Demystifying the Fulbright Scholarly Experience

Prior to Application

What is a Fulbright Scholarship? The question is simple enough; however, the answer proves difficult to answer because every Fulbright Scholarship is a bit different. The Fulbright website advertises hundreds of awards, but generally many awards offer the opportunity to research and teach outside the United States for U.S. scholars; or to do research and teach in the United States if you are from a non-U.S. institution. The funds provided are aimed at providing the ability to travel to the country, live in the country, and conduct the research necessary at the selected location. At times, grants also provide housing allowance and funding for family accommodation. These scholarships are, of course, competitive. The exact acceptance rate proves elusive for the U.S. scholar program, but it is generally considered to be more competitive than the student program which has about a 20% acceptance rate.

In our field, the Fulbright experience is not necessarily ideal for early-career researchers (and indeed, many awards are explicit in denoting that this may be the case) for a number of reasons. Chief among them: to apply for Fulbright, it would be best to know who you are and what you could offer another institution. Many scholars take a Fulbright scholarship in connection with an institutional sabbatical, which can provide supporting funds, professional leave to enhance the experience. For the authors, the Fulbright provided an opportunity to internationalize existing research identities and manifest international collaborations. The right time to apply for a Fulbright depends entirely on the scholar, but it may be important to consider career junctions (e.g., posttenure and prepromotion).

For Dr. Perreault, the Fulbright provided an opportunity to internationalize an existing line of research on lifestyle journalism. In collaboration with Dr. Folker Hanusch, he proposed interviews with lifestyle journalists from Austria and the United States respectively and spent the 4-month scholarship in Vienna, working on a series of papers drawn from the data. For Dr. Dimitrova, Vienna provided the ideal place to continue her research on global migration, examining how different international media portray refugees/asylum seekers and also interviewing Austria-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) about their communication on the topic of migration.

Even though it may seem like research plans were firm before entering into discussion—the plans need be firm for application—but the process up to application can be highly discursive. For Dr. Perreault, this began with attending a “Fulbright Week” put on by his home institution in which a Fulbright representative gave a presentation in coordination with the Office of Research. He had initially planned for an exchange in Japan and through the workshops and discussions with his local representative he realized (a) most scholarships in Japan were aimed at post-tenure scholars, (b) few scholarships existed for Journalism/Communication scholarship, and (c) there proved to be fewer areas where he could make an impact at the time.

The question was posed by the Fulbright representative “Where could you go that you think would make you a better scholar?” and “Where could you enhance the scholarship of others?” There are essential considerations because the application will eventually require you to make the case both of “why this location?” as well as “why you?”

In short, prior to application, you should consider “backgrounding” the scholarship: talking to university representatives for Fulbright, office of research staff who manage Fulbrights, area representatives (each country has representatives who can be queried about projects), as well as potential collaborators at host institutions. It is also advisable to contact previous Fulbright awardees in the country of interest to share their experiences.

The Application

Be prepared that the Fulbright application process is typically long and tedious. Decisions are made at several stages and even if you have passed the first stage, you may not be selected at the second stage, notifications for which arrive a few months later after the in-country Fulbright commission has examined the narrow set of applications.

When preparing your application, it is important to consider some of the following questions. First, why are you applying for this specific country? Is your research naturally linked to the location or do you happen to have a collaborator there? What is the “value added” your proposal brings by doing research in this specific country context? If you are considering several countries as possible places for your sabbatical, please check the competitiveness for each country because certain locations—for example, Western Europe and English-speaking countries—tend to be more competitive than others.

It is also important to keep in mind the Fulbright mission when preparing your application. Now celebrating its 75th anniversary, the program was established as a way to exchange ideas and share cultural experiences between the United States and other countries with the goal of increasing mutual understanding. This goal of increasing mutual understanding between nations and the expected cultural exchange of values and ideas should inform the candidate essays and proposal as a whole.

