After navigating almost three years of a global pandemic, two graduate students of the History Department, Laura Cox and Abby Warchol, received the Fulbright-Hays fellowship and are finally able to resume their research in Africa. Both scholars recognized the reception of this award as the driving force able to get them back into their dissertation projects and, as Warchol states clearly: “Quite simply, the Fulbright-Hays fellowship has made it possible to do my dissertation research. Since the archives I use in Senegal have not digitized their holdings, the inability to travel meant that I was unable to do much exploratory research that would have been helpful in conceiving my dissertation project and research plan.”
Abbey WarcholWarchol, who studies colonial communities and their relationships and responsibilities with orphaned and vulnerable children in urban Senegal, is using her Fulbright-Hays fellowship to spend a year in the country. As she works to explore the relationship between care and control in colonial systems, she highlights the importance of this time provided by the Fulbright-Hays. “Most of the sources I use for my dissertation are not online or available outside of Senegal, which means that my scholarship is dependent on having time to work in-country.” She adds that: “Archival and oral history research can be a slow process with a steep learning curve, particularly in the context of West Africa, so I needed more time in Senegal than a short research trip would allow.” Warchol left for Senegal in January, and after spending a few months working and living in the country, she reflects that: “Senegal weathered the pandemic better than many parts of the world, so at present my research sites are fully open .… After so much uncertainty, it feels unreal to be able to start the research for which I’ve been trained.”
Laura CoxLaura Cox shares many of the same sentiments concerning research opportunities granted by the Fulbright-Hays fellowship. While working in the African National Congress’s Women’s Section and studying global coalition building during the anti-Apartheid movement, Cox is using the fellowship’s support to work in South Africa, England, and Switzerland. She notes that “Fulbright-Hays has given me the wherewithal to gather archival materials and conduct oral histories in multiple locations. My project centers on globetrotters whose international activities created a scattered archive. It was always possible that I’d gather this research in a more punctuated and piecemeal fashion. However, the long-term financial support of the Fulbright-Hayes has made my international project feasible.” When reflecting on her research experience thus far in Cape Town, South Africa, she adds, “I find something significant in following the paths that my historical actors treaded. At one time, these paths functioned to help itinerants and dreamers realize a vision. Now, the scholars who retrace their steps occupy a world where that vision has materialized, if imperfectly.”
Both Cox and Warchol look forward to the rest of their research this year and appreciate the opportunity provided by the Fulbright-Hays to return tangibly to their work in Africa after over two years away.
