TSPU Fulbrighters
Alexandra A. Kim, professor at Tomsk State Pedagogical University (second on the right)
In late 90s more foreigners began to visit our city which used to be close in Soviet times. One of the first international guests in TSPU was professor Edward Vajda from the Western Washington University He was interested in the mysterious Ket language. Professor Vajda impressed all our students and faculty members with his interesting lectures in linguistics and also with his fluent Russian. This visit was the beginning of our long-term cooperation. Professor Vajda told us about the Fulbright Program. It was that program on which he participated to come to Russia. EdwardTomskscholarstoapplyforFulbrightgrants. It sounded tempting, as I wanted to see American universities and surely to know how indigenous languages are protected in the USA. That is why having completed my doctoral thesis I applied for a Fulbright Visiting Scholar Grant Professor Vajda supported my project and invited me to Bellingham, WA where his university is located. I was lucky to receive this grant for my research from March 2001 through October 2001.
During my stay at the department of modern and classical languagesI attended lectures and collected material about life in the Indian reservation not far from Bellingham. Fulbright Program supported my scientific trip to Indiana University, Bloomington , where I was invited by the scholars of Finno-Ugric languages. In Bloomington as well as in Bellingham I delivered lectures about Siberian aboriginals, their languages and cultures.
During my Fulbright Program I was able to attend the conference ofthe Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas. I have been a member of this association since 1998. During this conference I met colleagues from University of Alaska and I was invited to Fairbanks and give lectures about Siberia.My contacts with US colleagues grew into cooperation and friendship.
In 2006 I was lucky to be involved into the Fulbright Program when University of Alaska invited me to participate in the academic trip with US professors to the Russian Far East
Olga S. Potanina, Department of Indigenous Languages of Siberia
In 2003-2004 as a Fulbright fellow I visited the University of New Mexico (USA) and conducted research at the Department of Linguistics. This was a great opportunity for me to gain expertise in modern linguistic theories and methodologies. I audited courses on Grammaticalization, Morphology, Field Work Methods and was able to apply new approaches in my research work. In my dissertation I discussed the nominalization strategies in Eastern Khanty and described the rise of modern nominalizers out of earlier lexical units at a grammaticalization theory perspective. I read a lot of new books written by modern American linguists which greatly enhanced the theoretical background of my dissertation. My participation in the Field Work Methods class also implied my active engagement in documentation of the Navajo language. This was a valuable experience for me and I learned how to collect and analyze new data. In my dissertation all the Khanty examples were transcribed and glossed according to the international standards of language documentation.
In general my Fulbright scholarship period was fruitful and beneficial both personally and academically.
Pavel Y. Glazunov, assistant teacher at the Department of English Philology, Tomsk State Pedagogical University.
Trained as a specialist in Linguistics, indigenous peoples' languages particularly , I have always felt a great affinity for the way of studying and describing Native Americans' and other indigenous peoples' languages in the United States of America. And I am really happy to be a visiting researcher at the University of Oregon. Thanks to the Institute of International Education and Fulbright Faculty Development Program, Russia! UO is very famous for its Department of Linguistics. All our professors are big specialists in their field of study, and they are very nice people, too. My academic advisor is Dr. Scott DeLancey, I'm really happy I have met him! I like the classes, I like the subjects of studying very much. The Library here is the best one I've ever seen. And I love the city of Eugene very much. The people here are very friendly and kind. I really appreciate this splendid opportunity to research. I believe my students in Russia will be happy to get the knowledge I get here. I hope to learn more about American people and their culture. And the best way to do it is to go here, to the US!
If prospective Fulbrighters have any questions about the program, please feel free to contact me