Two faculty members will teach abroad in the winter semester as Fulbright Fellowship awardees.
Jim Persoon, professor of English, will teach Shakespeare and African American literature at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. Mark Schaub, executive director of the Padnos International Center, will teach business communications at the Krakow University of Economics in Poland.
Persoon will team-teach an African American poetry course with Kwadwo Opoku-Agyemang, a Cape Coast faculty member who had taught at Grand Valley on a Fulbright Fellowship.
"He's the one who got me interested in pursuing this," Persoon said. "My main interest is to go to learn and understand how they see African American literature."
Persoon said a shortage of textbooks may present challenges to his class. He's begun collecting books from colleagues.
Both universities are Grand Valley partner institutions. The Krakow University of Economics and Grand Valley recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the partnership.
Schaub said he looks forward to returning to Poland. "It was the first trip I made in this job," he said.
Established in 1946 and considered America's flagship international educational exchange activity, the Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
