RIT Professor Receives Fulbright Grant in Anthropology

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Robert Ulin

Robert Ulin, professor of anthropology at Rochester Institute of Technology, has been awarded a Fulbright Senior Specialist grant in anthropology. He will travel to Poland in May for three weeks to deliver lectures at the University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian University in Crakow and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan.

He will conduct a two-day seminar at each school with faculty and doctoral students exploring current issues in globalization.

“Is globalization a process that produces uniformity worldwide? Is it a process that appears to be uniform, but is quite different in terms of how it manifests itself on local levels? That is really a key issue when scholars are talking about the process of globalization,” says Ulin.

In addition, Ulin will present ideas on American relativism in anthropology and the theories of interpretive anthropology and hermeneutics. The universities have also requested that he present his work on European and American winegrowers, which he has been working on for more than 25 years.

“This will help facilitate knowledge on the part of Polish anthropologists in terms of what is going on in contemporary American anthropology. It is an opportunity to promote mutual understanding,” says Ulin.

Ulin has done most of his work in Western Europe and is interested in learning how graduate students are trained in Central and Eastern Europe.

“This experience will give me a better idea of the current state of anthropology in Central and Eastern Europe,” says Ulin. “The better understanding I have of how anthropology is taught and practiced outside of America, the more it will enhance what I can share with students.”

The Fulbright Program, established in 1946, is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.