Prof. Paul Glader and Alum Wes Parnell Accepted to Fulbright Programs
Journalism professor Paul Glader was approved for a Fulbright Specialist three-year term and Wesley Parnell (PPE ’19) was accepted to the competitive one-week Berlin Capital Program.
The King’s College is pleased to congratulate Prof. Paul Glader and alumnus Wesley Parnell (PPE ’19) for their acceptance to two Fulbright Foundation programs. Glader, director of the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute, was selected as a Fulbright Specialist for the next three years. Parnell was selected for the week-long Fulbright Berlin Capital Program.
Parnell was one of 15 young U.S. journalists accepted to the very competitive Berlin Capital Program for 2020. Hosted by the German-American Fulbright Commission, this seminar allows journalists to “take a closer look at the German media landscape and gain a deeper awareness of the political, economic and cultural environment in Germany and Europe.” At King’s, Parnell earned a journalism minor and was a staffer with the campus paper The Empire State Tribune. He is now a reporter at the NY Daily News.
Parnell says he was “thrilled beyond belief” when he received the honor from Fulbright. He says that he applied because he wants to be a better journalist, and believes that having a more robust perspective of the world is one of the best ways to pursue this. “I think journalism depends so much on your world view and knowledge. That’s why I applied, I wanted to learn more about German-U.S. relations and how journalists can contribute to a better society.”
The Fulbright Berlin Capital Program was scheduled to take place May 2020, but has been postponed to May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Glader was approved as a Fulbright Specialist, placing him on the Fulbright roster for three years. He can accept requests from different universities around the world to teach or consult for between 14 and 40 days on journalism, business reporting, media ethics, media entrepreneurship, among other topics. The Fulbright Commission pays a daily stipend and covers travel expenses.
Glader was scheduled to work on a project this April to help the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) on a journalism and English language training program for journalists in Bulgaria. AUBG administrators nominated Glader for the program after he developed friendships with many of them on a visit last July. While the April project was postponed for COVID-19 precautions, Glader is in touch with other universities in Kenya, Africa, and Lithuania that are considering projects with him in the near future. The Fulbright Foundation has also extended all current Fulbright Specialists’ tenures by one year, since the U.S. Department of State suspended international projects due to the novel coronavirus.
When Glader was offered a spot on the Fulbright roster, he began asking his international friends where he should consider traveling as a Fulbright Specialist. Glader looks forward to helping academic institutions and students around the world learn about journalism. He says, “I find that you learn a great deal by spending time helping other academic institutions and working in a different geographic and cultural context. Often, that experience informs your current work in your own context and unlocks new ideas, friendships and pathways.”
“Congratulations to Professor Glader and Mr. Parnell on these outstanding achievements in the Fulbright realm,” said Dr. Mark Hijleh, provost of The King’s College. “Their dedication to excellence and service in journalism and global engagement bring much value and honor to the King’s community, for which we are most grateful.”
Photos courtesy of Paul Glader.