Dr. Steven B. Burg, professor of history and chair of the history and philosophy department, will spend this Fall in Sweden thanks to a Fulbright award.
Burg was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and conduct research in Sweden where he will be hosted by the University of Gothenburg’s Department of Historical Studies.
According to a news release from the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, Burg is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2013-2014. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, a division of the Institute of International Education.
Burg said he will be “offering classes and workshops at the university on United States history and historic preservation in the United States, and studying Swedish approaches to public history, historic preservation and cultural resource management. I am also going to be undertaking research on the historical development of burial grounds in the Gothenburg region to examine the way those sites reflect patterns of immigration, acculturation and cultural resilience among immigrants to Sweden from the eighteenth century to the present.”
Burg said the program is “a great opportunity to help internationalize Shippensburg’s public history program. I hope to be able to share my experience in Sweden with Shippensburg students during my time in Sweden through social media and also to integrate my experience into my classes when I return. I am also exploring possibilities for ongoing educational connections between Shippensburg University and Gothenburg University.”
He will be in Sweden from September through December.
The Fulbright Program 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, according to the release. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide. Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given approximately 300,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, scientists and other professionals the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
