Indiana Wesleyan University is pleased to announce that Dr. Lanta Davis has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award for teaching and researching contemporary Irish Literature for the 2020-2021 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Davis is an Associate Professor of Humanities and Literature in the John Wesley Honors College. She will teach two courses at Queen’s University Belfast. Due to COVID-19, Davis will be teaching during the 2021-2022 academic year.
“I’m thrilled to receive the Fulbright award and have the opportunity to teach literature at such a storied, beautiful university like Queen’s,” Davis said. “I believe traveling is one of the best forms of education, and I’m looking forward to learning from my new colleagues at Queen’s and from the people of Belfast.”
"Her reception of the Fulbright fellowship is obviously a tremendous affirmation of Dr. Davis’ research interests and scholarship," said Dr. David Riggs, dean of the John Wesley Honors College. "I am particularly excited to see how her time in Ireland will enrich her work and enliven her teaching upon her return to our community."
Davis will also research contemporary Irish women writers and their depiction of home. She will study the poetic duality of scáth, an Irish word meaning shadow or shelter. This duality captures the complicated nature of home for Irish women. Historically, Irish women have viewed home as a sheltered respite or imprisoning shadow. Davis’ research project examines how the Irish female literary tradition describes this relationship and offers models of women who resist the shadows and create their own shelters.
“I am absolutely thrilled and completely unsurprised that Dr. Davis was selected to be a Fulbright Scholar,” said Dr. Rusty Hawkins, professor of Humanities and History at IWU. “Since coming to IWU, Dr. Davis has compiled an impressive list of scholarship that culminated in her receiving IWU’s Outstanding Scholar Award last year. Receiving this Fulbright is an incredible accomplishment and is keeping in line with the kind of scholar Dr. Davis has shown herself to be.”
Davis is one of over 800 U.S. citizens who will conduct research and/or teach abroad for the 2020-2021 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Fulbrighters engage in research and expand their professional networks. They often continue research collaborations started abroad and lay the groundwork for future partnerships between institutions. Fulbright alumni include 60 Nobel Prize laureates, 88 Pulitzer Prize recipients and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.
For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright.
For more information on the John Wesley Honors College, visit https://www.indwes.edu/academics/jwhc/.