Dr. Ashley Byock Awarded Fulbright Scholarship

Madison, Wis. (March 3, 2021) – Dr. Ashley Byock, Associate Professor and Chair in the English Department, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to teach at the University of Iceland (Háskóli Íslands) in the spring of 2022. Dr. Byock will teach an undergraduate and a graduate course in critical theory approaches to race in early U.S. law, will work with students at the University of Iceland, and will provide a public lecture on the race and Enlightenment formulations of the human. 

“Dr. Byock’s recognition is well-deserved and reflects the excellence that people have come to associate with Edgewood College,” President Manion said. “Dr. Byock serves as a great example for our students of creating a more just and compassionate world through this outreach.”

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Dr. Byock, and it brings distinction to Edgewood College,” Dr. Angela Salas, Vice President for Academic Affairs/Academic Dean, said. “Her students and colleagues will miss her, but we know that she will find this a transformational experience, and that we will all gain from her having had the opportunity to share her intellectual, pedagogical, and personal gifts in Iceland. I am delighted for her, and proud of her.”

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments, host institutions, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The Program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide. 

“This is a tremendous opportunity to address the history of race in a transatlantic context at a crucial historical moment,” Dr. Byock said. “The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is dedicated to building bridges of understanding between the U.S. and the world, and I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to teach and do research that helps address how our shared transatlantic history must inform our present and future.”

Dr. Byock holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from Northwestern University. She taught in Europe previously as a lecturer at l’Université Paris 7 and l’Université d’Orléans before coming to Edgewood College. She was awarded a Faculty Award for Excellence in Multicultural Education at Edgewood College in 2019.
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