Sterken Named Fulbright Scholar
March 30, 2015
UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications
UT Tyler Political Science Professor Named Fulbright Scholar
March 30, 2015
Media Contact: Hannah Buchanan
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Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
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March 30, 2015
Dr. Robert Sterken, Jr. has been named a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Martin Slann, The University of Texas at Tyler College of Arts and Sciences dean, announced.
Created in 1946, the Fulbright Program is a prestigious international exchange initiative that awards grants to American scholars each year to teach or conduct research in the more than 125 participatory nations throughout the world.
“Professor Sterken’s achievement is extraordinary and is consistent with his many professional accomplishments,” said Slann. “Recipients of the Fulbright Scholarship are among an academic elite who receive this prestigious recognition for their impressive teaching and research credentials.
“At the same time, Professor Sterken will represent this genuinely great university in a southeast Asian country that will welcome and benefit from his expertise and knowledge.”
Funded by the U.S. government, Fulbright Scholars are chosen by the presidentially appointed 12-member J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Scholars are selected based on their leadership and academic merits and their abilities to teach, conduct research and contribute to solutions for shared international concerns.
With the award, Sterken will travel to Southeast Asia next year and work collaboratively with international partners in educational, political, cultural and economic fields.
“Being awarded a Fulbright is an honor and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity,” Sterken said. “While in Burma/Myanmar, I will be researching and teaching religion and politics, as well as human rights and international law. Specifically, I am interested in religion, politics and socially engaged Buddhism.
“The struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma is led by Aung San Suu Kyi and by monks, nuns and students. I am seeking to better understand the complex relationships between religion and religious leaders in the streets and larger national politics and government in Burma,” he added.
Sterken is a UT Tyler associate professor of political science. He has served the university since 2000, and his areas of specialization include international law, Asian politics and international relations.
Sterken has more than five years of direct legislative experience, which inform his teaching of power and politics. His work in the international arena has afforded him many opportunities to travel, teach and study around the world. He regularly taught in the international Compass Program in which students study international relations in five European cities. Later this spring, Sterken will lead a travel study course to Cambodia, where students will study Asian politics and culture.
Sterken previously served as the UT Tyler associate provost for international programs and as the university’s special assistant to the President for legislative and external affairs. He was instrumental in forming UT Tyler’s Quality Enhancement Plan during its successful Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation reaffirmation in 2010, which led to the creation of the UT Tyler Global Awareness Through Education program.
Sterken teaches UT Tyler graduate and undergraduate courses in international relations, international law, religion and politics and Asian politics as well as American government. When not writing his international relations blog, his research interests are focused on religion and politics.
In addition, his works include publications in the International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, the Harvard University Library of Political Research Online, Political Research Quarterly and the Texas Journal of Political Studies.
Sterken holds political science degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University as well as a Ph.D. in political science from Texas Tech University.
The Fulbright Program aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, and it is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. Senator Fulbright’s goal of developing international understanding depends on a commitment from Fulbright grantees to establish open communication and long-term cooperative relationships.
For more information, visit http://us.fulbrightonline.org/.
One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler features excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degrees are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of more than 8,000 high-ability students. UT Tyler offers courses at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine as well as a location in Houston.