research fellow at Michigan State University. Her teaching career included a tenure-track faculty member at St. Louis Community College and St. Louis College of Pharmacy before assuming a full professor position at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). She has been teaching anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology at both graduate and undergraduate levels for health professional programs. Dr. Gopalan has been practicing evidence-based teaching using team-based learning, case-based learning, and, most recently, the flipped classroom methods. She has received many teaching awards, including the Arthur C. Guyton Educator of the Year award from the American Physiological Society (APS), Outstanding Two-Year College Teaching award by the National Association of Biology Teachers, and Excellence in Undergraduate Education award by SIUE. She has also received several grants, including an NSF-IUSE, an NSF-STEM Talent Expansion Program, and the APS Teaching Career Enhancement awards. Dr. Gopalan has published numerous manuscripts and case studies and contributed to several textbook chapters and question banks for textbooks and board exams. She is the author of the textbook Biology of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases (Elsevier, 2022) and a frequent workshop facilitator and keynote speaker on teaching and learning in the US and abroad. Besides teaching and research, Dr. Gopalan is very active in the teaching section of the APS, where she currently serves as the Advisory Board Member of the Center for Physiology Education. Besides teaching and research, Dr. Gopalan enjoys mentoring her students and peers.

This Fulbright-Nehru proposal seeks to assess the current teaching practices in a rural college in India and subsequently provide faculty training to incorporate student-centered instructional methods such as flipped teaching in their courses and examine perceptions and intentions of faculty towards using innovative instructional strategies, faculty experiences in designing, implementing, and refining flipped teaching, and student outcomes of flipped classes. The proposed study intends to gain knowledge on student and faculty feedback on flipped instruction in a rural college in India with technological gaps. The potential and mitigating factors in implementing successful flipped teaching will aid in developing successful student-centered classrooms.

Thomas Boving

Dr. Thomas Boving is a Professor of Hydrogeology at the University of Rhode Island, USA. Born in Germany, he studied Geology at the University of Tübingen, Germany. After receiving his PhD in Hydrology and Water Resources from the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA, in 1999, he joined the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, USA, where he maintains a joint appointment in the Department of Geosciences and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Boving is as an expert in the field of soil and groundwater remediation and is the co-author of the leading textbook in his field. He published over 80 work products, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and a book. His work is cited over 5,000 times. Dr. Boving’s research focuses on the fate and transport of legacy and emerging contaminants and their remediation, using novel treatment technologies. He also researches sustainable, community operated water treatment systems, such as riverbank filtrations technology, and their application in underserved rural areas in emerging economies. Besides his work in the US, he collaborates with researchers in North Africa and, for over 15 years, with NGOs and academic institutions in India, Nepal, and Indonesia. He currently serves on several boards of water research and management organizations and directs his university’s Graduate Certificate in Hydrology program. Outside his academic work, Dr. Boving enjoys building wooden furniture and traveling with his family.

As a Fulbright-Nehru scholar, Dr. Boving seeks to teach and conduct research in hydrogeological remediation science and engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee, India. Remediation science and engineering in hydrogeology focuses on technologies and practices for the efficient and economic clean-up of polluted (ground)water. Starting in early 2023, Dr. Boving intends to teach the science and engineering fundamentals of groundwater remediation while also collaborating with faculty and students on innovative remediation technology research projects. A key beneficial outcome would be establishing the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT as a hotspot for hydrogeological remediation teaching and research in India.