Chris Tanasescu, a Fulbright scholar back in 2010-2011 at San Diego State University, will teach a crash course on digital poetry this summer, at the invitation of the Department of English Language and Literature at Carleton University in Ottawa. As Chris says “the course is an introduction to the main concepts, moments, and developments in electronic digital and computational poetry. It tracks, analyzes, exemplifies and also encourages the students to explore on their own the connections between electronic poetry and major schools, movements and trends in 20th and 21st century poetry: Dadaism and the traditional avant-gardes—by looking into the permutational and combinatorial paradigms in digital poetry—, modernism (and postmodernism)—from modernist protohypertexts to digital experiments on language and form to computer-processed or computer-generated political, cultural, and ecological critique—, conceptual, concrete, and visual poetry—from traditional mathematical or generative formalisms (Oulipo et al.) and concretism to nowadays time-sensitive/interactive/multimedia/performative electronic poetry (…). Another major component of the course focuses on computer-assisted creative writing or computer-generated poetry.”

Last week, July 13 to 17, the Fulbright Educational Advising Center-EducationUSA hosted its first ever Summer Camp for Students with Visual Disabilities.

The purpose of this week-long summer camp was to reach out to underserved segments of the Romanian student population, visually impaired students in particular, encouraging them to take advantage of our resources, including our Accessibility Corner, and get better acquainted with U.S. culture.

The Romanian alumni’s contribution to promoting and supporting the Fulbright Commission’s programs and activities is essential and welcome. To illustrate this in a more approachable way, three recipients of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship initiated a special event (sustained by the Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission and the Romanian-U.S. Alumni Association) that took place on July 14, in a more informal location, namely Gradina Viitorului. Vlad Odobescu, Humphrey Alumnus 2014-2015 together with Ioana Tamas, Humphrey Fellow 2015-2016, and Oana Claudia Iacob, Humphrey Alumna 2010-2011, had the excellent initiative of promoting the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship through a meeting with people potentially interested in entering the ongoing competition (still open until July 31).

This Wednesday, July 8, the Romanian – U.S. Fulbright Commission hosted its annual Pre-departure Orientation event, dedicated to Romanian Fulbright grantees and independent students leaving for the US to study, conduct research or teach in prestigious universities in the academic year 2015-2106.  Officials of the U.S. Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, representatives of the Fulbright Board of Directors and of the Romanian academic environment attended the event, congratulating the participants on their achievements and encouraging them to continue to represent Romania at the highest level. The participants had the opportunity to meet and interact with the American and Romanian Fulbright alumni, US Embassy interns, as well as Romanians studying in the US, who introduced them to the American environment, shared their US experience and provided guidance during the informative sessions of the Orientation. Last but not least, all the participants received valuable information and advice on J&F visa issues from Ms. Soribel Feliz, Vice-Consul of the US Embassy in Bucharest.

The Reception held at Casa Oamenilor de Stiinta (COS) provided the participants with yet another occasion to socialize and celebrate this special day. We wish all the best to the 2015-2016 group of Romanian students and scholars and look forward to hearing from them as they embark on their experience in the US!

More photos are available on the Commission's Facebook Page.