Northwestern Fulbright Week 2024 Keynote Address

The Buffett Institute hosted a keynote address and reception celebrating Northwestern's Fulbright community and the transformative power of cultural exchange, marking the beginning of Northwestern's Fulbright Week (April 8–12, 2024). We were delighted to have as our keynote speaker Dr. Mary Pattillo, Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and Chair of Black Studies at Northwestern University.

The Fulbright program is meant to increase knowledge and understanding across cultural and national contexts, but all Fulbright scholars know that they also learn a lot about themselves. During her keynote address "Projects, People, and Pivots: Fulbright and Personal Growth," Professor Pattillo (Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, Colombia, 2019; Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program, Brazil, 2003) discussed the insights she gained as her Fulbright project was transformed by the people she met and required many pivots. She commented on the wonders of globalizing one’s scholarship and the joys and anxieties of shedding one’s professorial expertise to become a student again.