Fulbright logo.
On Tuesday, December 10, 2013,
Dr. Jennifer Keene
received an
Australian Fulbright Alumni Initiative Grant
. This grant is given to one faculty member nationally each year and provides $10,000 (Australian dollars) to support either an Australian or American Fulbright Alumna/us and their original home or host institutions to develop innovative projects that will foster institutional linkages and sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships.

Dr. Keene’s project will build curricular, scholarly, and programming collaborations between
Wilkinson College’s
War and Society CRASSH group
and the new Masters of Arts degree in War and Society and the Master of Arts in Military History program and Australian Centre for the Study of Armed Conflict and Society at the University of New South Wales, Canberra (UNSW Canberra).

“Dr. Jeffrey Grey, the director of ACSACS and the masters’ program, and I plan to develop several joint classes, using digital technology to create a classroom dialogue among American and Australian graduate students, ” said Dr. Keene. “In addition to developing curriculum, Dr. Grey and I will develop a plan for faculty and student exchanges with professors teaching short “on-site” classes and graduate students traveling to undertake research in Canberra at UNSW and the Australian War Memorial and in California at Chapman’s Center for American War Letters. Dr. Grey and I will develop plans for a joint interdisciplinary war and society conference that brings together scholars from both institutions, laying the groundwork for research collaboration between scholars in both institutions. I will also explore the potential for future joint digital humanities projects based on the war letters collections at both institutions. Possibilities include using these collections to create on-line exhibits curated by American and Australian scholars and students at both institutions,” she said.

Both Chapman University and UNSW Canberra embrace a new strategic vision that expands upon niche programs to develop a broader national and international profile. Both are seeking international relationships that connect each institution to the Pacific Rim – eschewing similar national tendencies to look to Europe first for collaborative endeavors.

Congratulations Dr. Keene!