Preparations for Fulbright Specialist Program in Murcia, Spain are Under Way
I will keep this brief since it's probably not that interesting to read about our next family adventure before it has actually begun. But, let me tell you how this whole thing started. I had always admired my colleagues at SUU (Kurt Harris, Jon Smith, and Jim Aton) who had been on these year-long Fulbright Scholar programs in different countries, but I knew that I needed to be more established in my discipline before seeking to become a Fulbright Scholar myself. In 2012, as a newly tenured professor and only seven years into my career, I received a sabbatical for the 2013-14 school year to set up an American Studies Center in Changsha, China and to teach students at Hunan Normal University public speaking and critical thinking skills. It was a wonderful growing experience for myself, my wife, and our five children (ages 14, 12, 10, 6, and 4 at the time). However, after returning home, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a long trip overseas again. It was amazing and challengin