Comparative Literature, Princeton University, New Jersey
My research period at Princeton University, NJ, with a Fulbright grant for Visiting Research Students has been a life-changing experience that has helped me advance my studies in an international academic environment which favors the exchange of ideas and the acquaintance with a multitude of different cultures from around the world.
During my time at Princeton, I had access to libraries with innumerable resources as well as to talks and seminars with some of the most distinguished professors in the field of humanities. Trying to take advantage of my mobility as much as possible, I did not limit myself to the activities of the English department, with which I was affiliated, but explored the events, discussions and study groups in various other departments, namely the Anthropology, Art and Archaeology, Architecture, French and Italian, Comparative literature, Indigenous and African American departments. This interdisciplinary experience widened my knowledge on different topics, informed my way of thinking about my research project and my doctoral thesis, and made me a more mature and well-informed academic.
As far as my research project is concerned, I spent countless hours in the Firestone Library studying the wide range of resources available. I was amazed by the richness of art books and archival materials I was able to access via the Marquand Library and the Special Collections of Princeton University. My immersion in the materials propelled the writing of my project on Portraits of Survivance: Eyes, Hands and Faces in Trans-Canadian Contexts, which ended up being richer and more elaborate than I had initially envisioned and which I am currently in the process of revising, based on the suggestions and comments of my supervisor. The Fulbright grant allowed me to visit New York City, Washington DC, Boston and Providence, in order to see a series of exhibitions in a number of museums, which are an integral part of my research and my preoccupation with contemporary art and its interconnections with literary texts.
During my stay, I got to know a number of American and international graduate students from different departments, as well as Fulbright fellows at Princeton, and discuss the common issues and problems we face, as well as our future plans. In addition to that, I met professors from various departments with whom I had stimulating discussions on my research project and their academic interests. Being involved with the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University, I made the acquaintance of foreign students learning the Greek language whom I informed about the modern Greek culture. Finally, this exchange offered me an opportunity to familiarize myself with a number of American customs and traditions.
The Fulbright grant gave me the unique chance to experience a highly enriching six-month period, not only on an academic level, but also in terms of new contacts and friendships that made me feel connected with the international academic community and that I am certainly going to miss!