Academic Honors and FellowshipsThe role of a Fulbright faculty mentor is to provide advice on the feasibility of your proposed project. Ideally, a mentor has expertise in your academic field and/or host country and is willing meet to review your Statement of Grant Purpose to provide feedback. Mentor/mentee roles are created informally and are not required to apply for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program through USC, but are strongly encouraged.
The faculty listed below are willing to be contacted to mentor USC Fulbright applicants. We recommend that you reach out to a mentor once you have a working draft of your statements. Students are encouraged to connect with faculty mentors during the summer months (May through August), as availability may become limited once the Fall semester begins. Planning ahead is highly recommended to ensure you have ample time to receive thoughtful feedback.
Applicants are also welcome to work with mentors not listed here. Other ways to find a mentor include:
USC Experts Directory
Search USC faculty experts by name or topic.
Fulbright Scholar Directory
Search faculty and professionals globally by institution and field who have won a Fulbright grant.
Anthropology
Professor Nancy Lutkehaus | lutkehau@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Globalization, Transpacific cultures, art, material culture, documentary film, cultural heritage, ethnography, qualitative research methods, visual studies
Region of Expertise: Open to all, worked in Europe, Mexico, Peru, Africa, and Oceania (Indonesia, Melanesia, Polynesia)
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Tok Thompson | tokthomp@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Folklore, language revitalization, mythology, cyber culture, posthumanism
Region of Expertise: Ireland, Ethiopia, Native America
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Kristiana Willsey | willsey@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Folklore, Anthropology, Performance Studies, Storytelling, American Military Culture
Region of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Area Studies
Professor Clayton Dube | cdube@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: China, US-China relations, Taiwan; Chinese history, China media
Region of Expertise: China, Taiwan, Hong Kong
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Ivette Gomez | igomez@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Latin American literature and cultures, with emphasis in Caribbean cultural studies, Cuba history, US-Cuba relations
Region of Expertise: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Architecture
Professor Diane Ghirardo | ghirardo@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Art, Filmmaking, Photography China, Brazil, Canada, Japan, SE Asia Study/Research
Region of Expertise: Gender studies; Architecture in the 20th Century; 15/16th Centuries Italy
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Art
Professor David Kelley | davidmke@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Art, Filmmaking, Photography China, Brazil, Canada, Japan, SE Asia Study/Research
Region of Expertise: Japan, China, Brazil, Canada, Senegal, Vietnam, Laos
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Haven Lin-Kirk | linkirk@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: design, art (painting, drawing, printmaking, installations), design theory
Region of Expertise: China, Japan, UK, Croatia, Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Alexis Zoto | weidig@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Art (sculpture, installation, printmaking, drawing, fiber), Design (2D & 3D)
Region of Expertise: Balkans, especially Albania and Albanian diaspora
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Biological Sciences
Professor Carly Kenkel | ckenkel@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Marine Environmental Biology
Region of Expertise: Southeast Asia, Australia, other island nations in the Pacific and Indian oceans
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Cinematic Arts
Professor Laura Isabel Serna | lserna@cinema.usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Cinema and Media Studies, Cultural History
Region of Expertise: Mexico, Latin America
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Communication
Professor Nick Cull | cull@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Media history, Communication aspects of international relations, public diplomacy
Region of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Colleen Keough | keough@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Organizational communication, Conflict management
Region of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Comparative Literature
Professor Natania Meeker | nmeeker@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: French literature and philosophy; eighteenth-century culture and society; ecocritique
Region of Expertise: France, Europe
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Design
Professor Brian O’Connell | brianoco@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Art and Deign, Media studies and culture (German language)
Region of Expertise: Germany, Benelux, UK, Ireland, Switzerland and Turkey
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Education
Professor Alan Green | alangree@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Counseling psychology, Mental Health Education
Region of Expertise: Caribbean, Guyana, Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Emmy Min | emmymin@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: English Education, Language Education
Region of Expertise: Korea
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Ekaterina Moore | ekaterim@usc.edu
Region of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: ETA only
Engineering
Professor Elisabeth Arnold Weiss | arnolde@usc.edu
Region of Expertise: United Kingdom
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Urbashi Mitra | ubli@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Electrical & Computer Engineering, wireless communications, signal processing, information theory
Region of Expertise: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Antonio Ortega | aortega@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Signal Processing, Image and video processing, Graphs, Compression
Region of Expertise: Open to all, I have worked in Europe, Japan and Australia
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Environmental Studies
Professor David Ginsburg | dginsbur@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: organization and dynamics of natural communities, fields of physiology, chemistry, ecology, as well as environmental policy and management
Region of Expertise: Open to all coastal areas (but have specific expertise in the Antarctic, Indo-West Pacific and Caribbean)
Mentor for: Study/Research only
International Relations
Professor Douglas Becker | dfbecker@usc.edu
Region of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Megan Becker | meganbec@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: International relations, security issues, natural resource politics
Region of Expertise: Africa
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Iva Bozovic | bozovic@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: International political economy, development, economics
Region of Expertise: Eastern Europe, Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Monica Uda Gutierrez | undaguti@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Political Economy of Taxation & Public Finance, Global South Countries, Urban Political Economy, Latin America Development
Region of Expertise: Mexico and Latin American
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Law
Professor Daniel Klerman | dklerman@law.usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Law, History, Social Science
Region of Expertise: United Kingdom, Israel, France, Germany, and Switzerland
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Linguistics
Professor Elsi Kaiser | emkaiser@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Linguistics, psycholinguistics, adult language processing
Region of Expertise: Germany and Finland
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Medicine
Professor Laura Ferguson | laura.ferguson@med.usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Global Health, global governance, health and human rights, law and policy
Region of Expertise: Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Saro Khemichian | saro.khemichian@med.usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Caucuses
Region of Expertise: Armenia
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Win May | winmay@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Medical Education
Region of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Music
Professor Adam Knight Gilbert | akgilber@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Music; musicology; performance practice, composition, and improvisation from ca. 1400-ca. 1750; European folk music; Musical symbolism, historical dance poetry and music. Performance of early music (recorder, shawm, bagpipes).
