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Fulbright supports study of American women's clubs

Jan. 1, 2008

KALAMAZOO--Dr. Nora Faires, a Western Michigan University professor of history who focuses on American history and gender and women's studies, has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Distinguished Chair for a four-month residency at York University in Toronto to study clubs founded by American women living abroad.

Faires will examine the relationship of gender, migration, American national identity and internationalism. She will teach a graduate seminar on 20th-century gender and migration history, consult with other scholars and research the American Women's Club of Toronto.

A former Fulbright Distinguished Chair in North American Studies at the University of Calgary, Faires holds a doctoral degree in American history from the University of Pittsburgh. She is co-author of two award-winning books. "Jewish Life in the Industrial Promised Land, 1855-2005" received a 2006 State of Michigan award from the Historical Society of Michigan, and "Permeable Border: The Great Lakes Basin as Transnational Region, 1650-1990" received the 2006 Albert B. Corey Prize, awarded jointly by the American Historical Association and Canadian Historical Association for the best book on Canada. She heads WMUís Canadian studies initiative.

"Dr. Faires' project is a fascinating one that will undoubtedly serve to aid our understanding of women's experiences abroad and the extent to which their experiences influence national identity," says Dr. Michael Hawes, executive director of the Canada-U.S. Fulbright
Program, which is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the U.S. Department of State.

Operating in more than 150 countries worldwide, the Fulbright program has been regarded as the world's premier academic exchange with more than 30,000 individuals participating each year.

Two Fulbright scholars at WMU until June include instructors Agus Ismoyo Isnugroho and Nia Fliam, independent artists from Indonesia who are teaching at the University's Frostic School of Art.

Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu

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