fulbright

I'm about a month away from a final answer on my tenure case. After getting the thumbs-up from all the campus levels (department, dean, etc.), all that remains is the Michigan Board of Regents. In some odd way, the absurd length of the process (I submitted my file in March, 2008) actually alleviates some of the pressure. Not sure how that happens, but you sort of forget about the whole thing, despite the high stakes.

As I wait for the decision, I think about post-tenure life (God willing...) and the possibilities and options. I would like eventually to do some things abroad, which is a bit of a challenge in a field that in some ways is uniquely North American, though, of course, my own broad interests (class, civic engagement, rhetoric, the teaching of writing) have AT LEAST the potential to cut across national lines. I've started educating myself about the process of applying for Fulbrights and I'm wondering if Rhetoric and Composition has any kind of history of success winning such awards. I can't recall any colleagues or professors I've had over the years winning such a thing (though I think of other international research, like the work Nedra Reynolds did for her awesome book).

But I'm wondering if anybody out there knows of anybody in this discipline who has done a Fulbright. Leave me a comment. E-mail me (billdeg at umd dot umich dot edu). Yell loudly enough that I can hear you.