ASU faculty member to teach in Bali with Fulbright Specialist grant

Dan Fellner, a faculty associate in the Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication unit in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at ASU's Polytechnic campus, has received a prestigious Fulbright Specialist grant to Indonesia. He will be teaching seminars in intercultural communications and travel writing at Ngurah Rai University (NRU) in Denpasar, Bali, during a six-week period beginning in February.

“Tourism is a vital part of Bali’s economy,” said Fellner. “One of my goals of this project is to help my students learn about the challenges of sustaining the island’s economic development through tourism while preserving Bali’s traditional and fascinating culture.  And it’s important they feel comfortable interacting with visitors from all over the world, who come to Bali with a wide variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds.” 

This is Fellner’s sixth Fulbright fellowship; previously he has received Fulbright Scholar grants to Latvia, Moldova and Bulgaria, and Fulbright Specialist grants to Lithuania and Latvia. Additionally, he has taught a one-week intensive course in communications four times at the Fulbright International Summer Institute in Bulgaria.

Fellner, who resides in Chandler, joined ASU as a faculty associate in 1998 and teaches courses in intercultural communications and travel writing. He also is a faculty affiliate with ASU's Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies, and teaches courses in Eastern Europe, Asia and travel writing for ASU's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.   

When Fellner isn’t teaching, he works as a freelance travel writer and photographer.  He has visited more than 115 countries and had more than 75 travel articles published in various newspapers and magazines on such diverse destinations as Greenland, South Africa, Thailand, Kosovo, Dubai, Myanmar and Ecuador. 

Earlier this year, ASU — through the Melikian Center’s Critical Languages Institute (CLI) — started a joint project with NRU to provide proficiency-based, intensive Indonesian language training in Arizona and Bali. The collaboration will continue this summer. 

“ASU’s collaboration with NRU last summer was the first step toward a more ambitious program of student and faculty exchanges,” said Kathleen Evans-Romaine, director of CLI, who worked with NRU’s administration in putting together the Fulbright grant proposal. “Dan’s Fulbright grant to Indonesia will only enhance this relationship and lead to further opportunities for collaboration between the two universities.”  

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The Fulbright Specialist Program provides awards to U.S. academics and professionals to work in partnership with academic, nonprofit and cultural institutions in more than 100 countries. Grants range from two to six weeks.