Utah State University boasts three of its academic professionals among the latest Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awardees for the 2025-26 academic year, USU Today reports. Ekaterina Arshavskaya of the Department of World Languages and Cultures, Amanda Katz from the Department of History, Cultures, and Ideas, and Alexander Romney of the Department of Marketing and Strategy have been selected for this honor, joining an elite group of about 800 chosen from a highly competitive pool nationwide.
The university's Interim President Alan L. Smith hailed the accolade as a prestigious and enriching opportunity for the honorees, "We heartily congratulate these faculty members who have been selected for this prestigious, competitive honor," Smith said, as per USU Today, expressing his excitement over the potential international collaborations and the insights the scholars will bring back to enrich the university's academic environment, experiences they will then impart upon their students and fellow faculty at USU.
Arshavskaya will head to Spain's University of Alcalá to work on a project titled “Promoting an Intercultural Dialogue Through the Pedagogy of Multiliteracies, Service-Learning and Technology-Enhanced Approaches.” “I’ll be hosted by the university’s Modern Languages and Translation program, where I’ll share my expertise and experience in teaching English as a second language, Russian-English medical interpretation, and continuing teacher education courses,” she said, as obtained by USU Today.
Katz's upcoming stint at the University of Crete in Greece will see her exploring global histories of science and technology; this move exemplifies her desire to broaden her understanding and expand USU's academic reach, "My teaching will focus on global histories of science and technology," Katz expressed her intent to establish a strong connection with the University of Crete and other cultural institutions in Greece, in hopes of launching a study abroad program for USU students according to USU Today.
Romney's journey takes him to Ireland, where he will partner with Dublin City University on research addressing trust in leadership and its effects on employee engagement, he's particularly interested in leader competence, integrity, and benevolence, and their influence on employee input, and the fallout of either embracing or ignoring such input, as noted by USU Today.
