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Another LSC Prof Receives International Acclaim

Another LSC Prof Receives International Acclaim

SECOND FULBRIGHT AWARDED

May 2, 2012

LSC journalism professor Daniel Williams has been awarded a year-long Fulbright Scholarship to teach in China. This is the second LSC professor to win the coveted award in as many months. Dr. Margaret Sherrer won a Fulbright to teach and conduct research in India.

“I am delighted to be selected and am thrilled about the possibilities,” Williams said.

The Fulbright Program is the international educational exchange program sponsored by the U. S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is designed to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” Participants are chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential and are given the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

“The strands of journalism are converging, and practitioners need to operate comfortably in more than one medium.” Williams explained. “Newspaper reporters take photos, and shoot video. Television correspondents write for the Web. More and more journalists use social media. Despite different journalism philosophies, Chinese schools are no different from their U.S. counterparts in their need to try to stay ahead of these developments.”

“That fact is at the heart of my proposal to teach journalism classes with a cross-platform emphasis. The time is ripe for this training as China takes on a role on the world media stagecommensurate with its growing political and economic profile.”

Williams has had his hand in every facet of broadcast journalism. He came to LSC after spending 15 years at CNN and working stints at newspapers, magazines, a wire service and nearly a decade at Radio Free Europe in Munich, Germany. He brings that international expertise to his teaching. “Like many journalism programs in China now, there’s an emphasis on global news. China wants to compete with the likes of CNN and the BBC on the world journalism stage.”

Williams serves as advisor to LSC’s student newspaper, The Critic and has been in touch with the editor of the journalism school’s English-language student newspaper in Xi’an, China. “We started corresponding via email and trading digital copies of our newspapers. Then her dean sent me an invitation to teach there. The Fulbright makes that possible. Ultimately, I hope to establish ties between our college and universities in China. Wouldn’t it be great if we could create an exchange of students and faculty?”

LSC President Steve Gold weighed in, “Lightning can strike twice! What’s the likelihood of two professors from the same small public college receiving this prestigious award in the same year? Only at Lyndon.”

Although he is fluent in German, and speaks a smattering of Russian and French, Williams knows very little Chinese. Undaunted, he quips, “I’ll be teaching in English.”

Since its inception in 1946, the program has had approximately 294,000 “Fulbrighters” and awards about 7500 new grants each year. Currently, the Fulbright Program operates in over 155 countries.