Professors awarded Fulbright Scholar awards to lecture in Brazil and Macedonia

Amy Cheng, professor of art, and Victor de Munck, chair and associate professor of Anthropology, of the State University of New York at New Paltz have been awarded Fulbright Visiting Scholar awards to teach and conduct research at foreign universities for five months during the fall 2008 and spring 2009 semesters.

Cheng is lecturing at the University of São Paulo in Brazil and conducting research in Brazil from August through December 2008. Her focus is on sourcing Brazilian folk and decorative art with its links to Brazilian contemporary art. de Munck will be lecturing at Ss. Cyril Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia, from January through May 2009, on cultural anthropology and anthropological data collection methods and analysis.

Cheng received a B.F.A. in Painting from The University of Texas at Austin and an M.F.A. in Painting from Hunter College, City University of New York. Prior to arriving at New Paltz in 1997, she taught at Princeton University and Bard College.

Cheng has an extensive national exhibition record which includes one-person shows at, among other venues: Penny Liebman Contemporary Art, Gallery 456 and C&A Gallery in New York City; Art & Soul Gallery in Boulder, Colo.; and The Harrison Gallery in Boca Raton, Fla. She has been commissioned to produce public art projects for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport; for the Cleveland Street Subway Station in Brooklyn, N.Y.; and for the Howard El Station in Chicago, Ill. She has received, among other grants, two New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships in Painting (1990 and 1996) and an Arts International Travel Grant to China (1994).

de Munck, who was previously awarded a Fulbright grant to lecture in Lithuania, has been a professor at New Paltz since August of 1997. His courses include Research Methods, Cultures of India, Cultural Anthropology, Political Anthropology, and Cognitive Anthropology. He also received a National Foundation Grant from 2002-2005 to study cultural models of romantic love in Russia and the United States. Previously, he taught at the University of New Hampshire.

David Lavallee, provost, said, “We are certain that the students, artists and scholars that they will work with in Brazil and Macedonia will benefit from their expertise and experience – just as we at New Paltz have gained both from our numerous faculty who have brought back new insight from their Fulbright fellowships abroad and from the Fulbright fellows we have hosted.”

Cheng and de Munck are two of 15 New Paltz professors within the last 24 years to receive a Fulbright grant. The other professors who have been awarded Fulbright grants are: Jonathan Schwartz (Political Science and International Relations), China; Laura Dull (Secondary Education), Vranje, Serbia; Clifton Meador (Art), Republic of Georgia; Victor de Munck (Anthropology), Lithuania; Lee A. Bell (Educational Studies), Mexico; Robert Miraldi (Communication and Media), Netherlands; Gerald Benjamin (Dean/Liberal Arts and Sciences), Japan; Harry R. Stoneback (English), China; Francis Xavier Paz (English), Syria; Gerald Sorin (History), Netherlands; Beatrice F. Conover (English as a Second Language), Mexico; Maria Susan Palmera (English as a Second Language), Turkey; Lorraine G. Farina (English), Italy; and Aaron M. Bindman (Sociology), Yugoslavia.

This year, approximately 1,000 U.S. faculty and professionals received Fulbright Scholar awards to lecture and conduct research abroad; a similar number of foreign scholars received awards to come to the United States.

Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program’s purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.