Depending on the specifics of the Fulbright grant, you may also be asked to write about your research project and/or share teaching materials such as syllabi or course outlines in the application. While the research project allows some flexibility, it is better to be specific rather than vague in your outline, of course realizing that some of the specifics may change as the research unfolds. The same holds true for the teaching materials: take a look at the classes that your host institution offers and see how your teaching expertise can complement their existing curriculum.

Speaking of host institutions, it is recommended—although certainly not required—to establish contact with their faculty and administrators in advance. Conferences are a great place to do that. You can also use social media channels to follow selected colleagues and explain your global network. While a formal Invitation letter by the host institution is not required in the Fulbright application, it certainly is a plus.

Most applicants are asked to provide two reference letters. It goes without saying that those need to offer strong endorsement of the applicant and their proposed activities. Some Fulbright programs may require language proficiency. Please check the language expectations for your desired program and be prepared to take a language test or show certification, if needed.

Last but not least, talk to previous Fulbrighters as they can be a great source of wisdom—not only by sharing their experiences but also perhaps even their applications.

Cultural Adjustments

Now you have gotten your Fulbright grant. Congratulations! The real work begins.

The first thing to emphasize may be the obvious: you need to go to your Fulbright abroad with an open mind. There will be many cultural differences, large and small, so be prepared to learn. It might be helpful to find some country guides or even take a quick language course before you move. The internet offers plenty of free resources.

Fulbright fellows also need to face a number of extra logistics such as finding housing, schools (if needed), and other local resources. Even though the Fulbright office can offer some pointers, it may be better to ask for a contact person within your host department who can best advise you on the local context.

We also found that it is useful to keep up with local news, which is not difficult even if you do not speak the language because multiple English-language publications exist. Both of us also joined local expat communities online to get some tips and more personal advice on living abroad.

Returning Home

Many Fulbright scholarly awards are relatively short (3–4 months), and we will admit the amount of time seemed arbitrary until it was time to return home. Three to 4 months was not long enough to ever feel like a Vienna native—even up until the last days aspects of life in Vienna and in Austria surprised us—but it was certainly long enough to feel that we were “home.”

That perception that after a day of work at the University of Vienna, we would be returning “home,” proved to be the most pernicious experience upon returning to the United States. Months after returning, Fulbright alums describe a lingering sensation that they had never really “traveled” anywhere. Simply put, the Fulbright experience is long enough that alums will be unlikely to describe their experience as “tourism” but not necessarily long enough that you will feel as though you “moved abroad.”

However, returning home carried with it a fair amount of reverse culture shock. Coming from Vienna, it was suddenly remarkably constraining to need to drive to get anywhere. The playgrounds for children suddenly seemed remarkably limited. The expectation for emails returned on the weekend—and the expectation for quick email responses in general—felt rude and stress inducing after months of long silences between emails and no expectation of communication after 5 p.m. on a weekday.

Here, we would recommend you leverage connections made with fellow Fulbright alumni to manage the reverse culture shock—it proves helpful to have feedback from others who have experienced many of the experiences you have. They will help manage some of the shocks that are inevitable (“Can you believe our health care is so expensive?” “Why do we drink so much soda?” “Don’t you wish the wine was as amazing as it was in Vienna?”) and help you reflect on what you learned from your time abroad.

It is the connections made during the Fulbright scholarship that prove the greatest treasure of overtime. There are the official connections that can lead to thoughtful partnership and collaborative works, but as important are the unofficial connections—fellow parents met on the playground, neighbors in your apartment building—that can help you consider the world differently long after your plane has landed.

The Fulbright program provides a remarkable opportunity that long outlasts the award itself. In the field of communication, the global nature of the issues and problems that plague us—misinformation, polarization, hostility, and pandemic management—has become increasingly clear. These are not problems that exist or can be addressed by a single nation. It demands the best of all of us to address such problems and you will be likely to find the tools you need through Fulbright.