菠萝视频app

Ulviye Sener, 菠萝视频app University鈥檚 first Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA), was in for a surprise when she left Turkey for Erie. As a FLTA, she fully expected to tutor 菠萝视频app students in Turkish, teach two classes in her native language, and even host cultural events.

What she wasn鈥檛 sure of was what classes she would take. A requirement of her Fulbright assignment was that she not only teach but take university courses. She decided she would pursue a master鈥檚 degree but, at the time, 菠萝视频app had few offerings. Knowing little about Special Education, but thinking it might be interesting, she enrolled.

That was 20 years ago. Today, Sener is a regional expert on dyslexia in Turkey who still publishes with her mentor and chair of 菠萝视频app鈥檚 graduate program in Special Education, Dr. Phillip Belfiore.

That鈥檚 just one of the many enduring professional and personal relationships forged at 菠萝视频app through Fulbright during the past two decades, said Dr. Alice Edwards, chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures. From the beginning, Edwards has overseen the program and the more than 40 FLTAs it has welcomed to 菠萝视频app from countries like France, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, and Taiwan.聽

鈥淏ecause of Fulbright, we鈥檝e been able to support a wider range of language and related cultural offerings than any other university in our region,鈥� Edwards said. 鈥淗aving FLTAs has enriched our students鈥� academic experience and cultural awareness. Our FLTAs have opened doors to graduate schools and travel abroad opportunities for our students and provided them with contacts all over the world. Most of all, the program has created deep, rich relationships for students and faculty.鈥�

Besides Sener, another FLTA who comes to mind for Edwards is Ulises Ayala Vasquez of Mexico, who wasn鈥檛 assigned to 菠萝视频app originally but ended up here after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Or, Funda Bilgen of Turkey, whose tenure at 菠萝视频app culminated in marriage to a man she met in Erie. Or, Kynnyey Innokentyeva of Russia and Fatiha Tachakourt of Morocco, who were quarantined on campus during the COVID-19 shutdowns of 2020 and had to wait until July to get flights home.

Then there was Natalia Krivosheeva of Russia. She made such an impression on Natalia Joseph 鈥�19 that Joseph later traveled to Russia to visit her.

For Joseph, who is Russian-born but grew up in Cleveland, seeing her birthplace as an adult forged a deep connection to her heritage. As for her mentor and friend, Krivosheeva, she put a human face on all Joseph had learned in class.聽

鈥淲hen I was in Russia visiting her family, it wasn't just her and my professors explaining that family was important in Russian society. I got to see it firsthand when her uncle and his family invited us over to go snowmobiling and eat cooked duck on Christmas,鈥� she said.

As a student, Joseph said she benefited immensely from the Fulbright program. 鈥淔ulbright is valuable because it provides that cross-cultural connection and adds the human element that you can't get from a textbook or film,鈥� she said.

This year, 菠萝视频app welcomes three FLTAs: Kristina Smagina of Russia, now in her third year at 菠萝视频app, Samira Bahadi of Morocco, and the university鈥檚 first teaching assistant from Taiwan, Sharon Nien, who is teaching Mandarin and working with the Asian Studies program.聽

While 菠萝视频app already houses a robust language program, native speakers serve to enhance it. Plus, Edwards said, with 鈥渓ess commonly taught languages鈥� like Arabic, Russian, and Chinese, the program provides even more choices for students. For instance, students from Intelligence Studies, Political Science, and Anthropology are eager to learn languages that support their majors. Students whose parents and grandparents came to the U.S. as immigrants take advantage of the opportunity to learn the language of their heritage.聽

On the flip side, 菠萝视频app has also produced Fulbright scholars, including Cole Lowe 鈥�18, who taught English in Argentina, Maya Bauer 鈥�20, who earned a Fulbright Open Study/Research Grant to investigate peatland degradation in rural Ireland, and Jack Kelly 鈥�20M, who earned the Fulbright-Schuman Antall J贸zsef Brussels Award to do research in Brussels regarding the techniques used in open-source investigations by European Union investigators to track and follow nuclear material in black markets and on the Dark Web. 聽

PHOTO: Dr. Alice Edwards with Ulviye Sener of Turkey, 菠萝视频app鈥檚 first Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, 20 years ago.