Waterbury, Conn. – Naugatuck Valley Community College has been selected to host a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence, Oonya Kempadoo, of Grenada, to work on a creative writing project during the 2013-2014 academic year. Kempadoo, a creative writer and novelist, was awarded the Fulbright grant by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. 

Kempadoo will help internationalize NVCC by connecting academic, cultural, environmental and sociological studies with students by working on a writing project using commercial entertainment products. Kempadoo will teach Caribbean Literature and Creative Writing at NVCC, and will contribute to Digital Arts Technology classes as well.

“I am delighted to have this opportunity to engage with students of NVCC and the surrounding communities through literature, creative writing and socio-cultural discussions, since sharing stories is a most wonderful way to learn,” Kempadoo said.

Kempadoo’s novels, Buxton Spice, Tide Running and All Decent Animals are used in several universities in the US, UK, Canada and the Caribbean.  She has also contributed to collections, anthologies and journals such as: Trinidad Noir, Akashic Books, 2008; Caribbean Dispatches – Beyond the Tourist Dream, Macmillan 2006; The Bomb, literary magazine.

 Kempadoo is one of approximately 800 outstanding foreign faculty and professionals who will teach and/or research in the United States through the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program in 2013-2014. The Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program brings scholars and professionals from abroad to U.S. colleges and universities to significantly internationalize campuses and curricula.

Last year, NVCC’s first Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Pascal Meccariello, of the Dominican Republic, enriched the College by teaching Ceramics and Caribbean Art and Culture. President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph. D. said she is thrilled the College will benefit from the insights and expertise of another Fulbright scholar this year.

“Ms. Kempadoo is a wonderful addition to our classrooms and cultural activities on campus, and I envision her participation on our Confluencia/Confluence gatherings and in this year’s issue of Fresh Ink, our literary journal,” President De Filippis said. “It is our mission to transform lives in multiple ways.  The experience of having fine artists as Fulbright-Scholars-in Residence enriches international arts and diversity, components of our educational, intellectual and cultural experiences.”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries

 Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given approximately 318,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.