Fulbright

In the throws of applying for tenure, I also submitted a proposal to the Fulbright Commission to conduct "Research-Teaching" in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as part of my sabbatical. Sabbaticals take a lot of planning and allow professors to pursue avenues of scholarship that would be difficult given their normal duties. It's not a vacation. You have to work to get a sabbatical. And apply for it in a lengthy process that goes up the chain of PTB all the way to Provost.

Sabbatical, at my university anyhow, can be taken by any full-time, rostered faculty member after 7 years of service. Hence, "sabbatical", like "Sabbath", coming from the Hebrew, sabat, which means "rest"...as in the seventh day of the week...although sabbatical is actually taken after you've completed seven years of service...

Well, anyhow, last week I got an email congratulating on winning a Fulbright! I was so excited I couldn't stop shaking! I almost cancelled class to celebrate. The adrenaline rush stayed for several hours. I still can't believe it. But, beginning at the end of December 2015, we will be living in Jordan for several months. Fantastic!

If you don't know what a Fulbright is, discover it now. It's a pretty neat program.

Plus I get the "Fulbrighter" moniker. Quite prestigious!

Popular posts from this blog

Malls of West Amman

Image
Probably my favorite mall feature: The animatronic T-Rex in Galleria Mall at  Christmastime. Notice Santa with pterodactyls. A bustling metropolitan area with more than 4 million people, Amman has lots of things to keep a Travelist busy. There are ancient ruins, museums, Arab souks, architecture, restaurants of all kinds (and price-ranges)...and the list continues. There are also no fewer than a dozen universities scattered throughout the city limits. And Amman keeps expanding. The city changes so fast that Google Maps can’t keep up with it. For example, where last month there was no road, unexpectedly there is one now, or where there were just a few pilings for a bridge last month, suddenly there is a new bridge. Their construction crews certainly work fast here! For some reason, malls have always fascinated me. It may be that I grew up without them, only visiting them around Christmastime with my parents until I was in college and lived in “The City”. Or it may be the p
Read more

...The Dead Sea Highway, Resorts, and Religion...

Image
One of the many ventifacts along the Dead See Highway. They are everywhere. Just take a look below at the short video clip... After a relaxing breakfast, we headed for the Dead Sea via the Wadi Araba. This route follows the “Dead Sea Highway”, which stretches from Aqaba in the south to almost the northern tip of Jordan. It also nearly-parallels the Jordanian-Israeli border. Heading out from Aqaba, the highway is pretty desolate for the first 150km or so. But, as a Geographer, there’s still much to see! Guard towers follow the route, Bedouin herders wander alongside the road with their animals, and the dark-colored desert pavement gives way here and there to deflation hollows and the occasional small erg (dune field). All the while, large alluvial fans and mountains of Jordan tower on your right side and the plains and hills of Israel & Palestine sit to your left. We spent some time looking for Jebel Haroun (Aaron’s tomb—of Old Testament fame) and scoured the desert pavement f
Read more

Pomp & Circumstance

Image
Today I got “hooded”. The entire ceremony was about two hours—though it felt like longer. This is one of the rituals accompanying advanced degree awarding in Academia. The entire graduation ceremony is based on medieval practices, so it has robes, gowns, hats (mitres?), and other vestments, like hoods (see image). For a PhD degree, the hood is traditionally dark blue (#1 in the image). The robe is usually black with different colored “piping” (the stripes down the middle) and chevrons (hash marks on the sleeves). Although many schools are going with other-than-black colors for robes (mine was maroon). In Academia, the regalia can get quite outlandish! Each robe has different piping and chevrons…every (undergraduate) discipline also has its associated color (for example, education = light blue, natural sciences = gold). And each school can be as creative as they want. Oxford (UK) has some particularly interesting garb…their “tam” (hat) alone is a sight to behold! (just google “oxford ac
Read more