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Southampton to host prestigious Fulbright Forum 2019

Published: 10 December 2018
The Fulbright Forum Team
The Fulbright Forum organisers visited the University of Southampton ahead of the 2019 event.

For the first time ever, the University of Southampton will host the annual Fulbright Forum in January 2019.

From 9-11 January, Southampton will welcome 55 Fulbright scholars from the US who are currently studying in the UK. The Forum itself not only marks the mid-way point of their scholarship, but offers the group a chance to experience a new part of the UK and enjoy new academic perspectives from a world-leading University like Southampton.

This year’s Forum will focus on the maritime theme ‘Connected by Oceans: Exploring the Impact of the Oceans on People and Place through the Ages’ to give the University an opportunity to showcase some of Southampton’s impressive academic staff and research areas in this field. Delegates will also visit the University’s Waterfront Campus as well as the historic dockyard in Portsmouth as part of the Forum.

Fulbright is one of the most prestigious scholarship programmes in the world, fostering cultural and educational exchange for some of the most intelligent and ambitious students in the world. Over 70 years, Fulbright scholars from both the US and UK have gone on to be hugely successful on a global scale with many going on to serve in the US Senate and United Nations and win Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes, to name just a few.

For many years, the University has received one American Fulbright scholar each year across programmes such as Maritime Archaeology, Oceanography and Sustainable Energy Technologies. This year’s scholar is Alexandra Larsen, a senior neuroscience major at Baylor University in Texas who is in Southampton to pursue an MSc in Global Health.

“Southampton is a welcoming and lively city – an ideal place to be a student,” said Alexandra. “I chose the University of Southampton because of its quantitative and evidence-based approach to Global Health, and so far my course has exceeded my expectations in that regard.

“I already have a deeper understanding of how to use global data sources, critically appraise research, and evaluate interventions,” she continued. “I have also learned a great deal from the perspectives of the other students in my modules, which has in turn helped me understand how my perspective as an American fits into the global conversation about health.”

Winnie Eley, the University’s Vice-President (International), is pleased that Southampton will host the 2019 Fulbright Forum.

“The University of Southampton is privileged to welcome Fulbrighters to Southampton for the forthcoming Fulbright Forum 2019, in partnership with the US-UK Fulbright Commission,” she enthused. “Here in Southampton, we are committed to welcoming and educating global citizens who make the best of knowledge.

“We know quality education in the 21st Century can be accelerated by a substantial period of meaningful immersion abroad and away from one’s home country and institution of higher learning,” she continued. “Fulbrighters in the UK are trailblazers of study abroad; many have gone on to become very accomplished and culturally savvy individuals, scholars and leaders in their own fields.”

To follow and share the forum highlights, look out for #fulbrightforum and #fulbrightsouthampton across our social media channels.

 

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