Fulbright Schuman
Overture: American words, European thoughts “You enter a kind of altered, out of body state. I can’t explain it, probably no one can. You’ll get it after a few months. Good luck”. So said a friend and Fulbright alum to Asia in the 2010s after an impromptu pre-departure dis-orientation last summer as we hugged and […]
Having grown up on a dwarf planet in the solar system of the United States’ cultural imperialism, my frame of reference is replete with American products, phenomena, and even phrases. While the orbital elements of U.S. hegemony – politics, news, and entertainment – have thus shaped how I look at the world, life in my native country, the Netherlands, only exposed me to reflections and derivatives of life in the American center of gravity.
Going from law to science and diplomacy, my Fulbright Schuman experience took me out of my comfort zone, challenged my leadership skills, and exposed me to some of the top marine mammal scientists in the world.
From 14 to 20 April 2021, the Fulbright Commission in Brussels facilitated the participation of 20 American alumni of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and 20 European alumni of EU-funded exchange programs in the 2021 EU-US Young Leaders Seminar on the Future of Cities. This marked the fourth iteration of the Young Leaders Seminar, which […]
From the halls of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, inhabited by the spirit of countless diplomats and foreign affairs specialist of the last century, to the offices of the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., my Fulbright Schuman experience was centered on the bond that ties the United States to Europe.
It’s 11 PM on a Friday in early January and I just arrived outside my hotel in Chicago downtown, tired and jetlagged. It is dark, cold, and the wind blows a freezing breeze from the great lakes through Chicago’s streets. Doing normally my Ph.D. at the European University Institute in sunny Italy I asked myself: […]
Amidst those protestors, is where I would be right now, had I not chosen to leave. Beginning of March: the world is watching China and, of all places, my home country, Italy, fight the “invisible enemy” COVID-19. It’s impossible to imagine what happens next. I left New York on March 21st. Destination: not Brussels, where […]
In 2018, I found myself in the same position as many fellow Fulbright Scholar applicants: while I was already employed in a full-time job, I had an idea for an independent project that would add depth and perspective to my career. I work in the space sector, but at the time had limited experience with […]
Rosalee Wolfe was a 2019-2020 Scholar in Greece and Germany. Now that she is settled back home in the US we organized a virtual meeting to interview her so she could share her experience with Fulbright. She shared some memorable moments, advice, and difficulties she had. Instead of a blogpost we decided to connect more […]
“This might sound strange, but for me, work has been a type of spiritual adventure.” Paul Nihou, a Judge at the General Court of the European Union, was reflecting on his career to a group of Fulbright scholars and students at a recent visit to the European Court of Justice, and it resonated with me […]