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News Release

Contact: Tom Parisi, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-3635

December 8, 2005

Three NIU faculty members win Fulbright awards

DeKalb, Ill. — Three Northern Illinois University professors have been awarded prestigious Fulbright Scholar grants to lecture and do research abroad.

The Fulbright Scholars are Eric Jones in the Department of History, Doris Macdonald in the Department of English and Jeff Brown in the College of Law.

They are among 850 U.S. faculty and professionals who are traveling this academic year to some 150 countries through America's flagship international educational exchange activity.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright program was established in 1946 to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries. Award recipients are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields.

Here is a closer look at NIU's three award recipients.

Eric Jones

Eric Jones already is nearly midway through his 10-month research and teaching appointment as a Fulbright scholar. He is teaching at the National University of Malaysia and living near campus, in the bustling capital city of Kuala Lumpur, with his wife Stephanie and their three children.

NIU students aren't far from Jones' mind, however. In fact, they will soon be in his classroom.

Beginning Dec. 11, Jones will teach a three-week course on the history and culture of Malaysia to a group of seven NIU students visiting the tropical country on a study-abroad program.

“They'll be staying with local families and will be immersed in the Malay, Chinese and Indian worlds,” Jones wrote in an email. “I plan on conducting the study-abroad course in Malaysia every year.”

Jones specializes in the history of Southeast Asia and is fluent in Bahasa Melayu, the native language of Malaysia. As part of his Fulbright program, he is advising graduate students at the National University and working with them through personalized directed-reading courses.

“All of the instruction is in the Malay language, though student aptitude in English is high and discussions often get carried away in the blend of both languages, known affectionately here as ‘Manglish,' ” Jones says.

Jones also is researching issues of slavery, gender and criminality in 18th century Southeast Asia. Separately, he is doing preliminary research on the impressive Tabung Haji, the Pilgrim Fund Board of Malaysia, which is the envy of the Islamic world.

“Research is going well, and I'm working on a book manuscript among other endeavors,” he says. “My time is split between several libraries, the National Archives and conversations with locals, almost always involving delectable and spicy food.”

Doris Macdonald

English Professor Doris Macdonald is an expert in the teaching and learning of second languages. She'll put that knowledge to personal use later this month, when she begins a self-guided crash course in the official language of Lithuania.

Macdonald will travel to the Eastern European country in January to begin her Fulbright assignment as a lecturer at Vilnius University, named after and located in Lithuania 's capital city. Founded in 1579, the university is among the oldest and most famous in eastern and central Europe.

At NIU, Macdonald regularly teaches courses in linguistics, English grammar and the teaching of English as a Second Language.

“I was interested in going to a post-Soviet-rule country, where second-language planning and teaching is different from what we see in the United States,” Macdonald says. “While my assignment is as a lecturer, I hope to do research in this area as well. Russian was for a long time a required language in Lithuanian schools.”

Macdonald also will be teaching a number of sections of a course titled, “Language in American Society.” It examines a wide range of topics, including bilingualism, multilingualism, English-language usage and gender differences in language.

Additionally, Macdonald will assist a Lithuanian professor teaching a course on American civilization and conduct workshops with faculty on the topics of academic writing and English as a Second Language.

“This promises to be a fascinating experience,” Macdonald adds. “I will be able to incorporate what I learn about language policy and planning abroad into both undergraduate and graduate courses. Also, being immersed in a second-language setting will be a valuable experience for me to reflect on in discussing language acquisition, as well as the teaching of English as a foreign language.”

Jeff Brown

Not many travelers choose the Republic of Karelia, in the far northwest corner of the Russian Federation, as their destination of choice in February, but Jeff Brown can hardly wait to get there.

Brown, an associate professor in the NIU College of Law, will be traveling to Petrozavodsk State University in Petrozavodsk, Karelia as a Fulbright Scholar to teach a course in comparative law and to continue his research into how the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin deals with non-governmental organizations.

Brown first traveled to Eastern Europe in 1994 and quickly fell in love with the region. He taught for four years in the Baltics, including as a Fulbright Scholar in 1996-97. He has maintained his contacts there and began working with the law school at Petrozavodsk State University two years ago. He spent some time at the school last summer and is excited to return – despite the weather he knows awaits.

“In February the sun comes up at about 9 a.m. and sets by about 2:30 p.m., but by late March the ‘White Nights' begin. You essentially have 20 hours of sunlight, and that is lovely,” says Brown, who will be able to enjoy many of those long days before he returns home in July.

His time in Russia, he says, will greatly inform his teaching at NIU where his specialties include international law and the rule of law in emerging democracies.

“I spend a lot of time talking to Russian lawyers and judges that provide the sorts of insight that you can only get if you are there,” Brown says. “When you travel and immerse yourself in a culture it keeps you on your toes; you learn that there is more than one way of doing things, and that is one of the greatest lessons you can teach students.”

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