Members of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Fulbright Association joined the Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA) in welcoming more than 80 visiting Fulbright scholars to “Preparing for and Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change.” This May 2022 Fulbright Enrichment Seminar was held at the Global Center for Health Innovation in Downtown Cleveland.
(Left to right) Dr. Yusrah Schweikn, Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Dr. Medha Bhattacharyya, and Dr. Richard Feinberg are pictured above at the opening reception and networking event for the May 2022 seminar. (Emanuel Wallace, Photographer)
According to the organizers, the participants hailed from more than 40 different countries, and the seminar offered “an introduction to climate change issues in Cleveland, Ohio, and provided a local perspective on this topic of global importance.” Beyond the basic introduction, the seminar also explored “climate change and environmental issues through a lens of environmental justice” while examining “the impact of climate on public health, natural resources, and infrastructure.” In keeping with information in the seminar packet, “Multi-disciplinary keynotes, panel discussions, breakout sessions, and site visits [focused on] Cleveland’s unique environmental history, present day challenges related to the impact on underserved communities, and efforts to ensure a sustainable and resilient community for decades to come.”
Dr. Regennia N. Williams, the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Distinguished Scholar of African American History and Culture and president of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Fulbright Association, offered words of welcome during the seminar’s opening reception and networking event. For Williams, “The seminar provided local Fulbright alumni with invaluable opportunities to network with scholars from around the world, exchange information about common research interests, consider the possibility of future collaborations, and find out more about local tourist attractions including “Open Road: The Lure of Motorcycling in Ohio,” a special exhibit that is on view at WRHS through September 2022.”
“Interestingly enough,” said Williams, “it was during my 2010 Fulbright Fellowship in Nigeria that I rode a motorcycle for the first time in my life and came to appreciate the beauty of many rural areas that were most easily, affordably, and quickly accessed by motorcycle.” This statement sparked several interesting discussions with other Fulbrighters about motorcycles as the preferred mode of transportation in many Asian and African countries. Northeast Ohio Chapter members Dr. Edward Sivak and Dr. Suzanne Ondrus, who held Fulbright appointments in Finland and Burkina Faso, respectively, spoke during the seminar’s closing session. Like their visiting colleagues, local Fulbrighters found the seminar be both engaging and enlightening. This seminar was newly re-activated Northeast Ohio Chapter’s second major event of the current program year, and quarterly meetings and the spring 2022 elections have also taken place. For more information on past and upcoming events, please visit the Chapter’s website.
About the Host Organization
“The Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1923 to promote dialogue on world peace. Since then, CCWA has evolved to offer an array of programs that inspire engagement in international affairs and world cultures. CCWA engages with our community through our Speaker Series, Model United Nations, Maura O’Donnell-McCarthy Center for Global Understanding, and Exchange Programs. In 2020-2021, CCWA hosted over 300 international visitors through in person and virtual programming, organized 25 public speaker programs, and engaged with 877 students through our Model United Nations program.” (Source: Seminar Information Packet)
(Left to right) Attorney Carter E. Strang, Board Chair for the Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA), is pictured here with Kelly Falcone-Hall, President and CEO of the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) and member of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Fulbright Association; and Carina Van Vliet, CCWA’s Chief Executive Officer. (Emanuel Wallace, Photographer)
