Dr. Eric Zeemering, an assistant professor of public policy, has been named a 2013-14 Fulbright Scholar by Fulbright Canada. He will spend five months at the University of Ottawa investigating how urban sustainability is defined in Canadian cities, with special attention on how social policy and programs are integrated with economic and environmental initiatives.
Dr. Zeemering’s research and teaching interests focus on public management, intergovernmental relations and urban policy (see video below).
To learn more about Dr. Zeemering’s work, read his upcoming profile in UMBC Magazine, online and in print later this month.
Fulbright Canada is a binational, treaty-based organization created to encourage mutual understanding between Canada and the U.S. through academic and cultural exchange.
Earlier this summer, UMBC Associate Professor Ilsa Lottes (Sociology and Anthropology) presented a lecture on human rights at the Center of Excellence in Sexual Health Education at JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, Finland. Lottes traveled to Finland as a Fulbright Specialist in the areas of sexual health and research methods.
Lottes is an expert on sexual and reproductive health in both the United States and Finland, with much of her research focusing on the views of college students. In this lecture, Lottes describes the basic principles of human rights and how sexual rights have been incorporated into human rights discourse to guide sexual health policy. Her lecture was also shared by video with conference participants in Russia.
Marc Zupan an associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering has been named a Fulbright Scholar, 2012-2013, to teach and conduct research at the Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (FEUP), Portugal.
According to the program’s web site, “The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the US government.” The goal of the Fulbright program is, “to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” The majority of the funding comes from an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
During his fellowship Zupan will be developing novel course and student assessment tools as well as expanding his already established research collaborations with FEUP faculty.
“The fellowship,” says Zupan, “will allow me to jointly design and implement a trans-national course focused on the novel concepts of Global Engineering.” This course will be integrated into the UMBC undergraduate engineering curriculum with students from UMBC and FEUP interacting and working with each other through-out the course.
Zupan’s research is focused on emerging hybrid materials that are important for structures in the next generation marine, air, and land-based vehicles — materials that are minimum volume, light, durable, and multifunctional.
“This expanded global enterprise in both research and teaching,” says Zupan, “between UMBC and FEUP will help both universities enhance the competitiveness of our graduates and allow us to develop new technologies.”