English Professor Milton Bates will be off next semester on a faculty version of studying abroad, thanks to his recent appointment as a Fulbright Scholar.
In the spring, Bates will travel to Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Spain, where he will teach a doctoral seminar on literary responses to the Vietnam War and a fourth-year undergraduate course in American literature between 1850 and 1950.
Bates said he will also lecture at other Spanish universities and a university in Portugal.
"I am both delighted by the opportunity and humbled by the responsibility that comes with it," he said. "But I enjoy such challenges.
"To me it offers an opportunity to learn about Spanish culture through frequent interaction with bright young Spaniards," Bates said. "Besides learning something about American literature, I hope that they will come away with a more positive impression of the United States than they currently have."
The appointment of a Fulbright Scholar is "a rigorous and competitive application process," said Heather Hathaway, associate dean of academic affairs and associate professor of English.
According to Bates, scholars first must apply to the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars to teach, conduct research or do both in a particular country.
The council then sends the applications to a peer review committee of former Fulbright Scholars, which selects a list of nominees.
Finally, the applications are forwarded to the host country's Fulbright commission, which makes the final selections and assignments to universities according to each applicant's expertise.
"A Fulbright is a prestigious award in academia," Hathaway said. Bates' "outstanding record of both teaching and research" qualified him for the appointment, Hathaway said.
"He is a committed scholar who has maintained a steady record of publication throughout his career," she said. "At the same time, he has fulfilled his regular teaching and advising duties while also directing numerous doctoral dissertations in American literature.
"He provides an ideal model of the teacher/scholar that Marquette prides itself on."
Krista Ratcliffe, associate professor of English, said Bates' "strong scholarship and teaching" made him deserving of the appointment.
Bates' books "have been well-received by other scholars, and his courses offer Marquette students opportunities to study American literature in terms of literary modernism, the Vietnam War and the American landscape," Ratcliffe said.
"Professor Bates will positively represent the U.S. and Marquette University," she said.
The Fulbright program is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State, Bates said, and it provides several opportunities for scholarly exchange — it gives American scholars the opportunity to teach and explore in other countries and it brings scholars from other countries to American to do the same.
The program also supports American students wishing to do a graduate study abroad, he said.
"I think it is wonderful for both him and the students he will be involved with abroad," Hathaway said. "He is a great teacher and an excellent scholar. Spain's gain is definitely our loss, but fortunately it is only for a semester."
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 27, 2005.