Region of Expertise: Western Europe (Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, UK), some knowledge of Brazil and New World music, Israel.
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Scott Spencer | scottspe@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Ethnomusicology Ireland, Australia, Armenia Study/Research projects
Region of Expertise: Ireland, Armenia, Australia
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Professor Lisa Vest | lvest@usc.edu Region of Expertise: Eastern/Central Europe (Poland)
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Psychology
Professor Susan Luczak | luczak@usc.edu
Field of expertise: Clinical Psychology
Region of Expertise: Mauritius, subsaharan Africa program, China, Korea, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Religion
Professor David Albertson | dalberts@usc.edu
Field of expertise: Religious studies, medieval studies, intellectual history
Region of Expertise: Germany; more generally Europe and UK
Mentor for: Study/Research only
Teaching English as a Second Language
Professor Kimberley Briesch Sumner | kbriesum@usc.edu
Region of Expertise: France
Mentor for: ETA only
Professor Reka Clausen | rclausen@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: TESOL Western Europe ETA only
Region of Expertise: Italy & Western Europe
Mentor for: ETA only
Professor Jenifer Crawford | jenifeac@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Critical multilingual pedagogies, Democratic education, and Equity in English language teaching (ELT)
Region of Expertise: Mexico and Latin America (Brazil)
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Tracy Levin | tlevin1@yahoo.com
Field of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: ETA only
Professor Emmy Min | emmymin@usc.edu
Region of Expertise: Korea
Mentor for: ETA only
Professor Eric Roth | ericroth@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Persuasive writing, second language error correction, and fluency-focused communicative activities
Region of Expertise: Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Japan, China, France, Spain, Open to all
Mentor for: ETA only
Theatre
Professor Brent Blair | bblair@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Theatre and Social Change, particularly the intersection of performance with healing and justice. Restorative justice, focus on conflict or post conflict regions, including Ukraine, Eastern, Nigeria, R’wanda, India, Israel/Palestine.
Region of Expertise: Africa: Nigeria, R’wanda, South Africa, Mozambique, synagogue; Europe: UK, France, Spain, Ukraine; Israel/Palestine; South America: Brazil; Mexico; Southeast Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines; South Asia: India – Kolkata
Mentor for: Study/Research only
The Writing Program
Professor Justin Bibler | bibler@usc.edu
Region of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: ETA only
Professor Tamara Black | tamarabl@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Sociology, Gender, Culture, Pedagogy, Economic Sociology, Economics, Social Sciences, Qualitative Research Methods, Ethnography, In-depth Interviewing
Region of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Ryan Boyd | ryanaboy@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Literature, pedagogy, higher education studies, politics and culture, environmental humanities
Region of Expertise: North America, the UK, Caribbean, Latin America
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Daniel Dissinger | dissinge@usc.edu
Mentor for: ETA
Professor Elizabeth Durst | edurst@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: literature, visual arts
Region of Expertise: Russia, Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Amanda Hobmeier | hobmeier@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Linguistics, Rhetoric and Composition, Professional Writing, Science Writing, Grant Writing, Teacher Education
Region of Expertise: Indonesia, India, The Philippines, Switzerland, France, England, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico, Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Taiyaba Husain | thusain@usc.edu
Region of Expertise: India
Mentor for: ETA only
Professor Shana Kraynak | kraynak@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Rhetoric and Composition, Professional Writing, Literature, Comic Book Studies, Cultural Studies, Pedagogy
Region of Expertise: Open to all
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Rory Lukins | rlukins@usc.edu
Field of Expertise: Literature, Rhetoric and Composition Region: Europe Region of Expertise: Italy, France, Russia, Turkey, Japan
Region of Expertise: Italy, France, Russia, Turkey, Japan
Mentor for: Study/Research and ETA
Professor Alisa Sanchez | alisasan@usc.edu
Region of Expertise: Latin America (Colombia)