Joyner faculty receives Fulbright award

Katy Webb, head of research and instructional services at East Carolina University’s Joyner Library, has received a Fulbright specialist grant and will travel to the Netherlands to work with the Universiteit Leiden.

For her Fulbright project, Webb will collaborate with faculty at Leiden’s Centre for Digital Scholarship to explore opportunities for expanding the center’s activities and offerings, including developing a lab for digital scholars and collaborating with the university’s Centre for Digital Humanities.

The project dovetails with the subject of Webb’s book, “Development of Creative Spaces in Academic Libraries: A Decisionmaker’s Guide,” published in February 2018. Later last year, she was accepted to the Fulbright Specialist Program roster for a term of three years, which made her eligible to apply for or propose a grant project.

Webb was particularly interested in traveling to Germany or the Netherlands. “I lived in Germany from 1994–1998 and studied abroad in the Netherlands in 2002. I speak both languages, though my German is better than my Dutch. I’m looking forward to having a chance to practice my language skills as well as work on the project,” she said.

“A friend who was teaching at Universiteit Leiden suggested I get in touch with Dr. Laurents Sesink in the university library’s Centre for Digital Scholarship. We connected online and worked together to develop this project proposal. Dr. Sesink applied to be a Fulbright project host and we submitted the proposal.”

Webb was notified that she’d been selected for a Fulbright award in early September. While longer Fulbright awards take place over six months to a year, specialist awards are designed for shorter visits abroad, up to a total of 40 days. Webb will spend 20 days in Leiden this October–November and an additional 20 days there in the spring.

“I’m thrilled to receive this Fulbright grant and work with Dr. Sesink and his colleagues at Leiden. I’m grateful to Joyner director Jan Lewis and associate director of public services Mark Sanders for their support as well as to Birgit Jensen in the department of foreign languages and Eileen Angelini, the 2018-2019 Whichard visiting distinguished professor and past Fulbright recipient,” Webb said.

The Fulbright Specialist Program, part of the larger Fulbright Program, was established in 2001 by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program pairs U.S. academics and professionals with host institutions abroad.

Specialists are competitively selected to join the Fulbright Specialist Roster based on their knowledge, skill sets, and ability to make a significant contribution to projects overseas, according to the website.