Riverside, Ca – Three scholars at the University of California, Riverside have been awarded prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar fellowships. The scholars are Ajay Verghese, assistant professor of political science; Derick Fay, associate professor of anthropology; and Heidi Brevik Zender, associate professor of French and comparative literature.
The scholarships will support research on whether increasing socioeconomic development is causing a decline in religiosity in India, the relationships between conservation, law and resource rights in South Africa, and the role of women in 19th century French architecture.
The Fulbright Program is the leading international education exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other countries, according to the program’s website. The program, which awards approximately 8,000 new grants annually, was established in 1946 under legislation by Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It operates in more than 150 countries.
- Political scientist Ajay Verghese will spend a year in India to determine if increasing socioeconomic development is causing a decline in religious belief but an increase in religious practice, a form of secularization that is distinct from the Western world.
- Anthropologist Derick Fay will return to South Africa, where he has conducted extensive field studies since 1998, to investigate the relationships between conservation, law, and resource rights represented in the 2012 trial of three fishermen arrested in Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve.
- Heidi Brevik-Zender will hold the 2017-18 visiting professorship at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, where she will do research for a book project exposing the role of women in 19th century French architecture.
About the University of California Riverside
The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California’s diverse culture, UCR’s enrollment has exceeded 21,000 students. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.
