Stephenson Named Fulbright Scholar

UTB/TSC Professor Mimosa Stephenson will be taking her expertise in American literature to China this summer, as a winner of the prestigious Fulbright Lectureship, in the nation's premier program for international educational exchange.

Stephenson, who has taught at UTB/TSC since 1973, got her first taste of China in 1965, when she lived and taught for two years in Hong Kong - then a British colony - as a Baptist missionary.

Beginning in August, after an orientation in Beijing, she will spend 10 months as a Fulbright Lecturer at Xiamen University, a large university in the southeast province of Fulkien, across from Taiwan

Named in honor of the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas in 1946, the Fulbright program was established by Congress to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries."

The U.S. Information Agency, an independent foreign affairs agency within the executive branch of the U.S. government. USIA supports educational exchange activities to explain and support U.S. foreign policy.

"I'm expecting it to be a wonderful experience," said Dr. Stephenson. "Of course, I'm very excited and I'm honored to have been selected."

Dr. Stephenson, who will be accompanied on her adventure by her husband, has been studying Mandarin to prepare for her trip.

Although she awaits details, Dr. Stephenson said she expects to teach an American Literature course on Hawthorne and Melville very similar to the graduate seminar she now teaches at UTB/TSC.

Stephenson earned her bachelor of arts degree from what was then Pan American College in Edinburg,  She went on to earn her masters and doctorate from Texas Tech University.