Steve Cunningham, professor of English as a Second Language for Academic Purposes (EAP) at Valencia College’s Osceola Campus, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach in Russia during the 2011-2012 academic year, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Cunningham will be teaching at the Humanities and Technology Institute, a branch of Orenburg State University, in the city of Orsk. His three-month trip will be focused on training current and future high school English teachers in Russia how to best incorporate educational technology into their English language instruction.
While this will be his first trip to Russia, Cunningham is no stranger to teaching English to non-native speakers. In his 26 years as an educator, he has worked as an English as a Second Language instructor, intensive English program coordinator, international programs director, curriculum designer, and has conducted teacher training at Valencia and other colleges both in the U.S. and abroad.
Cunningham is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2011-2012.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.
Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given approximately 300,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in government, science, the arts, business, philanthropy, education and athletics. Forty-three Fulbright alumni from 11 countries have been awarded the Nobel Prize, and 75 alumni have received Pulitzer Prizes. Prominent Fulbright alumni include: Muhammad Yunus, managing director and founder, Grameen Bank, and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient; John Atta Mills, president of Ghana; Lee Evans, Olympic gold medalist; Ruth Simmons, president, Brown University; Riccardo Giacconi, physicist and 2002 Nobel Laureate; Amar Gopal Bose, chairman and founder, Bose Corporation; Renée Fleming, soprano; Jonathan Franzen, writer; and Daniel Libeskind, architect.
For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, please visit http://fulbright.state.gov.
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