Faculty Fulbrights

GAMBIER, Ohio (August 3, 2009) Kenyon will share its faculty with the Czech Republic and Egypt through the Fulbright Scholar Program this coming academic year.

Julie Brodie, associate professor of dance, will join the Cairo Academy of Arts in Egypt in February and continue until June. Allan Fenigstein, professor of psychology, will work at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, during the spring semester.

Modern dance is an area of interest for the Cairo Academy, Brodie said, and she expects to work with students as well as mentor and exchange ideas with teachers. Her primary focus will be in lecturing, and she will pursue her research interest in Labanotation, a system of notation for dance movements.

The Fulbright also provides an opportunity for Brodie's family to experience a different culture, something she did as a child when her late father, Bruce Brodie, became a Fulbright Scholar in veterinary medicine in Egypt. Bruce Brodie also lived in Kenya for two years. "Those experiences were transformative for me," she said.

In the Czech Republic, Fenigstein will teach the same courses he tackles at Kenyon, including social psychology, human sexuality, and the Holocaust. He targeted that area of Europe and was invited by Charles University, which emphasizes international cooperation and is one of the oldest universities in the world, founded in 1348.

"It's an opportunity to get involved in an international exchange," Fenigstein said. "The basic purpose behind the Fulbright program is to become familiar with educational systems around the world and for them to have an opportunity to learn more about America and the American educational system. And Prague is an amazing city."