Khanduri, Jalloh Awarded Fulbright Research Grants

Two College of Liberal Arts faculty members were named Fulbright Scholars this year.

Assistant Professor Dr. Ritu Khanduri (Sociology and Anthropology) and Associate Professor Dr. Alusine Jalloh (History) were awarded research grants from the Fulbright Program, a flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. State Department. Both professors are researching international issues.

Khanduri, who won a Fulbright-Hays award as a doctoral student, said the grant will support ethnographic research on women in the field of engineering in India. Her research has been supported by fellowships from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, Social Science Research Council and the Institute of Historical Research (University of London).

“I am excited about this project, the mutual interest of colleagues in India and the possibilities it opens up for research collaborations in India,” she said. Khanduri, who was named a Leadership Fellow for the American Anthropological Association in 2010, said she plans to spend part of her time in India over the next two years working on her research project.

Jalloh, who is also the director of The Africa Program, said he will use the research grant to continue his work reviewing African business history and the history of Sierra Leone. He is also working on a new book, Muslim Fula Business Elites and Politics in Twentieth-Century Sierra Leone. A longtime advocate and philanthropist in Sierra Leone, Jalloh will spend part of the next academic year teaching at Fourah Bay College (University of Sierra Leone) and continue to build his international reputation in the field of African history and the modern development of Sierra Leone’s political, social and economic institutions.

Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The Core Research Award competition is open to all disciplines and specializations; faculty at any stage of their career can compete for these awards to research and/or teach abroad.