Supporting Global Learning in West Virginia

With funding from the West Virginia Humanities Council, the state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Bluefield State College (BSC) developed Windows on the World. For more than a decade, this initiative has brought Fulbright Scholars to the college and to the local school system, providing students of all ages with the opportunity to learn more about world cultures and customs.

Through the Windows on the World Program, Fulbright Scholars visit BSC and high schools in as many as six counties, where they speak about their areas of expertise and their home countries, customs, cultures. Each scholar engages with 200–400 people. In some cases, dancers, musicians, and other artists offer performances to even larger audiences. According to Sudhakar Jamkandi, Director of the Office of Fulbright Initiatives at BSC and a professor of English, the program is especially important for students in rural West Virginia, who may not have many other opportunities to interact with people from other countries.

Fulbright Scholars come from all over the world to Bluefield State College and the surrounding area. In 2019 alone, these lecturers shared the cultures and customs of China, India, Morocco, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Italy, Turkey, Kenya, and Ghana with local audiences and helped participating schools meet their multicultural curricular goals. At the same time, by bringing Fulbright Scholars to the state, the program increases global understanding of and appreciation for West Virginia and Appalachian culture. There is great enthusiasm for the program in the community. While West Virginia Humanities funding has helped BSC provide the Fulbright Scholars with honoraria, the program is also facilitated by many partners who provide the visiting scholars with homestays. And in 2019, BSC was recognized as an “HBCU Institutional Leader” by the Fulbright Program.